A well-designed landscape complements the home while blending it into the natural surroundings. The best way to ensure a landscape design that enhances property value is to take cues from the home’s architectural style.
Each architectural style is associated with building materials that can become the foundation for a fantastic landscape design. Whether it’s a combination of brick and wood or fieldstone and stucco, the colors and textures of building materials can help to harmonize the home with the landscape to create a naturally beautiful and cohesive design. These materials can specifically be used for freestanding walls and paved areas, creating a direct connection between the home and landscape.
Here are some other questions that can help to jumpstart a landscape design based on the home’s architectural style:
- What are the dominant hues of the home and building materials?
- What is the size and mass of your home? Is it a little architectural gem, cottage/bungalow, mini-mansion, or mega-mansion?
- What is your home’s relationship to the ground plane?
Taking cues from architecture goes far beyond materials. Scale, for instance, is determined by the home’s size and is paramount in designing terraces, parking courts, foundation plantings, and other improvements.
Foundation plantings, such as ivy and boxwoods, are a popular design element for anchoring and merging the home into the rest of the landscape. Before drainage solutions like gutters, paving ran right up to the edges of homes, and architects like Andrea Palladio – a sixteenth century Italian architect – mastered the art of stand-alone home designs. Now, landscape designs can incorporate foundation plants that not only ground and balance the home, but add to its attractiveness.
In the past, consistent architecture and limited planting options made integrating homes rather self-explanatory. Today, however, with the melding of architectural styles and the variety of plants available, knowing how to create a planting scheme that will marry with the landscape, scale, and style of the home is paramount.
For larger homes and mansions, large-scale shrubs and shade trees can bring it down in scale to connect it with the landscape. When designing for cottages and little architectural gems, go for plants that create an intimate and personal atmosphere. Historic homes and old photographs can be great inspiration for planting schemes.
Dargan Landscape Architects would love to help bring your home to life with a landscape design that highlights its best architectural features. Contact us to learn more.
Architectural design definitely integrates with landscaping design. Look how beautiful and great this yard looks. You did a lot to make this place look amazing and too a lot of things into consideration. For example, you used foundation plantings like ivy and boxwoods to design an element for anchoring and merging the home into the rest of the landscape. Doing that was a great idea and it turned out really well.
Our family has decided to change up the lawn and landscape around the house. We want to make it look professional and clean, but none of us have any experience! Is there a way to learn landscaping design alone or is it better to talk with a professional?
Mary, great tips on how to have your landscape design match the home design! You are right, there isn’t a one size fits all design for every home. The yard should compliment the architectural design of the home.
It is so cool to see how you broke it down for us to see how both architectural design integrates with landscape design. I suppose it makes sense. As I’ve looked around the landscape can either make or break a home and visa versa. My husband and I have wanted to redo our yard for some time now. When we are ready to start that project, I’ll keep in mind how it’ll look with the design of the house. Thanks for the info!
I think it’s smart to alter our landscape design to match the architecture design of our home. Like one of the questions you proposed, “What is the size and mass of your home?” The style of home can drastically alter your ideas for the landscape. I think that’s important to keep in mind. thank you for the tips. They will certainly help us when we start renovating.
Thank you for sharing this information. My wife and I are about to start designing our landscape. Sadly, I had not taken the style of the house into account enough. I had not thought about the scale, as you mentioned. I see how that definitely should influence our design greatly. We may have to get some help to plan this out well.
Its nice to have a beautiful yard that fits in with everything around, makes the house look amazing and the value goes up. I like how it encourages the use of the house’s material for a background blend in, having it match the outside design to have it fit in better. If I were to design the outside, yards of my house, I would build it on the style of the house and the feel that the house has.
Thank you for the help. I am wanting to do some landscaping in my yard, but I really want it to compliment the house architecture, as you are discussing. I am intrigued by your question about the house’s “relationship to the ground plane?” Could you explain that more? I may need to get a landscaping service to help me plan this out.
Thank you for the advice. My wife and I are looking at getting our yard redone in early fall. I really like how you said to incorporate the texture and color of your home into the landscape. Maybe we can get our house repainted to make sure the color will fit with our landscaping idea. I will have to talk to my wife about this.
Mary, thanks for explaining how a well-designed landscape will complement the home and blend it into the natural surroundings. I didn’t realize that so much of a landscape design depends on the architecture of the home. Since I don’t really understand any of that, it seems like it would be much better for me to hire a professional landscape architect who could design the right yard.
I have been trying really hard to get that mossy grass to grow where I live. I love the way it looks and the natural style it creates. I like that you mentioned to take into account your home when landscaping. The two should complement each other.
Thanks for the great information about landscaping because we want to redo our yard. I love your point that taking architecture in the design of landscaping would provide a balance between home size, parking, foundation plantings and other items. We’ll definitely be reviewing this article as we build our dream yard and finding a great landscaper will help too.