Monthly Archives: June 2018

LANDSCAPE DESIGN TIP: Use foliage for contrast

Plant foliage employed as a contrast element in landscape designHere’s an example of using contrast as a visual principle of landscape design. In the foreground of this scene in Cambridge, MA, leaves of a variegated dogwood tree contrast along a diagonal with the pink flowers of a blooming azalea shrub in the middle ground, while in the background the curly-edged rumpled leaves of perennial geraniums anchor as a groundcover.

In addition to contrast, other principles of landscape design include unity and harmony, balance, hierarchy, scale and proportion, dominance and emphasis, and similarity and contrast. Design elements such as color, line, shape and volume, texture and pattern, space the illusion of space, motion and the illusion of motion and value can be combined as ingredients in a recipe that creates the various design principles that make a design a visual success.Other elements of a successful landscape design are functional, such as circulation around a home and its grounds, and water management.

Garden-911 Boston offers landscape design services. Visit https://www.garden-911.com/ or call 617-327-9254 for more information.

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THE JOY OF A TULIP TREE IN YOUR LANDSCAPE

Liriodendron tulipifera flower, a tulip-shaped flower on the large native tulip tree.

LOOKING FOR A LARGE, STRAIGHT-TRUNKED FLOWERING NATIVE TREE FOR YOUR LANDSCAPE? Consider a tulip tree for your design, Liriodendron tulipifera. It grows up to 200 feet in height, and features yellow and orange tulip-shaped flowers and leaves. I came across this one at Stodderd’s Neck State Park in Hingham, MA, an off-leash dog park overlooking Weymouth Back River.

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GARDEN DESIGN FOR LATE SPRING BLOOMS

THE POWER OF DIAGONAL DESIGN WITH STRONG FOREGROUND, MIDDLEGROUND AND BACKGROUND

Dappled afternoon sun glints off a latticed front entry, backed by a story-high rhododendron that anchors the middleground of this front yard garden design in Sharon, MA. In the foreground a pavered path from the driveway to the front door is lined with two masses of bearded iris that multiply the color effect of the rhododendron’s purple-pink blooms. Pink peonies provide visual pop that make this diagonal perspective so powerful in the design. Pink dianthus in the lower left mirror the peonies’ color impact. In the distance, mature deciduous trees near the property line form the background layer of the composition. Photo copyright 2018 Carol Lundeen. All rights reserved.

 

 

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