Landscaping Harrisburg PA involves incorporating ‘hard’ features, such as walkways and patios, into your garden. These structures add structure, expand living space, improve privacy, and help prevent soil erosion.
Professional landscapers use their knowledge of horticulture, design principles, and environmental factors to create functional, aesthetically pleasing outdoor environments. They may also be involved in plant propagation and nursery management.
Color can change the perception of size, draw the eye to a focal point, and add emotion and energy to the landscape. Using the right colors for your landscaping is essential for achieving balance and harmony. It’s also important to understand the psychology of color, which can have a powerful influence on how a person feels about a space. For example, red can make people feel passionate or alert, while blue can calm the nerves.
Understanding color theory is important in creating a balanced and harmonious landscape. The basic principles of color theory are unity, balance, contrast, and harmony. Unity refers to the coherence of the chosen elements, and can be achieved by using plants with similar characteristics or by incorporating a feature that ties the design together. For example, a fountain or garden sculpture can act as a focal point by providing a splash of color that stands out from the rest of the landscape.
Balance is achieved by ensuring that the proportions of each color are correct. For example, using too many light colors can create a washed out look. Conversely, too many dark colors can overpower a design. Contrast is created by pairing opposite colors. Complementary colors are opposite on the color wheel, and they offer vibrant contrast that can help highlight features in the landscape. Analogous colors sit next to each other on the wheel and blend together more subtly.
Harmony is achieved by arranging colors in a visually appealing manner and avoiding too much variation. For example, placing cooler colors behind warm ones can give a sense of depth. Intensity describes the brightness of a color, and it can be increased or decreased by adding tints and shades to the palette.
Form
Form adds a three-dimensional quality to the landscape, helping it feel cohesive and connected. The shape of beds and paths, the outlines of fences and other hardscaped structures, and the overall outline of your garden are examples of form. Plants themselves can also have form, which refers to their individual shapes — square, pyramidal or round — or how they grow together (arched, sprawling, vase-shaped or flat and spreading). Adding a variety of forms prevents the landscape from appearing stark by contrasting sharp edges with smooth curves or angular lines with rounded ones.
The use of line in the landscape also helps define a design theme. Straight lines create a more formal, structured character and are often associated with symmetry. Conversely, curved lines are more natural and can be used to emphasize a focal point or direct attention. Repetition of a specific line, shape, color or texture can also be used to create a sense of rhythm in the landscape. However, repetition should be done with care to avoid overdone monotony and a lack of visual interest.
The color of the plants and hardscape features in your garden can impact the way your landscape looks throughout the seasons. For example, brighter summer colors can make your yard look vibrant and energetic, while softer winter colors can help your landscape feel calm and serene. Choosing the right color for your landscaping requires careful consideration of personal taste, the surrounding environment, and how it will look in different seasons.
Focal Point
A focal point is a key element of landscape design that draws the eye and defines an area of the garden. Focal points are important in landscape design because they establish order and create hierarchy, giving the space a sense of direction and purpose. In addition, they add visual interest and balance. Focal points can be created using plants, water features, hardscape elements, and even sculptures. Choosing the right focal points for your garden is essential because it will define the character of the space and reflect your personal style.
Incorporating a few focal points in your landscape can dramatically increase the overall impact of the design, creating an inviting and relaxing retreat that you can enjoy throughout the year. Focal points should be used sparingly to ensure that they don’t overwhelm the space and become too distracting. For example, a single large plant in a flower bed can serve as a beautiful focal point. However, it is best to utilize several smaller plant species that bloom at different times to provide a range of colors and textures throughout the year.
Focal points can also be added to walkways and paths, creating a sense of destination. For instance, a stunning pond or fountain near your front door can serve as a captivating focal point and create a beautiful transition between the indoors and outdoors. Focal points can also be used to highlight specific architectural features of your home, such as a beautiful entryway or charming seating area. By using a combination of different design techniques, we can transform your front and backyard into an outdoor living space that blurs the line between indoor and outdoor design.
Texture
While color gets all the attention, texture is also a major component of good landscaping. It softens spaces, creates contrast, fashions backdrops and sets moods. It is an important part of the overall design process and must be considered when selecting plants and hardscapes for a landscape, says Wendy Shearer, OALA, CSLA, ASLA.
Texture is all about how rough or fine a surface feels, and it applies to both plant leaves and the hardscape materials used in the landscape. A plant’s branching pattern, size and shape determine its perceived texture, as does its overall appearance.
For example, the coarse textured foliage of cannas and elephant ear contrasts well with rough-cut stone walls or wooden fences, while the delicate, fine-textured foliage of hydrangeas or heucheras complements smooth flagstone surfaces. When choosing plants, it’s also a good idea to choose different textures for the same plant grouping. For example, contrasting the thick, wide foliage of lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina) with the finely-leafed, lacy leaves of a heuchera or heucherella is pleasing to the eye.
Texture can also be used to subtly manipulate our perception of scale and distance in the garden. Placing fine-textured plants along the edges of a garden and coarse-textured ones in the middle makes the landscape feel larger because the fine textures recede into the distance. Alternatively, placing coarse-textured plants in the front of a landscape and fine-textured plants in the back can make it look smaller. It’s a matter of personal preference and what will work best with your property.
Seasons
Most aspects of property care and improvement are seasonal in nature, and landscaping is no exception. For the best results, it is important to recognize and adapt to the seasons.
The beginning of the landscaping season comes in late winter or early spring, depending on your climate zone and weather patterns. Cleaning up debris and preparing the soil for planting are among the first steps of this process.
As the season progresses, it is recommended to prune trees and shrubs before their buds start growing, and watch for the last frost dates to determine when it’s safe to plant flowers and vegetables. This is also a great time to install hardscape projects like outdoor kitchens or patios.
Once summer arrives, it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor! This is when your plants will reach their peak performance and blooms. Regular weeding and watering help to keep your landscape healthy.
If you missed the prime spring planting window, autumn is the next best time to plant. The cooler temperatures and mild humidity provide the ideal environment for new flora to establish strong roots. Plants that are established in the fall have a much easier time surviving summer heat, and their more developed root systems help them perform better than those planted in the spring.
When it comes to landscaping, the maintenance process is just as important as the initial installation. By regularly weeding, mulching, pruning and watering, you’ll help your plants stay healthy throughout the winter and come out stronger in the spring. It is also important to continue protecting your plants from winter’s chill by wrapping them. By keeping up with your maintenance duties, you’ll ensure that your yard looks its absolute best all year round.