Scale is a big word; there are lots of meanings-many of them designed-charged. Overscaled can be good, fun, dramatic, compelling- or just plain theatrical. Underscaled can ruin a beautifully bold idea before the shovel goes in the ground. Proper scale is classic. This applies to landscapes, fashion, furniture, and rooms; I am sure I am forgetting many others. When things are the right size, you instinctively know it. Any person could tell you if a portrait of a person is badly drawn-we all know faces, and their proportions, as we have had non-stop exposure to the human face. But most could not draw the human face unless they were taught. Unless they learned about scale and proportion. The key idea here-some things can be learned, and can be used as a tool to get your design going somewhere.
[Read more…]
The Big Picture
Ready to Plan?
What is it the right time for? That’s simple-make plans. People are good at planning. We are actually much better at planning, than dealing with what we didn’t plan for-so make use of what you are good at. We’ve all made grocery lists, given birthday parties, hosted holiday dinners, decided to have families, gone back to school, moved on. A landscape by design, which is a fancy way of saying, by plan, is planning-don’t be afraid.
I am a professional landscape designer, and I think I have my place. Designing and outfitting the outdoors is no less expensive than designing the inside of a house-with the added headache that things grow up differently than we think they will, and they do poorly, or die, more often than we think they will. But even people who hire landscape designers need to add their skill at planning to the mix- its always the relationship between an designer and a client that makes for really beautiful landscapes. Ready to plan?
Green Structure
The numbers of articles addressing the need for, and the satisfaction of structure in a landscape must number in the thousands. My take is that the number one function of evergreens in Michigan landscapes is to bridge, and celebrate the seasons.
[Read more…]