The systematic planning of a garden is an art. One must have a thorough knowledge of plants, soils, land topography and local environmental conditions.
Landscape
“A landscape may be defined as any area, either big or small, on which it is possible or desirable to mould a view or a design”.
Landscape gardening
It may be described as the application of garden forms, methods and materials with a view to improve the landscape. The art of designing is known as “Landscape Architecture,” although the older term “Landscape gardening” is also popular.
Important considerations of gardening:
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A garden has to be one’s own creation and not an imitation, giving due consideration to the local environment.
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Overcrowding of the plants should be avoided.
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Take advantage of natural topography while designing garden
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Perfect harmony of different components is the essence in landscape gardening.
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Before planning a design one must be sure for what purpose the garden is – utility or beauty or both.
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Principles of Landscape Gardening
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Initial Approach
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A good designer should design the landscape in the available space
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The natural topography should be retained.
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Fencing, should be such that it looks natural as far as practicable and it should not obstruct any natural view.
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For example, if there is natural forest scenery or a hillock just outside the boundary, it should be incorporated in the garden design in a thoughtful manner so that it appears to be a part of the garden.
Axis
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This is an imaginary line in any garden around which the garden is created striking a balance.
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In a formal garden, the central line is the axis.
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At the end of an axis, generally there will be a centre of attraction, although other architectural features such as bird-bath or sundial can also be erected at about the midpoint.
Focal Point
Mass effect
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Unity
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Unity in a garden is very important and will improve the artistic look of the garden.
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Unity has to be achieved from various angles.
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First, the unity of style, feeling, and function between the building and the garden has to be achieved.
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Secondly, the different components of the gardens should merge harmoniously with each other. The aim is to create an overall impression of the garden rather than blowing up some special features.
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Lastly, it is of prime importance to achieve harmony between the landscape outside and the garden. A garden laid out in complete defiance of the local conditions may look exotic, but is not a successful garden.
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As for example, cacti planted in a seashore garden is completely out of place as these are inhabitants of dry localities.
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To achieve a unity between the building and the garden it is a common practice to train creepers on the front porch which cover the rudeness of the masonry work and also bring the building closer to nature. For the same reasons, foundation plantings are also done.
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A foundation planting broadly means the planting of bushy plants near the foundation of the building.
Space
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The aim of every garden design should be such that the garden should appear larger than its actual size.
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One way of achieving this is to keep vast open spaces, preferably under lawn and restrict the plantings in the periphery, normally avoiding any planting in the centre.
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But if any planting has to be done in the centre the choice should be a tree which branches at a higher level on the trunk (or the lower branches are removed), and not a bushy shrub.
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Such planting will not obstruct the view or make the garden appear smaller than its size.
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Another suggestion to create the illusion of more space in a large public garden is to alternate large lawns followed by a group of trees. A large open space planted haphazardly all over with trees looks smaller than its size.
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The techniques of creating an illusion of more space are also referred to as 'Forced Perspective.
Divisional Lines
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In a landscape garden, there should not be any hard and fast divisional lines. However, there is the necessity of dividing or rather screening a compost pit or a Mali’s quarter or a vegetable garden from the rest of the garden.
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In fact areas under lawn, gravel, stone or cement path, and shrubbery border have their natural divisional lines from its immediate neighbour though these are not discreet.
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The divisional lines should be artistic with gentle curves and these should also be useful.
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Above all these lines should harmonize with one another.
Proportion and Scale
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Proportion in a garden may be defined as a definite relationship between different elements.
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For example, a rectangle having a ratio of 5:8 is considered to be of pleasing proportion.
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As this ratio comes down the form looks neither a square nor a rectangle and the design becomes undesirable.
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There is no set rule with respect to scale and proportion in a garden, ultimately the design should look pleasant. It is better to have an ad-hoc design first and then try it out on the actual spot.
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If the design looks appealing as well as pleasing, it is implemented. When a shrubbery border has to be planted the outer design is marked by arranging a rubber hose or thick wet rope in different designs on the spot and the one, which looks best, is adopted.
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Judgment of scale and proportion fully depends on the individual experience and the thorough knowledge of plants.
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Texture
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The surface character of a garden unit is referred to as texture. The texture of the ground, the leaves of a tree or shrub will all determine the overall effect of the garden.
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Generally, the texture is of three types’ viz., fine, medium and course. The texture of plant depends on its leaf size, arrangement of branches and compactness of canopy.
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Moreover, the texture can also be classified as rough and smooth based on the appearance. A. gulmohar is a fine textured tree when in full leaf, whereas Spathodea companulata is a coarse textured tree.
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The placement of all these various textures with harmony and contrast has to be achieved to get the ultimate desirable effect.
Light and Time
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In a garden the time factor is very important. The garden design should be planned in such a way that in the afternoon it is possible to sit in a shaded place from where the best part of the garden should be visible.
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The growth habits of the plants play a vital role in choosing the right place for them in the garden and according the layout has to be planned.
Tone and Colour
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In a landscape garden, the permanent backdrop is the green tones of the various trees and shrubs.
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It is possible to lay out a garden with subtle tone of entirely white or yellow flowers, but at the same time making it charming also. Another important point is that it is better to have masses of a single colour against a mixture of colours.
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A bed of roses containing only a single colour of say red, yellow, or pink has a much softer tone and beauty than a bed containing a mixture of colours. A good garden architect should have the knowledge of colour wheel and colour schemes for charming colour in the garden.
Mobility
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In a temperate zones, the garden changes colour very sharply and contrastingly from one season to the other thus symbolizing mobility or movement. As for example, many trees in the temperate zones attire themselves with wonderful hues due to the changes in their leaf colour in the autumn.
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In most parts of Tropical India, though these contrasting changes cannot be achieved, it is possible to bring in some subtle changes.
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For example, to create some symbol of movement trees such as Bengal or Indian Almond (Terminalia catappa) which changes its leaf colour into striking red twice annually before falling or Lagerstroemia flos-reginae which also changes the colour of the leaves to coppery shade in the autumn before shedding, or Madhuca indica and Ficus religiosa, the new foliage of these appearing as coppery red in the spring, should be planted in some parts of the garden. This, in addition, improves the landscape.
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The mobility can also be achieved by raising flowering annuals of different colour in form of flower beds. Changing the position of potted plants may also bring mobility in the garden.
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The movement and cluttering of birds will bring life and mobility to the garden. Large trees and bird-baths attract birds. For the smaller birds, the safety of shrubberies is needed to protect them from large predator birds.
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Some plants, bearing berries, such as Ficus infectoria and Syzygium cumini (Syn. Eugenia jambolana), can also be planted in some remote corners though they may not look very ornamental. Flowering trees such as Bombax malabaricum (silk cotton) or Erythrina also attract birds when in bloom.
The seasonal flowers will bring in the motion and movement of colourful butterflies. Fountains or even a lawn sprinkler and streams in a garden also serve the objective of movement. The lily pools should be filled with coloured fish, the movement of which will be an added attraction.
Style
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Lastly, one has to decide about the style to be adopted for a particular garden. Every garden designer has to invent his own style of gardening commensurate with his budget, taste and the nature of the site, ease of maintenance.
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One can develop his own design only when he studies carefully all the garden styles of the world and grasps the underlying principles in them.
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