The look of your garden depends on your approach and personal preferences. However, making them more appealing would need you to consider some of the basic elements of garden designs.
These elements include color, texture, and the actual form of the garden. The form refers to the shape, the outline, or the overall appearance of the garden. It is the first thing observers would see.
The arrangement of the plants, the growth pattern, the mass and volume of the plants, the shapes of the stones, pots, and plots are already observable from afar.
The curves and lines of the garden can catch the eye instantly. The gentle moving curved lines and horizontal lines create feelings of calmness. Meanwhile, jagged diagonals or vertical lines are more dynamic creating feelings of excitement and tension.
The texture of your garden would depend on the kind of plants and fixtures you have placed. Each plant, each leaf, bark, branch, berry or flower creates a texture that can stimulate feelings of excitement, or relaxation.
The size and shape of the plants and the pattern of light and dark create texture. Having rough textures would create informal moods. Fine and smooth textures, on the other hand, signifies elegance and formality.
Plants that have fine and smooth textures gives a visual representation that they are farther away making small gardens appear larger. The opposite is observed with coarse-textured plants. They make spaces smaller.
Combining strong contrasting textures add character to your garden. Having a strong combination of smooth and coarse plants can create drama or moods that cannot be achieved with only single textured plants. The use of bark and smooth foliage, for example has an interesting effect.
Use of colors in garden design can be tricky. Having knowledge of basic color combinations can be an advantage when designing your garden. One common garden design that incorporates the color element is a garden of green monotone that is broken only with a splash or two of another color. The perfect examples of these kinds of gardens are the Japanese Zen gardens.
Another common design is using a variety of colors which are in harmony with each other and placing them randomly or in a way that looks pleasing to the eye. Still, others would use a technical approach and refer to a color wheel to get the best combination of colors possible. This is called the palette-gardening approach.
This element is not given the same importance as the first three, although, taking it into consideration can make a huge difference on the overall outcome of your garden. The scent of your garden brings a new dimension and adds more to the mood, feel, or sensation that you want to convey.
