Principles of Garden Design

"No single sort of garden suits everyone. Shut your eyes and dream of the garden you'd most love, then open your eyes and start planting. Loved gardens flourish, boring ones are hard work." —Jackie French

"It seems that the duty we owe our gardens… is so to use plants that will form beautiful pictures." —Gertrude Jekyll

Good garden design is pleasant to the eye. It considers the architecture of the house and meshes the style of the garden with it. Good garden design incorporates the needs of your family and pets, such as a play area and patio. Good garden design can take into consideration your changing need for low maintenance. Good garden design also allows you to choose components of your garden, such as edible landscaping, wildlife, and pollinator plantings, native plants, or even a rain garden. Good garden design should consider your budget and need not be expensive.

There are many different garden styles ranging from very formal to quite informal and even wild. Using the concepts discussed in this article, you can successfully create just about any style, from English country, Japanese, American Colonial, and even cottage style gardens. The same principles of design are used. What differs is the plant palette, how the palette is used, and the choice of other hardscape materials. Whatever "style" you choose and whatever needs you have for your garden, understanding and using the basic design concepts below will help you achieve a pleasing design.

Few of us are offered a blank slate and a budget that allows us to build the garden of our dreams from scratch. More likely, we have an existing garden and want to change it over time to make it more pleasing and functional. The components that make for good garden design can also be used in changing an existing landscape. Pick a concept or two this year and work on modest changes that will enhance the design of your garden. Add a focal plant or container. Edit out a tree or simplify a planting area. Move or divide plants. Start small but with purpose and a plan.

The Basic Principles of Garden Design

An especially well-designed garden uses the compositional skills of these basic principles to arrange elements in a manner that creates a satisfying whole.

Scale refers to the relative size of the elements of the whole design. This includes the house, the size of the garden, and all of the plantings therein. If the house is tall, a front garden with only a few shrubs will look out of scale. A large tree or two will not. Conversely, the scale of large trees flanking a small ranch house or a small city garden will also appear incongruous. The width of a planting can also feel out of scale. A narrow ribbon of perennial plantings bordering a very large expanse of green lawn is not pleasing to the eye. When you are considering scale, remember to take time into account. Note what the size and width of a mature plant will be. You may need to wait to remove existing larger plants until the new ones have grown a bit.

Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of the hardscape and plantings throughout the whole design. If it is not balanced, it feels lop-sided — heavier on one side than the other. Note that it is a "visual" weight. A garden where all of the color is on one side will be unbalanced. A garden with all of the trees and shrubs on only one side will be unbalanced, too. When there is too much height or vertical mass on one side, the other side can be balanced by adding a large mass of more horizontal plantings. This will lead to an asymmetrical design. A symmetrical design is where one side is a mirror image of the other. Symmetrical designs are more formal and suit a large colonial style house but feel out of place if used for a Tudor. Balance is certainly something that can be seen, but it is also something that can be felt. If a space is too open, such as not enough height for its width, a person can feel exposed. If a space is too enclosed, it can feel claustrophobic. Please note that this principle is based somewhat on individual preferences. Born and raised in Iowa, I prefer very open spaces because they make me feel free. In your own garden, you will feel when the balance is right.

Unity is critically important. It is defined as the harmonizing quality that ties a design together. Unity of design can be achieved and destroyed in many ways. Choosing hardscape materials that match the materials of the house can provide unity. Having consistent hardscape materials is also important. If your small garden uses many different materials, such as brick, flagstone, and concrete paths, it will look disjointed and lack unity. Matching the garden style to the style of the house can also provide unity. A colonial house with a formal, symmetrical entrance garden has an overall unity of design. Unity can also be achieved by being consistent stylistically throughout the garden, with the use of the same structural garden plants, such as yews or boxwoods, and with the use of color palettes that blend harmoniously. Unity can also be achieved by having the same recurring curves in the garden or the same straight angles and lines in the formal garden. You will be able to see and feel when the garden lacks unity. It will not be visually cohesive. It will feel like a mess, a bunch of unrelated elements. This principle asks you and allows you to simplify. Remember that "less is often more!"

Variety and Contrast are a counter-balance against too much uniformity. An all-blue or all-pink planting is boring and lacks character. Some contrast is needed in a well-designed garden. Contrast provides the eye with interest. Yet, if there is too much variety or contrast, it will begin to look chaotic.    

Rhythm and Repetition are related. Rhythm is the underlying pattern that gives your garden an order and flow. It is the manner in which the building blocks of the unity and variety of your garden are linked together. If the garden has rhythm, the eye moves from one item to the next. But rhythm doesn't exist without repetition. Repetition can be achieved through a myriad of ways. Reusing the same color provides repetition. Shape also can provide repetition. Use a variety of plants that are conical, rounded, or pillar-shaped. Creating repetition need not be expensive. Divide and strategically replant groundcovers and perennials.

Line is defined as the direction within the garden that the visitor can see. Different lines evoke different feelings. A curved line is a soft, restful feature. When creating a curved line in your garden, use a strong, bold line and repeat it elsewhere. Do not create wobbly lines,  as they feel immature. Plus, they are difficult to maintain. In a formal garden, the lines are usually straight, and they intersect at right angles. Straight lines are controlled and appear disciplined. 

Focal points draw the eye through the garden to an item. The focal point can be any item that captures the eye, such as an exceptional or unique plant, a statue, a chair, a fountain, or a container. Focal points act like magnets that pull the viewer to a specific place in the garden. The focal point is a reward for reaching that place, so it should be worthy of the journey. The danger is that using too many, the visitor can't decide where to go, and the garden can start to feel cluttered. One focal point per area or garden room is a useful element.

Texture is a design component that can provide interest and contrast. While it can be achieved through hardscape materials, it is more often accessed through using a variety of plants. Foliage can provide different textures. Bark, fruit, and flowers provide a variety of textures, too.

Color is important in the garden. Using color well is a skill and an art. In the garden, color adds a big complication to the design. Some plants stay one color throughout the year, and others provide a changing kaleidoscope through the four seasons. Most perennials have a few short weeks when they provide colorful blooms. To provide unity, a design needs both a repetition and a variety of colors. But color also evokes feeling. Red is a hot, strong color. Blue is a warm, soothing color. White in a shade garden makes the area look closer. Dark colors make the shade garden recede. The color wheel provides a mechanism to use color in a systematic and thoughtful manner. This principle of using color in garden design is a huge topic and will be featured in an upcoming article.

Now that the principles of garden design have been laid out, the next step is to examine gardens to understand how these principles are used to successfully achieve a beautiful design. Public gardens have been designed by professionals and should certainly exhibit these principles. Also, examine gardens in your neighborhood that you find pleasing and identify the elements being implemented. It is usually easier to see when a garden is lacking balance or unity, or that plantings are out of scale. Then turn to your own garden. Take a few black and white photos and look critically for balance, line, and scale. Where would a focal point be useful? Is there repetition? Is it unified? Start with some small changes, and your own garden may soon be the well-designed garden of your dreams.