Three principles of garden design apply to the overall "feel" of the landscape: namely, proportion, transition and unity. Landscape plants should be arranged so as to conform to these principles. Proportion is the sense that the size of the individual components (the landscape plants) or groups of components in a landscape is consistent with the landscape as a whole. In other words, the idea behind proportion is very similar to that behind the basic element, scale. But the difference is that, while "scale" is a neutral term, "proportion" is based on the premise that something is either "in proportion" or "out of proportion." A garden design that is out of proportion is one that is marred by abrupt transitions or by the lack of transition. For instance, a five-foot high stone wall might elegantly set off a large home, but would make a small home look all the smaller. The landscaping of the latter suffers from a lack of transition: the height of the wall is too close to that of the house. Transition, simply put, refers to gradual change.
Conforming to a sense of proportion is, in turn, one characteristic of a landscape or garden design that exhibits unity. Unity, or "harmony" has been achieved when the viewer senses that all the landscape plants in a garden design complement each other and have been chosen with one over-arching theme in mind. The placement of landscape plants in a thoughtful manner regarding their form is one method for promoting a unified feel. For instance, small trees flanking a driveway or an entrance should have the same form. Repetition also promotes unity. Like all good things, however, unity can be pushed too far. Introduce some variety, or "contrast" into a landscape, too. One way is through the use of landscape plants that vary in texture. The element, texture is subtle enough that it can be employed to inject variety into a garden design without destroying unity.
On Page 4 we'll take a look at three more garden design principles best studied as a group....
