Landscape Principles

 Design is as individualistic as the person

who designs. However, the elements and
principles of design are means through
which a designer monitors the
effectiveness and success of a project.
 These elements and principles serve as
structures and guidelines for design
development. The design elements are the
tools a designer uses to accomplish the
design principles in a project.
 No consensus exists within the design
world on the finite list of elements and
principles. Definitions and understanding
differ from one person to another.
 The elements of design are line, form,
texture, and color. A designer uses these
elements to generate a design.
 The principles of design are focalization,
proportion and scale, balance, order
and unity, repetition, rhythm and
sequence, and interconnection.
 Use the elements of design to accomplish these design
principles. Most artists incorporate the principles of
design into their projects. However, some artists “break
the principles”. Experienced artists who “break the
principles” with solid intentions are usually successful.
These artists use line, form, texture, and color to
complete a composition.
 However, the artists may or may not incorporate all the
principles of design into the composition. Landscape
designers are artists. The same elements and principles
of design found in works of art also apply to landscape
design. These elements and principles of design make
up the art and science of landscape design.
 ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
Line
 Line plays an important role in a
landscape. This design element causes
physical and/or visual movement.
 Line leads the viewer’s eyes through the
landscaped Space. It defines and
delineates space.
 A skilled designer recognizes the use of
line. He/she applies line in all aspects of
the landscape.
 As a designer, incorporate line into a landscape by Using
contrasting plant material and by forming patterns with
similar plant materials.
 Pattern is line organized in a repetitive sequence.
Examples of lines created in a landscape include
ground patterns, edges of contrasting plant materials,
and tree tops meeting the sky.
 Steer physical or visual movement directly through the
environment. Use straight lines to represent formality or
a contemporary concept. Intersecting straight lines
suggest hesitation, change of view or direction, or a
pause.
 Meandering or curved lines suggest a more relaxed,
slower movement. Use these to create a casual, informal
concept.
Form
 Form is the two or three-dimensional shape and
structure of an object or space. Whether it is two or three
dimensional, form is line surrounding mass.
 The shapes of trees and the areas of grass bound by
edging are examples of form expressed in a landscape.
The air space created by two plant materials set side by
side is also an expression of form.
 All the components in a landscape have a distinctive and
natural form. The forms of plants contribute to the total
design composition. The basic form of each plant
depends on the plant’s natural growth habit. Some of the
more common forms of landscape plants include round,
conical, oval, weeping, horizontal, and upright.
Texture
 Texture is the surface quality of any plant material or structure in the
landscape. It is the feature of a plant or structure’s physical surface
qualities as determined by form and size.
 Texture is also a feature of the aggregation of the minor units that
make up the plant or structure.
 Texture is relative. It must be seen as a comparison. Texture is
analyzed by comparison between objects, by association of these
objects with each other, and by distance.
 Texture is associated with the senses of touch and sight. Referring
to the physical surface of plants (smooth, rough, shiny, or dull),
texture is tactile.
 Texture is also viewed as the organization of the size and
arrangement of a plant’s component parts (leaves, stems, and
branches).
 In addition to being a physical feeling like rough or soft, texture also
describes how one perceives a visual difference.
 For example, the leaves of one plant are rough and coarse when
compared to the smaller leaves of a second plant. However, when
compared to the larger leaves of a third plant, the smaller leaves of
the first plant appear smooth and fine. As another example, consider
coarse-grade pea gravel. Next to fine sand, the pea gravel has a
coarse texture. When compared to granite or marble chips, the
coarse-grade pea gravel has a finer texture.
Color
 Using color in a landscape is the same as with any other form of art.
Knowing the effects of color is important to the designer when
contemplating the landscape design.
 Designers use color in the landscape as a background or basic
“gentle wash” to harmonize the view onto the landscape. Colors
used in this manner are pleasing and smooth. Another use of color
in the landscape is for accent. In this manner, color is an
“emphasizing factor” for the composition
 Color combinations incorporated in a design influence the moods of
those who interact with the design. Bright colors excite or stimulate
emotional responses. Subdued or cool colors slow down emotional
responses and express a sense of restfulness.
 Yellows, reds, and oranges are warm and advancing colors. These
colors are associated with warmth because they are the colors of
the sun, fire, and heat.
 Warm colors add a dramatic and excited feeling to an
environment. These colors appear to advance and move
toward the viewer. Warm colors can infuse a high energy
level into those with whom they have contact. Objects or
plants with these colors stand out and are the first to be
seen.
 The cool colors of blue and green express restfulness
and coolness. These colors are associated with ice, sky,
and water. Cool colors have a receding visual effect.
These colors provide the viewer with a sense of depth.
 Cool colors make the object of interest appear to be
receding into the background. Warm, yellow sunlight and
cool, blue moonlight have very different effects on color
in the landscape
 Principles of Design
 Balance
 Focalization of Interest
 Simplicity
 Rhythm and line
 Proportion and scale
 Unity
 Repetition
 Interconnection
 Balance

 Materials are distributed evenly on opposite

sides of a central axis
 Two types of balance:
 Symmetric
 Asymmetric
 Symmetric Balance
 One side is a
reflective mirror
image of the opposite
side
 Most formal type of
balance
 Asymmetric Balance
 Each side has as much interest as the
other
 Not a duplicate of the other side
 Focalization of Interest
 Selects and positions visually strong items
in the landscape composition to create
focal points
 Draws the eye of the viewer to one major
feature in each use area
 Example: corner planting
 Simplicity
 Seeks to make viewers comfortable within
the landscape
 Excludes any unnecessary changes in
shape, color, direction, etc.
 Rhythm and Line
 Repeating something at a standard
interval or pattern creates rhythm
 Lines establish the shape and form of the
landscape
 Replicating strong existing lines such as
the lines of a house or a pool
 Functions of line plantings include
foundation plantings, block a view, frame a
view, and provide privacy.
 Proportion and scale
 The size relationships
between all the
features of the
landscape including
vertical, horizontal,
and spatial
relationships
 Proportion
 Will maintain proper
proportional
relationships in a
landscape between
 Buildings and people
 Buildings and plants
 Plants and people
 Plants and plants
 Masses and soils
 Unity
 All the separate parts contribute to the
creation of the total design
 Ties together individual parts of each area
by:
 Repeating prominent colors
 Repeating construction materials
 Continuing interior design themes to outdoor
rooms
 Repeat plant species
 Raise patios, decks, and porches to door level
Repetition

 Repetition involves repeating or using an

element more than once throughout a
design. It helps establish and add order
and unity to a design. Repetition provides
a common feature throughout the design
that pulls the design together.
Interconnection

 Interconnection is a design principle for producing unity

in the design. Various components in the designs are
physically linked together.
 Repetition helps in establishing interconnection. A
designer may incorporate interconnection into the entire
design or into only a small space within the design.