General Landscape Commentary

Consider the Benefits of Hardscapes for Your Garden

November 26, 2013

There are many elements necessary for a gorgeous and functional landscape. Yes, features such as colorful plants, trees, benches, chairs and perhaps a fountain are a few of the necessities. But one area that’s often overlooked until winter sets in is the potential of hardscapes.

Hardscapes are just as important as the living portions of your landscape, especially for functionality. In some instances, hardscape surfaces, such as rock walls, create the backbone of your garden. Most often, hardscapes help define outdoor rooms of a home, creating a seamless transition into nature where homeowners can cook and host guests. These features also allow you to enjoy recreational activities or to just sit and take in the beauty of your surroundings. Still, in other cases, hardscaping can be used simply to enhance visual interest through texture, or to create symmetry or proportion within the parameters of the area.

Additional benefits of hardscaping that are often overlooked include:

Decreases erosion on properties with slopes and/or uneven soil
Increases property value
Requires less maintenance
Makes your landscape and garden areas more accessible to all guests
Reduces the amount of water needed to maintain your landscape

Below are a few examples of functional and beautiful hardscapes. Take a look and get inspired for your next hardscaping project!

Atlanta landscape architects — Project by Dargan Landscape Architects

In this project, we used a variety of stones to create a focal point that captures the eye through texture. The arched openings create the right amount of mystery to draw the viewer closer to the structure.

Cashiers landscape architect — Source: The Garden Consultants, Inc. via Houzz

The brick walls in this hardscape create a nice frame for the courtyard, as well as the woodland views beyond the fence.

designing a hardscape — Source: Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association via Houzz

We love the contrasting colors used in the bricks of this outdoor fireplace and patio design. What a cozy spot to enjoy a cool evening!

dargan landscape architects — Source: Harmony Design Group via Houzz

This hardscape design creates visual interest with terraces for plantings, while also controlling erosion.

hardscape design ideas — Source: Designing Nature Inc. via Houzz

In this design, a brick pathway adds a traditional element to a more contemporary garden. Notice how the layout of the bricks pulls your eye toward the center arrangement.

Are you considering an update to your current hardscape, or are you looking to incorporate a hardscape into your garden? Contact Dargan Landscape Architects today. We would love to discuss how we can help you achieve the perfect look for your garden, complete with a hardscape that balances the rest of your area. Give us a call at 404-231-3889 to schedule an appointment. We can work with you virtually or in person.

Secret Gardens: Creating Your Private Oasis

November 19, 2013

Have you ever wanted to escape to a place where nothing and no one can disturb you? A secret garden may be just what you need. Not only will it give you the opportunity to retreat to a private space outside of your home, but it will allow you to surround yourself in the beauty and tranquility of nature.

Total immersion in a hidden garden can help you forget your worries and reconnect with nature to rejuvenate your mind, body and soul. Call it the ultimate therapy session.

No matter what your style and how you plan to use your secret garden – whether for reading, meditating or private contemplating – it will need to be designed in a way that makes it partially hidden from the rest of your property. This can be done by creating a garden within a garden using tall shrubs and trees.

secret garden design ideas — Source: Philip Nimmo Design via Houzz

When selecting the spot for your hidden garden, choose somewhere somewhat tucked away and quiet. A neglected side yard, for example, can provide the perfect enclosed area for serene secret garden. However, for some homeowners, the entire landscape can become their own private retreat where only a select few are invited to visit.

We love Karen Chapman‘s idea of adding to the experience of entering the secret garden by building a little suspense and mystery with a winding path that twists and turns until it suddenly opens up to a small clearing. Envision a meandering stone path, for instance, that leads to a charming gate or arbor entryway where you are then greeted by gorgeous colors and textures and a charming flagstone patio with a lush live carpet.

Atlanta landscape design — Source: Bloom Landscape Design and Fine Gardening Service via Houzz

Amidst vibrant plantings and cascading containers, your secret garden can feature an elegant fountain, a stately statue or other piece of art as the focal point and centerpiece. A bench, a pair of lounge chairs or a bistro set with a small table and chairs can be used for creating a sitting area within your secret garden.

Cashiers Landscape Architects — Source: Exteriorscapes llc via Houzz

Are you enchanted by the idea of having your own secret garden? Dargan Landscape Architects in Atlanta can help you achieve the secret garden you thought only existed in movies and dreams. Contact us at 404.231.3889 to set up your design consultation. We can work with you virtually or in person and look forward to helping you create a space where you can Let Nature Speak!

For more information on creating a timeless landscape design or a secret garden, check out Mary Palmer’s book, Timeless Landscape Design.

Landscape Design Inspiration – Hidcote Manor & Garden

November 12, 2013

We encourage homeowners to look at different gardens around the world to draw inspiration for their own landscapes. There are so many gorgeous spaces that offer unique selections of plants, flowers and textures that appeal to the senses. One that we are very fond of is Hidcote Manor & Garden, a National Trust Garden located in Cotswolds, not too far from Stratford-upon-Avon in England.

Hidcote is a product of the very talented American horticulturist Major Lawrence Johnston. He created this masterpiece throughout the first half of the twentieth century around his Tudor-style home. From 1907 to 1914, Johnston concentrated on developing the gardens closest to his home. His most significant works during that period include the Maple, Fuchsia and White Gardens, along with the Bathing Pool. These spaces were designed formally by intention.

Pool, Hidcote Manor gardens by G E Jeal — Source: © Copyright G E Jeal and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Over the next six years, Johnston began creating garden rooms, featuring designs heavily influenced by classic French and Italian styles. He also designed a space called “Mrs. Winthrop’s Garden,” featuring a Mediterranean theme. During this time, Johnston also created the plans for numerous pavilions and the Stilt Garden, which form part of a corridor along the west end of the house.

Mrs Winthrop's Garden by David Stowell — Source: © Copyright David Stowell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

In the decades that followed, Johnston continued to expand the gardens, adding the Long Walk and the Pillar Garden, before finally presenting the National Trust with Hidcote in 1948. Now, visitors come to Hidcote by the thousands each year to marvel in Johnston’s works, which are “always full of surprises.”

Hidcote Manor garden by Jerry Evans — Source: © Copyright Jerry Evans and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

What inspires us most from Hidcote is its utilization of permanent color all year long, as well as how this garden is set up to create vistas and inward views beyond the enclosed garden rooms. As stated in our book, Timeless Landscape Design, Hidcote’s “level of horticulture is unsurpassed, with borders in theme colors, hidden rooms, the use of form, repetition, and focalization.” In just a few words, Hidcote is simply breathtaking.

Are the elements of Hidcote or another garden inspiring your thoughts for your own garden oasis? Contact Dargan Landscape Architects, and let us know what you’d like to see in your landscape. Either in person or virtually, we can take what you find inspiring and create a master plan or a tune-up for your own personal retreat.

Essential Design Principles of Timeless Landscape Design – Part 2

November 8, 2013

As we previously shared, there are several design principles that must be taken into consideration in order to develop a timeless landscape. In the first part of this series, we covered axial relationships; focalization; symmetry and asymmetry; and repetition and rhythm. Today, we’ll continue our discussion on the principles of landscape design by taking a look at light and shadow; proportion and scale; and reflection.

Light and shadow, like color, often establish certain feelings or emotions within a landscape. Oftentimes, these can occur naturally, such as light filtering through the leaves and onto a garden floor in a pattern that is ever changing. Playing with light and shadow is a great way to create a serene and peaceful area one can retreat to at the end of a day.

In residential landscape design, proportion is used to develop “harmonious spatial relationships between the parts of a design and the whole.” More simply put, proportion is what helps create cohesiveness within the landscape. Scale refers to the size of certain elements in the landscape in relation to where it’s been placed. Sometimes we notice that elements of a landscape have been under-scaled – meaning objects are too small for their surroundings – or that they are out of scale, or too big for the area. Choosing appropriately-scaled elements for a landscape is essential in creating a balanced space.

Reflective qualities add so much to a landscape’s character and can also be used to set the area’s mood, bringing depth, mystery and drama to the space. The reflection of light in a landscape, especially when it’s reflected across water, instantly attracts the eye and adds life not only to the landscape, but the entire property as well.

The design principles of axial relationships; focalization; symmetry and asymmetry; repetition and rhythm; light and shadow; proportion and scale; and reflection are all necessary to create a timeless landscape design to enjoy for years to come. Contact Dargan Landscape Architects today to learn how we can help you develop a master plan or a tune-up for your property. We work with clients in all locations and can meet with you in person or virtually to discuss your needs and start planning your landscape’s new look.

For more information on creating a timeless landscape and to see further examples of these design principles at work, take a look at Mary Palmer’s book, Timeless Landscape Design.

Essential Design Principles of Timeless Landscape Design – Part 1

November 6, 2013

As we’ve previously discussed, the four visual tools of landscape design – lines, color, form and texture – are some of the most powerful elements of a landscape because of what they add to the space visually. However, there are still other landscape design principles that are essential for creating the perfect space to call your own. These principles, which include axial relationships; focalization; symmetry vs. asymmetry; repetition and rhythm; light and shadow; proportion and scale; and reflection, play an important role not only in how a landscape looks, but also in “describ[ing] why a garden visually works.”

Let’s take a closer look at each.

Axial relationships have a very profound effect on landscapes. They are generally created when a pathway or a line of trees extends from its starting point to a visual focal point at the other end. Cross-axial designs are created as two lines intersect, and in many cases, create the structural foundation for the space. Axial and cross-axial designs have tremendous power in directing the eyes to certain visual elements of a garden, and are extremely useful in distracting the eyes from an unattractive area of the garden.

Focalization is the technique we use to make “order out of chaos” by giving the eyes a point their line of sight can be funneled to. These focal points can be as simple as a planter filled with colorful blooms or as extravagant as a statue or a one-of-a-kind fountain. Focalization can also be used to frame a view and is almost always included in axial and cross-axial designs.

In landscape design, symmetry and asymmetry are often associated with order and chaos. Symmetry, or order, is achieved by striking a balance of shape, form and volume on both sides of the centerpiece of the garden or along an axis. Symmetry is a hallmark feature of most formal, traditional gardens, while asymmetrical designs are generally found in those with Asian or contemporary influences.

Similar forms repeated at either regular or irregular intervals create rhythmic results in a garden. When these forms repeat in a single direction, the rhythmic movement created grows stronger. This technique creates harmony and unity within the space. One of the most common examples of repetition and rhythm in landscape design is the incorporation of boxwoods. However, clipped cedars are also useful in incorporating this principle of design, as they add authority and sophistication.

We’ll take a closer look at the design principles of light and shadow; proportion and scale; and reflection in the near future, so stay tuned for more.

And if you’re in need of assistance in incorporating principles like these into your garden oasis, contact Dargan Landscape Architects. Virtually or in person, we can help you create a master plan or a tune-up for your garden. Contact us for more information. Also, for more information on these principles of landscape design, check out Mary Palmer’s book, Timeless Landscape Design.

General Landscape Commentary

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