Your success in producing a beautiful landscape on your property will depend upon how well you can combine the many plant forms, textures, and colors at your disposal to give a result that is pleasant and orderly.
Taking different elements and features and putting them together in your yard is called landscaping.
The very best way to landscape is to plan out what you want to accomplish with the entire space at one time. Making a landscape plan for the entire property right at the very beginning is great because you can visualize the completed landscape picture.
In this big picture three of our most important ingredients will be repetition, sequence, and balance.
It is possible to plan and work in these three factors of repetition, sequence, and balance, on a simple scale. At times it will be almost impossible to use one or more of the factors.
It can be difficult if the space is cramped or it does not fit your style. Be practical with your planning.
Consider these factors as very desirable but not necessarily essential components. If they don't fit into your vision of the space you can make adjustments.
Should you have sufficient funds to make hiring a landscape designer or landscape architect a worthwhile investment, then, naturally, you should expect him to incorporate these elements of composition into your landscape.
The first aspect you should consider is repetition.
When we say repetition, it means that the space needs unity. Unity brings any one part of the garden together and makes it an integral part of the whole.
For example, you often see a property on which there are a dozen or more flowering trees in bloom, no two of which are alike. How much more pleasant it would be if, let us say, a white dogwood burst into bloom in the public area at the same time that two or three other white dogwoods were blooming in the service or private area, or both.
A person walking around the property would definitely notice that the same kind of tree was in bloom in the front yard as was flowering in the backyard. This is a very simple illustration of repetition in that the same type tree has been used in planting all three areas of your plan.
Of the three, repetition is perhaps the most important, and undoubtedly the one that you will use most easily and most frequently. Through the use of all three you will achieve landscape harmony.
The second feature is sequence.
Sequence involves getting the observers eye to follow a pattern that leads them to look around the entire yard. When you try to achieve sequence, you literally arrange the landscaping features to capture the eye and carry that look from one feature to another.
The third feature is balance.
The third element or factor that goes into the making of a landscape composition is balance. It is the simplest for an observer to notice.
Balance is perhaps the easiest to attain in a landscape planting that is developed in the design that includes formal lines. Though balance is often harder to achieve in an informal design, it is nevertheless within the grasp of amateurs.
For all practical intents and purposes we can say that balance in the formal garden is attained by having components that are the same or at least located on the left side as well as the right.
In order to achieve balance without being too symmetrical you can find the same type plant for a counter-balance. You can also add another object that will hold our attention in a unique manner.
Balance can often be achieved even when features are different in shape and texture. This type of balance is not easily conceived or noticed by the casual observer, but will be very pleasing to look at.
To the more experienced observer the good taste and careful planning of the gardener will be immediately apparent.
The fourth feature you should consider is rhythm.
Repetition can also be achieved when a constant object is placed in a line or pattern along a visual line. This effect can be achieved on a small scale in an average backyard just as effectively as on an estate.
As you take different elements and features and put them together in your yard you will end up with a beautifully landscaped space.
Author Resource:-
Jack R. Landry is a former landscaping architect and has authored hundreds of articles relating to landscaping. He recommends (http://GreenGuruLandscaping.com) as a landscaper in Las Vegas.
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