Landscape Design Dilemma– Visual Clutter

Design Elements That Overwhelm

When I was gardening for clients, our Owner/designer of the company exclaimed one afternoon that the problem was ‘visual clutter’!  We had worked this small garden on several occasions, and then we would go back at the home owners request to tweak the beds once again.  The design was not coherent and seemed messy. 
I have been guilty of this phenomenon in my own garden.  Mainly because I started my fevered passion of gardening as a Plant Collector.  I had to have every plant on each trip to the garden center.  The Plant catalogs didn’t help either, with the endless gorgeous pictures staring back at me.  Without fail, I bought plants and THEN tried to figure out where to plop them into the garden.  If that didn’t pan out, we dug out another bed to accommodate the new residents. 

In other words, we did not have a plan, unless you call planning to buy more, a plan.  We did not consider much more than if the plant needed sun or shade.  Even then, we took to plant to its limits – with minimal success. 

This bed is example of what I call ‘visual clutter’.  Colors are all over there realm of cool to warm.  The individual plants are buried by others, so that none of them gets the respect it deserves. 

This hosta bed is boring.  Similar colors – green – similar textures, and all of the plants are the same height.  Good landscape design should balance these features. 

This section of the garden has some redeeming qualities.  The height of the Knockout© Rose in the back, and the  shorter hydrangea are more pleasing to the eye.  In the foreground, I have the perennial salvia and iris foliage. 
I like the white accent color of the hydrangea and it gives the eye a place to rest.  Too much going on can confuse and I, for one, am confused enough, and a calming restful color holds that key of peacefulness I seek in the garden. 
 
This bright spot of gold from the Black-eyed-Susan, Rudbeckia, Goldstrum, again offers a mess for the eye to focus on. 
Onesys, and twosys, just don’t stand up to the scrutiny of a visitor in the garden.  The landscape design really needs continuity and this is best achieved by planting in groups.  Odd numbers – three, five, or seven – go a long way in creating a cohesive garden. A garden that folks will remember – ‘oh, that bed of astilbes was gorgeous’, or ‘those hosta  looked so vibrant.’


Restraint is not always easy, but I’m learning the art.  I think the garden will reward me with a calmness, and order that I seek. 
Are you a plant collector?  How do you achieve continuity in your garden?

New Landscaping Ideas

A Landscape for Our Current Needs

The madness is not really mad – disappointment and realism, maybe, but not madness.  Let me go back – twenty years or so.  I had recently been down-sized from my job, and Hubby and I down-sized, as well. We moved here and with my days more unstructured, I set out to design a great garden.

Skip forward twenty years…..and looking forward to the next chapter in our lives.  This chapter is still being written, but the elements have lined up like this.  We are older.  The backs and knees do not appreciate the bending and stooping.  The income stream is more streamlined. The grand kids want to kick soccer balls, and play tag. So we planned a new backyard design.

We are reverting the large perennial beds back to a more manageable endeavor.

  
Many coneflowers and penstemons have been moved and creeping jenny has been sprayed with an herbicide.  (I’m still scraping some out.)  The raised bed with daylilies, and  plumbago has been dismantled.

And we needed a few design ideas. The yard landscape is changing.

The edging stones have been rearranged to create a more manageable border along the back property line.





As you can see, the design is coming along.  The cleared soil areas shown here are going to be seeded with grass in mid-to-late- August.  Just waiting for cooler nights, and hoping for rain to resume. 

This decision has not been made easily.  I LOVE to garden.  I really do, however, most folks do not find 2-3 hours a day, 15-20 hours a week, in the yard something they want to be obligated to do.    And the prospect of selling this house, to down-size once again, means we needed to rethink the yard design so that the gardens and lawns are less imposing.

The fussy plants are gone.  I've kept the easygoing guys – yarrow, coneflowers, daisies, Hosta, and grasses. 

Still more to do, but I’m confident this new backyard design idea is on the right track. I find these changes are bringing a calmness and the landscape is more reflective of who we are now and is meeting our current needs.   

Garden Design - Envision Your Space

No landscape design fits all.  I've encouraged my readers to determine how they want their yard to function - to envision, your space, enrich your space with a few elements, and sit back and enjoy. 

Sunny Red Garden

 I'm going to throw out several ideas for you to consider.  And if you are like me, I freely blend garden styles from one area of the landscape into another. 

 Many times this garden style depends on the sun.  I've put roses and daylilies in a long bed that stretches east to west.  

Formal Knot Garden

Asian Lilies with Daylilies

Sunny border with roses and Veronica

Shade Garden with Yard Art

Other times I have shade that determines the plant types I can successfully grow. 

I refer to  my 'garden style' as 'cottage'.  Not too formal, but there are boundaries.  You may like something different.  

Formal Garden is Raised Container Planting

 Formal gardens are not necessarily high maintenance.  Of course there are straight lines, borders, and shrubs that need a groomed appearance.  But knowing that this is your style, the grooming can be part of your pleasure in the orderliness. 

Accents of White

Tirella foam Flower for Shade

A White Garden

I particularly like white in the landscape.  Even if you don't make all of your plant choices white, I find that dots of white in the garden bed really stand out.  Dusk is when I find white plants really pop!  I had a white azalea (had, until the dog went after a shrew and dug it up!) that seemed to glow in the dark.  Awesome!

Meditation gardens are a style that is often requested.  What do you need for a meditation design?  1) A place to sit.  Benches and chairs do not have to be expensive, but I so believe comfort should be considered a priority.  

Serene Meditation Area

2) Minimum color.  This meditation area should not be a riot of color.  Psychology shows that the eye goes to color.  Therefore, if during your meditation you want to view inner thoughts, you need to minimize the distractions.  Cool, calm, peaceful.  

Calm, Meditation Garden

Japanese Gardens incorporate the symbolism of Earth, Water and Fire.  A water feature is a popular element in the Japanese garden design.  But I have seen the 'water' suggested just in the raked sand.  Earth is portrayed in the placing of rocks or boulders in the landscape.  And fire elements can be portrayed with lanterns placed about.  I find this style of garden beautiful but not practical if there are children and pets.  

Earth, Wind, Water, Fire add to the Oriental Garden

Reflective Gardens  are closely related to the Meditation style and the Japanese style.  

Reflecting ones life is difficult to accomplish in the hurry-scurry, day to day activities in which we find ourselves.  So a quite walk into the garden can calm me like no other place. Whether it is the reflection of the beauty of the plants, the colors , or the expansion of the mind to another place through the 'window' mirror,  -- this garden style appeals to many. 



One last garden design I want to present today is the Vertical Garden.

Many of us don't have large yards, or even a yard at all!  Patio gardens can benefit from the vertical surfaces as well as those of us who have small spaces.  

 Taking advantage of a wall can add planting space and an easy space to maintain. Many of us are gardening with sore knees, or backs  that remind us that we are aging.  Vertical gardening is an extension of our gardening space and extends the pleasure for those of us who have a few aches and pains.  

There are many other themes for garden designs, that I'll discuss later.  Thanks for visiting today.  These winter months are a great time to make plans for your unique garden design.

What is your garden style?