Why It Is Important to Have a Focus in Your Landscape Decor

June 2, 2017

Landscape decor should have a focal point rather than planting flowers, trees, and shrubbery randomly. The attention to a particular place in your yard should enhance the effect but never be overpowering.

How To Create Focus

You can create a focus of a particular place with a variety of natural or man-made elements including:

• Trees
• Shrubbery
• Boulders
• Gazebo or Pergola
• Fountain
• Pond

Whatever you use to create a center of attention with your landscape design, it should be harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

The Purpose of Landscaping

Landscaping design is used to compliment the architecture and decor of your home. The idea is to draw the eye to a focal point in the yard and work around it. The flowers and plants you choose for landscaping your yard is the fun part, but with unlimited choices, it can be overwhelming. When deciding on colors, you can pick colors that are complementary or contrasting. You can start with a small area and add to it or landscape your entire outdoor space. Make sure to have a focal point that you work around.

Landscaping Techniques To Beautify Your Home

1. Foundation plantings using shrubs or flowers around the foundation compliment the exterior decor of your home. To focus on a front facing wall with windows, plant decorative shrubbery between the two windows at the foundation and plant other bushes around it symmetrically to draw attention to the center wall. Foundation planting is effective for a home with exterior siding to break up the horizontal lines of the house.

2. Flank entryways with trees or shrubs, with taller plants at the larger of the doorways. Another way to use the front entryway as a focus point is to plant decorative shrubbery on either side of the front entrance.

3. Planting to scale can enhance or detract from the landscaping. Trees that grow to great heights shouldn’t be planted near a one-story home. However, planting a flowering tree such as a dogwood will compliment the design of the house and its architectural details.

4. Framing is a way to enhance distant scenery that’s visible from your property such as a mountain scene. To make the panoramic view the focus, plant a line of shrubbery, flowering trees, or hedges.

5. Curving lines are effective in creating a relaxed, informal atmosphere with your landscaping design. Curing lines create a more natural setting than a formal garden. Curved line plantings are effective in an area near a small pond or lake on the property as well as a wooded spot. The curved style of plantings works well with one-story, contemporary homes to minimize the straight lines.

6. Creating a focus for a garden can be challenging, whether your space is large or small. When flowers are planted randomly, there’s not a focal point. Some points to remember when creating a focus are:

• Position the focal point a little off center
• For a circular garden, place the focal point toward the rear
• The focus can be a statue, tree, birdbath, or fountain
• Use seasonal plantings in a group

A landscaper can work with you to create a beautifully landscaped yard and advise you about the flowers, trees, and shrubs that will grow well in your area and enhance the appearance of your home.