Creating a visually pleasing landscape requires a certain level of skill and knowledge. To achieve the desired results, it is important to understand the six principles of landscape design. Balance, emphasis, unity, variety, focal points, and ratio are the key elements that will help you create a harmonious and aesthetically pleasing landscape. Balance is the state of being in which two or more sections of your landscape have achieved a sense of equality.
Symmetrical equilibrium is achieved by planting similar plants in sections, while asymmetrical equilibrium is achieved by planting different types of plants that have a similar “weight” or meaning to their areas. Being out of balance would be planting irises on one side of your garden and watermelons on the other. The emphasis on landscaping refers to the point at which the observer's eye is first drawn when looking at an environment. This area represents the strongest single element of your design.
The way to emphasize any area is through the use of bright colors, interesting types of plants, or some kind of artistic design in your plantations. Unity is achieved when all elements in a landscape design have some visual characteristics in common. Repetition and consistency are key to creating unity in your landscape design. Start with a plan that points to a specific style or general theme, so that unity is incorporated directly into your landscape design.
Unity generally involves repetition and consistency, meaning that you would repeat planting certain shrubs or flowers in several areas around your garden or just around the house. Variety helps prevent monotony and confusion in your landscape design. Adding good variety to your plant options will give you all kinds of interesting plants to observe and appreciate. A landscape is said to have unity when its predominant characteristics have some visual characteristics in common.
Organized landscapes with predictable “patterns” are easier to “read”. Psychological comfort is also derived from the sense of pleasure that the spectator perceives from a unified landscape. Focal points are key features that draw attention to a particular location, move the eye through space, or guide circulation. They create emphasis and prevent the unity and balance of a design from becoming monotonous. A single contrast in color, texture, shape or height, such as that provided by a bench, tree, pool, or flower bed, can give emphasis.
An object's ability to capture attention generally depends on its contrast to adjacent objects. The ratio refers to the size of one element relative to the other. Among the six principles of landscape design, this is the most obvious, but it still needs a little planning and reflection. One must ensure that all elements of a landscape design have the right proportions. Understanding these six principles of landscape design will increase your creativity and help you generate new ideas for creating beautiful landscapes. Great landscape design resides in the eyes of the artist, and these principles will not only increase your creativity but also ensure that the elements of your design have balance and harmony.
