April 22, 1997
Landscape Design 101
Getting Started
Landscape Design 101
This first article in the series deals with how you can begin to think about your landscaping master plan in a way that will give you the most enjoyment. The articles that follow will deal more with specific stages in the design process and specific areas of interest.
The first thing to do when designing your own home landscape is to ask yourself a lot of questions. For now, don't worry about types of flowers, colors, textures, types of shrubs or whatever. We will be dealing with all that in later lessons. Designing the outside of the house involves the same kind of decisions as the inside and they all have to do with your personal life style. "Do you like to garden" is only part of the topics you should be considering. Other questions you might ask yourself are; How much outdoor entertaining will I be doing? And, how much of that is dinners, parties for kids, etc. How much outdoor privacy do I need? How should the house relate to the street? What is my budget? What outdoor activities do I like to do? How much free time do I have to spend in the garden? Do I want a pool? Do I need parking for family/guests? And, of course, Do I like to garden?
All of these questions relate to your own lifestyle because you should be thinking about your outdoor space as your outdoor rooms. When you think of the area immediately outside your house as an extension of your indoor living space instead of as a collection of trees, shrubs and flowers, you are taking your first step toward developing a landscaping plan that will be useful and beautiful. The outdoor space can be divided into rooms using specimen plants, perennial borders, decorative fencing, arbors, fountains, hedges and other landscape elements as the walls and trees, overhanging branches, shade structures and the sky as the ceiling. Think of all the different activities you do outdoors and imagine the kind of room they should happen in.
For instance, one of the main functions the landscaping in the front of the house performs is that of greeting. It is kind of the pre-ante room. It is the place where you greet your guests, whether you are there or not. It is the most public part of your home landscape and should make a statement of design that suits this greeting function. On the other hand, a dinner with special friends needs a totally different design. The space should have privacy and intimacy desired and the design should reflect that. Third, you may need space for active outdoor recreation, which needs open expanse, usually of lawn and is neither very public nor private.
Beginning to get the idea? So here is your first task; get together with the family and make a list of the types of activities you do outdoors. Don't forget such mundane things as storage (for garden stuff, trashcans, etc.) pet areas, vehicles (both parking and storage) as well as the fun stuff. For each activity make a list of characteristics about the space that you would like. You should end up with a clear idea of the types, sizes and appearance of the outdoor spaces you would like to have those activities in.
In the next article we will look at those activities and learn how to place them in the grounds around the house. That is the start of our master landscape plan.
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Am. Soc. of Landscape Architects
The United States' main association of Landscape Architects. This site has links to membership lists, a description of Landscape Architecture and much more.
Solutions for Environmental Harmony
My own Landscape Architecture Firm
Landscape Online Home Page
A great resource for design ideas, links to professional landscape designers, plant sources and more.
USAF Landscape Design Guide
A great resource made up for USAF Landscape Architects. Includes planning, cost estimating, programming and other pages as well as other links.
Using Roses in Your Home Landscape
How to use roses in different and creative ways in your home landscape. Links to the Rose Association too.
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Landscape Design
