Elements within a garden design

A Garden and its elements

Recently we were tasked with designing a small boarder garden. It was fun, and challenging, there were a surprising number of elements to consider. The theme was sensory so we really dived in, explored all the sense and the emotions that would result from each. We pushed further for a ‘spicy’ theme, where the colours would be bright and bold with reds and oranges. It would be obnoxious in a way, creating a reaction from our audience, which we wanted. 

Consideration was taken for a backdrop, having black behind red would bring out the colour massively, creating a bigger statement. Having a  plain black board behind the plants makes texture stand out more, which we liked however for practicality this didn’t work so well.

We opted for reinforcing bars, made of steel that were an orangy brown colour. It fitted in with the theme, gave movement to the boarder and was a lot easier to work with. 

Movement was a massive part of this gardens theme; we wanted a dynamic planter that flowed well. Movement was considered within the plants, we used some grasses and finer species. The steel structure, which will flow within the shape, and as well give the garden rhythm, breaking up the vast collection of plants. 

We wanted the planting shape to ‘fall away’ from the steel sculpture, while still giving a very natural and varied feel.   The tree shape was also considered, as this was really important to give balance to the garden. 

Here are a few of the items considered when looking at texture, the plants both large and fine leaved mixed together gives great interest into the garden. The planter made of wood and the steel rods are the hard material textures used within the planter. 

Height and shape from afar was  important for when people were walking up to the garden, we didn’t want it to be flat. The interest would come from the tree and the structure, that we made sure looked balanced.