A sure sign that a landscape design was created by a professionally trained landscaper is the look of unity and flow. They are schooled in a taking holistic approach – considering every aspect of the landscape, from right up against your house to anything within your sight line. This beautiful cohesiveness our minds and eyes experience is intangible yet is done purposefully and with intention.
At Eagleson Landscape Co, our design philosophy is “enhancing the natural beauty of your back yard.” While often times our clients desire a more formal look to their yards, most often we are helping our clients’ landscapes look familiar to their surroundings. Hence our designs often include natural elements like boulders, water and wood. We also like to add curves rather than straight lines, which are rarely seen in nature. The end result is a landscape design that highlights not only the yard, but everything surrounding it too.
Enhancing a Lovely View Through Landscape Design
For the project show above, we were tasked with upgrading a backyard with a large deck and patio to flow with an adjacent golf course. The transitions to the prairie-like course was full of tall grasses, water and low trees. We crafted a landscape design with lots of curves that allowed one’s eye to flow naturally from the house to the beautiful view. Our goal was to have the golf course look like it was put in by the same designer – us!
Good landscape design should create curiosity and interest. When we see a meandering path we immediately ask ourselves – where does that go? At this home, when you pull into the driveaway you immediately see the curved edge of a landscape bed, creating a natural path around the side of the house. We were purposely creating a visual and physical connection between the front and back yards. These natural paths can be enhanced with hardscape, but they don’t have to be that obvious. Our eyes guide us first.
An existing small mulch bed with tree had been placed in the middle of the side yard and looked odd and random. By expanding the landscape bed and adding a bench, we accentuated the space and gave it a purpose. It became another place to sit and enjoy the view, which is why people were there in the first place. Even though the patio area and this sitting space were not physically connected, they had intangibly become one.
Other Ways to Create Visual Flow
Another way to create visual flow is through color and materials. For example, if you have planted a lot of red roses in your full sun front yard, you can continue that design element in your shady back yard through reddish boulders. That repetition connects the two spaces even though they cannot support the same flora and fauna.
Focal points enhance visual cohesion as well. A water feature in your back yard can make enough bubbling sounds that it draws people back from your front yard. Focal points can also offer a place for the eye to rest for a moment when entering a new space. A stone fireplace or a large cairn can stop the view for a moment before moving on to a large, deep back yard with a stone wall. Our brains are relaxed by a natural sense of order, which repeating elements and natural resting spots provide.
Landscape design is not about filling in the space around a home – it should include everything around it too. Our eyes do not stop at property lines! Your designer should not only be able to offer plenty of solutions for your landscape issues like privacy or drainage, but also create a cohesive aesthetic for the eye and mind.
