Landscape Design
for Difficult Spaces
Many clients find themselves in a difficult position trying to
integrate a remodeled home with new elevations, entrances and
windows that no longer have a good relationship with the
existing landscape design. A new home on a cleared lot that has
no landscape design can be even more overwhelming with endless
possibilities and viewpoints from which to consider a new
garden, pool, arbors, pathways and landscaping. A good
landscape
designer can bring fresh eyes and new possibilities to difficult
spaces.
Define the Landscape Program
As a home owner it’s important to break through the frustration
of your existing landscape design and just decide what you want.
Your program is an outline or list of desired wants/needs and
functions for the site. For example, “I want a beautiful pool
with some kind of water feature, grill area and spot for
entertainment” or “I want my landscape design to reflect the
beauty of the Tuscan Valley.” Visualize and use all of your
senses in how you will enjoy your new landscape garden
entertaining or relaxing with family and friends.
Landscape Concept
Once we meet on site with the client and get their landscape
program, challenges of the site and the relationship of the
architecture to the site a basic working skeleton or backbone
begins to emerge. These might be simple indications of desired
locations for the pool, areas to screen and pedestrian flow
patterns. As good landscape designers intuitive, imaginative,
analytical abilities and experience of space all come together,
a design intent and concept crystallizes.
Turning Landscape Liabilities into Assets
The goal is to create spaces that relate to the home and
elements that also have a relationship with the yard and
surrounding area. First, look at the large factors that will
literally determine whether or not you can have all the items on
your wish list or not. “We really need to screen the neighbor’s
windows, or we will have to conceal the generator or pool
equipment.” In looking at assets and liabilities we are first
testing the big picture the viability/capacity of the site.
Refining Spaces and Transitions
Once the larger assets and liabilities are resolved you can move
on to the details. Now is the time to address the
smaller
spaces such as transitions between the home were maybe the
foundation is unsightly and needs to be hidden. This is were you
put attention on how to hide 18” of concrete foundation or
moving a 3 foot path away from the foundation to accommodate for
greater landscape layering. The landscape design is a hierarchy
of problem/solution/problem/solution down to each detail and
back out in relation to the whole. The overall objective of any
great landscape design is a space that breathes with the home
and has a relationship to its surroundings-reflecting the
client's visual desires and functionally working together in
every aspect.
Additional tricks of the trade are listed here:
- Arbors and Pergolas- can be utilized to screen
neighbor’s homes or to create a focal point in an area that
needs a destination.
- Decks and Patios- Utilize to organize outdoor spaces.
Be intentional and define space-a 10’ x 10’ is a standard for
simple 4 person sitting area. Your “hierarchy” of patio space
may be public entertainment, private seating area for coffee,
reading, and pathways to connect to the home or side yard.
Pools- the present design trend for pools includes;
sun shelf, swimming area, spa, functional and detailed elements
such as benches, jets, and fountains. If the relationship of the
home to the site has many odd angles, a curvilinear or arch in
the pool design may resolve this beautifully. In a formal home
scenario, you might relate the house to
pool and patio and
resolve the relationship of the property line with plantings.
- Screening Hedges - Large trees can be strategically
placed to give privacy to fence edges or offer screening to
neighbor’s houses. ) Long driveways and property line fences
often need SCALE to them were hedges and colonnades could be
used. Another opportunity in breaking up a long boring fence
would is with the use of wire pattern work for vines. These
don’t have to be typical rectangles they can be overlapping
triangles, creative patterns that not only add scale but
something of creative interest to look at as well.
If you are interested in any
high-quality landscape services,
Exterior Worlds has been providing the high-end residential
landscape services and garden design services discussed above
for the Houston and the surrounding areas including memorial
villages (Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Hunter Creek
Village), Tanglewood, River Oaks, West University and the
greater Houston (Hou), area since 1987. Contact us at
713-827-2255
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