Want a Great Landscape Design? Create a Frame…


This week I asked landscape architect extraordinaire and friend of mine, David Daigle, to give a little information on how to create a great landscape design:

Your home can be just as beautiful as any artist’s painting by taking a tip from the painter – create a frame around your home. Consider the bulk of the foundation planting as the bottom of your frame. These plants should be dwarf type plants or groundcover so as not to hide the details of the home. Be careful to not cover interesting architectural details like columns, windows and doors.

The bottom of the frame, your foundation planting, should be designed to guide your eye to the entry. A variety of shapes, forms and texture can achieve this and the style of the landscape will dictate how they are arranged. In most cases simple is better and less is more. Keep the variety of plants to a minimum and mass them so your eye is drawn toward the entry. The area around the door should have a vertical accent (3’-5’ ht.) with seasonal color and more variety to draw your eye to this area.

The corner of your home should consist of larger shrubs and ornamental trees, usually 6’ or so, that make up the sides of the frame. This planting serves as a backdrop for the layering of plants that will help guide your eye to the entry. Tall plant at the corners and progressively smaller plants will drawn your eye to the entry

The top of the frame generally consists of shade trees in your front yard, however, grouping of ornamental trees along the foundation or shade trees in the back that are visible from the front can achieve the same effect.

So, follow the painter’s lead by creating a frame for your home with taller plants at the corners, smaller or dwarf plants along the foundation and full sized trees to soften the roofline you’ll have a great landscape.

If you have questions about landscape design call my office at 214-926-6009 or visit my website at www.daiglela.com

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