Well-placed plants wed a home to its site
It was love and foiling that move me into landscape figure . My love of gardening is a legacy from my grandparent . My frustration came about as a practicing designer when I observed many landscape planting that were insensitive to a web site ’s natural feature article , contravene with architectural designs , or showcased only a limited repertory of flora , often incorrectly placed on a internet site .
I decided to incorporate my noesis and beloved of gardening into my architectural workplace . At first , I experimented with garden design at my home in Philadelphia , and eventually pursued formal education in horticulture . The focus of my work has since shifted to what I call “ integrated design”—where a building , situation layout , and plantings are design as a incorporate entity . Perhaps the most visible aspect of this concept is the design of foundation plantings — the trees , shrub , vines , grasses , and ground covers around a house that create a passage from the build up environment to the terrain of the land .
foot plants help to frame a planetary house and anchor it to the site . With imaginative and symmetrical planting schemes , the front yard of any dwelling can become a dynamic garden place to be enjoy rather than merely a stable panorama to be observed .
When plantings are unify with a home , they create more than an attractive picture . They convey a welcoming impression to visitor , and an air of permanence and harmony .
Work with existing elements in the site
A front garden is usually created within the fabric of existing architectural and landscape features . To design foundation plantings that are appropriate for a house and its site , I begin by evaluating these elements . They include driveway , walks , streets , tumid trees , next woodlands , fences , and parry as well as the house itself . I also look for any area that are vague , such as an area of lawn on the side of the house that ladder into a neighboring holding . These open spaces might be idealistic arena for new planting .
Casually contemporary
Because of their scale , any big tree will be important prospect of a planting design . I always valuate their impact and attempt to specify what other plants might be summate for balance , or to strengthen the visual framework of the site . Likewise , an existing row of trees or shrubs might supply a sense of natural enclosure along a street or driveway . However , rather than all cutting off the yard from the street , I like to create well - placed views from the street and opening night to entice visitor to enter and enjoy the garden place .
Since the house is the single largest component I ’m working with , I examine it intimately for cues and breathing in . First , I attempt to define the architectural way of the home , such as Georgian , Colonial , Tudor , or contemporary . Since many homes combine element of more than one way , I look for the most prominent feature — such as gabled roof terminate , a bay window , or an entrance porch — and the correspondence or imbalance of door and window .
Fundamentally formal
I also fix whether the form of the house appears predominantly vertical or horizontal , and whether the general manner is conventional or loose . A conventional house is balanced , usually having a centered front door with an equal number of window on each side . An informal theatre will usually have window and doors that are off - center .
The style of a house often suggest a exchangeable theme for the plantings . schematic garden styles are exactly that . They have a strong , perceptible , geometrical variety , and are commonly symmetrical . In contrast , loose garden dash will not have a detectable geometrical form .
Repeat or contrast architectural lines
When choosing foundation plants , I look at how their forms can reward architectural lines . narrow-minded trees or improbable grasses punctuate the top of the menage and resound vertical elements such as chimney and turret . Horizontal lines of contemporary habitation are reenforce by spread and weeping trees or low - growing shrubs . The reinforcing lines will complement rather than compete with a house ’s architecture . On the other hand , several grandiloquent conifers in front of a long , one - write up house would interrupt its horizontal shape .
By demarcation , planting can also equilibrise architectural forms . place a tall cone-shaped Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree at the recess of a ranch - style firm will visually raise its height and give an termination to its horizontal assembly line . similarly , broadcast trees and low bush mass can balance a family ’s strong erect lines and make it appear more “ grounded . ” In this case , it ’s important to debar simply cover the bottom of the house with shrubs , which can create overpowering horizontal hatful that look like skirting .
When embed shrubs beneath window , and working with cozy or semiformal design style , I attend for plant with born , horizontal growth habits . This will lessen the temptation to fleece shrub into flat - topped or meatball shapes . One of my favorite shrubs with which to create a horizontal effect is weeping English yew ( genus Taxus baccata‘Repandens ’ ) . Combined with a low ground cover , it will cry and disseminate for years while retaining its natural , horizontal sort .
Preserve views of key architectural features
Another principle I utilise in designing with creation planting is to preserve cleared aspect of key architectural feature , such as window , doors , and corners . Many menage have a focal point , such as a two - history arched windowpane . Since the heart is naturally disembowel to this part of the sign , it becomes a tempting position for a specimen Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree such as a weeping Higan cherry ( Prunus subhirtella‘Pendula ’ ) . However , a more efficient strategy is to poise the focal point on the house with one in the landscape . If the windowpane is tall and toward the right , I would embed a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree toward the left and forth from the house approximately the space from the ground to the middle of the windowpane .
When placing planting around an entree , I take my cues from the door and mantle . schematic doors with traditionally title pall or portico ( small porch at entering ) suggest proportionate treatment , so I match industrial plant on each side of the entrance . To make a more naturalistic garden around a stately house , plantings can step by step become more loose a short distance from the front door . Modern door styles , such as those with a single glassful panel on one side , normally see best with asymmetrical planting . To emphasize the doorway , I ’ll often group trees and other plantings so they taper down toward such an entranceway .
corner are also of import since they define the outline of a house . Often this definition is concealed by plants , such as cone - work conifers acting like bookends . If tree diagram or bush are needed there to accentuate the business firm , I place them slightly farther off and rent the quoin of the house “ tip ” to them . I project the precise planting space so there will be enough space even after the plants have matured .
As with corner , an expansive rampart area without windows seems to take in the placement of a tree . Again , I would engraft the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree far enough forth from the house so that it wo n’t develop into the ceiling and then appear wonky as it matures . I also consider option , such as an espalier , or a shrub , such as firethorn ( Pyracanthaspp . ) , that will arise flat against a wall .
Foliage and flowers enhance house details
As finishing touches , I choose plants with foliage or flower to emphasize the color and textures of a house . Russet - coloredSedum‘Autumn Joy ’ can restate the ruddy - Red River of a home ’s shutter . Similarly , a mass of white astilbe along a private road can reenforce ashen trim or siding . okay - leave plants , such as English boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens‘Suffruticosa ’ ) and periwinkle ( Vinca minor ) , provide welcome demarcation to a bold fieldstone anatomical structure .
Ground cover and hardscaping can further meld a theatre with its site . Mulches of colored gravel or vulgar barque can complement house colours and grain , while a low Isidor Feinstein Stone retaining rampart can repeat the surface of a house ’s exterior . Even incoming walks and stair can we d the sign to the garden through the use of harmonious or accentuating stuff . A russet - toned brick walkway can reiterate like colors in the theatre outside and plantings .
As a general normal , I essay to keep the plantings from overshadowing the theater , and vice versa . When a design is successful , neither would wait complete without the other .
Create your planting plan on paper
test a planting architectural plan on paper before breaking ground or buying plants can save time , money , and aggravation . I advocate a bare , inexpensive technique for visualizing how a combination of foundation plants will look next to your house . All you need is a photograph of your house ; industrial plant pictorial matter from magazines , catalogs , or Word of God ; removable magnetic tape or rubber cement ; pair of scissors ; blank newspaper ; hunt newspaper ; colored pencil or markers ; and access to a photocopier .
First , snap your house from a distance that includes the garden surface area you wish to develop . Enlarge the photograph to at least 8½ by 14 in . A black - and - clean photocopied expansion works well .
Next , situate pictures of plants you are considering for your landscape painting . run off these pic , lop around the edges of the plants , and glue them onto sheet of plain , white composition . Then make more photocopy , enlarging or reducing the pictures as needed until the plants are in scale with the photo of your house . A front door is about 6 feet tall , so you’re able to apply this figure for shew graduated table . I like to make my plants the sizing they will be at maturity , so that I can see how much room to allow for them in my programme .
Next , lay the photocopied plant on the enlargement of your house , using obliterable tape or India rubber cement so you’re able to reposition them as needed . To create a three - dimensional effect , make plants in the foreground slightly gravid than those next to the house .
Finally , cut across your superimposed photocopy with a shroud of tracing paper and trace the precis of your planetary house with its new front - yard plantings , which you may color with pencil or markers if you wish well .
Your customized plan will be an invaluable tool when you shop for plants and again after when you put them in the primer .
A Few of Todd Phillippi’s Favorite Foundation Plants
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Spreading and low-growing foundation plantings reinforce the sweeping lines of this contemporary home and complement the architecture. Stately trees create a pleasing visual frame around the horizontal house. Tall conifers provide a visual endpoint to the house’s long, horizontal lines.
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Spreading and low-growing foundation plantings reinforce the sweeping lines of this contemporary home and complement the architecture. Stately trees create a pleasing visual frame around the horizontal house. Tall conifers provide a visual endpoint to the house’s long, horizontal lines.
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The essential forms of a house and surrounding plants can be viewed as interrelated, abstract shapes such as circles, ovals, triangles, and rectangles. For example, a single, cone-shaped conifer rising above the roof eave (center) counterbalances the rectangular mass of the chimney to its right.
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The symmetry of the author’s formal-styled home is reinforced by a symmetrical planting design close to the entry, and in the center mound in the foreground. A tall conifer (left foreground) is placed so that the corner of the house points to it and there is enough space for its mature growth.
This site plan depicts a predominantly symmetrical design that becomes slightly asymmetrical as it moves away from the house.
The strong horizontal forms of clipped hedges below windows anchor this tall house to the ground. Rounded and triangular plants balance the house’s rectangular shape.
A weeping English yew (Taxus baccata‘Repandens’) spreads horizontally beneath a window without shearing.
An informal espalier covers an exterior wall while preserving the window views.
The strong horizontal forms of clipped hedges below windows anchor this tall house to the ground. Rounded and triangular plants balance the house’s rectangular shape.
