A landscape design theme offers inspiration and guidance for decisions about how to create or improve landscaping on a particular property.
The landscape design theme you choose will help you to pick built features, distinguishing materials, a signature form, and recognizable spatial organization that all works together to beautify the property.
“Using a design theme is helpful because most of the decisions that must be made about the landscape are already made—they are inherent in the theme. A design theme can be based on a form (Figure 2), a style, a type of landscape, or a combination of any of the three,” explains the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS).
Not All Landscaping Includes Landscaping Design
When most people in Cornwall-On-Hudson think of a landscaping company, they imagine someone who pulls up in a pickup truck full of lawn mowers, weed whackers, and rakes. Your average landscaping company focuses on basic lawn care services, like mowing, weed treatment, fertilization, and perhaps even irrigation maintenance.
While we offer those services here at Benninger Landscaping, and would be happy to provide a quote for your home or business, our real passion lies in landscaping design.
For many people, it’s not immediately obvious what makes landscaping design different from lawn care, so we decided to create a blog post that points out some of the ways these two services are unique.
The Importance Of Theme In Landscape Design
Nearly every home in the Cornwall-On-Hudson area has a landscaped yard. Some of them are basic and some are elaborate. Some are purposeful, meaning the landscaping was designed intentionally when the house was built, or improved at some point thereafter. While other landscaping is accidental, meaning it simply evolved over time as things grew on their own, died, and were replaced.
While “accidental landscaping” is definitely the low-effort choice, it’s not usually what’s best for your enjoyment of the property, and for improving its value over time. This is where the services of a professional landscape design team can come in handy.
“A theme can unify your landscape and help guide you when making plant and material selections,” explains Colorado Homes Mag. “Themes can help guide how you place and select plants, decorations, hardscapes, and structures.”
The landscape design professionals at Benninger Landscaping in Cornwall-On-Hudson are skilled in the art of natural landscaping, which is the practice of creating gorgeous, functional residential landscape designs that mesh beautifully with the natural environment. However, there are many different landscape design ideas and styles you can choose from.
Examples Of Popular Landscape Design Ideas And Styles
- English Country Cottage – Imagine manicured lawns fringed with brightly-colored flowers, trimmed shrubbery, and perhaps even a water feature like a pond or waterfall.
- Mediterranean – Envision retaining walls of brick or stone decorated with planted boxes filled with flowering plants. Stone pathways allow you to explore the entirety of the property, along which more fragrant plants and flowers are blooming.
- European Formal – In this landscape design theme, straight lines and square flower beds abound, along with lots of dark shrubbery that creates privacy or focuses the eye on one particular garden features. This theme also pairs well with hardscaping features like fountains and benches.
- Japanese Zen – Want to create a yard that just oozes peace and tranquility? Follow a Japanese zen garden theme! Imagine fish ponds, bridges, and curving pathways, with understated but beautiful plants like orchids, cherry trees, or bamboo.
- Herb Garden – Looking for a landscape design theme that’s more practical than pretentious? We’ve got you covered! An herb garden theme allows you to enjoy the beauty of flowering herbs that help pollinators and can then be incorporated into your cooking.
Questions That Can Help You Identify Your Perfect Landscape Theme
So how do you decide which residential landscaping theme is right for your property? It starts by asking yourself a series of questions that will help reveal your true desires.
- Do you prefer neat, geometric shapes and structures in your landscape? Or do you prefer something that’s softer, more natural and rambling?
- Do you want a landscape to include only specific colors?
- Do you enjoy the architectural look of a particular country or region of America?
- Are you interested in functionality or beauty? Will you be maintaining the landscaping yourself or using the services of Benninger Landscaping?
Questions like these will help you choose a unified theme for your garden.
Contact us to schedule a landscape design consultation today!