Dynamic Designs

The creation of a new landscape is commonly compared to a painter’s work on a canvas or a sculptor’s work with clay. The charge given to the landscape designer or architect is to take either an empty lot or an already existing landscape and create a setting that delivers the desired combination of function and beauty.

Everyone involved in a landscape design or installation would love to be able to step back at the completion of every job, take in the entire finished project and say, "Wow." Of course, achieving such dramatic impact isn’t always possible, based upon the scope of the project or the limitations that the job site may present. But every job represents an opportunity for a contractor to achieve more than just functional success and, instead, create function that is surrounded by beauty.

To best find out how to achieve this desired combination, we invited some award-winning landscape companies from around the country to share their tips and suggestions for creating landscape design success.

FIRST THINGS FIRST. There exists a common misconception that the most beautiful landscapes are the best or most successful ones, but that’s far from true. "There are two keys to a successful landscape design, and the first one is really pragmatic," noted Char Crowley, project director, The Pattie Group, Cleveland, Ohio. "Did the project solve a problem or meet the customer’s need? Maybe there was a drainage issue that had to be addressed or a view into a neighbor’s yard had to be closed off or a flat piece of grass had to be turned into a garden. Whatever the goal, the first question a designer should ask him or herself is whether or not they accomplished the big problem-solving parameter of the job."

Once that question has been answered, aesthetics come into play. For Crowley, the seamlessness or flow of a finished landscape is critical to success.

"Do the different elements of the landscape flow into one another, and does the landscape overall flow from the house into the yard?" she asked, adding that such flow is hard to define or put into objective terms. "But when the project is finished the customer should be able to walk out their sliding glass door on to a patio that flows into a garden that flows down to a pool."

A key concern for George Pellettieri, president, Pellettieri Associates, Warner, N.H., is how people enjoy the landscape as they’re approaching it, leaving it or moving within it. "We think the experience of going to or leaving a place is very important, whether that’s a residential location or a commercial property," he explained. "For example, we are always looking to see what it is that you experience as you approach a property. How does the pathway or roadway direct your attention, and then what can we do to capture your attention as you approach the property?"

Being aware of the focus of approaching guests may mean figuring out a way to direct their attention away from a certain area or use the landscape design to surprise them.

"If you’re walking down a path, we may build the path so you have to turn around a large boulder or plant mass, and as you come around the corner your sight line is directed toward a sculpture or some other focal point that will surprise you," Pellettieri explained. "Then you may go past that area and turn another corner and be directed toward a bridge over a stream."

Pellettieri said the same effect could be achieved for people approaching an area by car, and doing so in this case may involve incorporating some of the currently existing landscape elements. "How you set the driveway or the entrance to the property is critical to the visitors’ experience," he noted, explaining that the impression visitors receive as they approach a property heightens the importance of entranceways for commercial properties. "Look for elements like a structure on the property or an apple orchard or something else that will stand out and catch people’s attention."

With new installations, Pellettieri said the landscape designer is ideally involved in the project early enough to interact with the architect so the structure and the landscape can work together.

"The focal points are the key, so we want to be involved with the other design professionals so we can have this same kind of focus from within the house," Pellettieri explained. "That way a client can walk through a doorway into a new room and the window is located in such a way to focus their view on a particular feature in the landscape."

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS. Crowley echoed Pellettieri’s emphasis on the effective use of focal points in the landscape, explaining how using such elements correctly can make the landscape seem more three dimensional to people.

"Aside from the pragmatic issues we talked about, the success of the job comes down to creating a focal point," she emphasized. "What you use is usually based on the style of house or garden you’re working with. Some people like architectural ruins. I have some clients that like to use modern art and outdoor art like a metal wind sculpture or a pretty birdbath to create the focal point.

"But the key to the focal point is that its presence should tell visitors they have arrived in an area that is a room of its own," continued Crowley. "A focal point and the surrounding plantings should work just like a fireplace in a family room or a grand-father clock in a foyer tells you that you’ve entered a particular room, and then the surrounding furniture creates the overall atmosphere for the room."

Crowley said that an overhead trellis, a large gazebo or a bench placed at the end of a walkway could all create a yearning for someone to walk through a landscape and get to that structure. "When I’m designing a landscape, I want to use some structure that people will see and then walk toward," she explained. "And this structure, let’s say it’s a bench, should be placed away from the house so people have to actually walk through the landscape to get to it instead of being able to just open a door from the house and immediately be there."

Other commonly used focal points are water features and beds of perennial color. "There are a lot of fads coming in and out over time, and perennials, beds and borders seem to be what people are interested in right now," observed Michael Becker, co-owner, Estate Gardeners, Omaha, Neb. "The key then becomes keeping your finger on the pulse of the market so you know what is desirable and what is overused."

Becker said he regularly sees a new plant become popular in the Omaha market, and then there will be entire beds all over the area filled with just that plant within a few months time.

When she works with perennial or annual beds, Crowley limits the plant selection. "I think the impact of these plants can be maximized by massing like kinds of plants so that when they are in bloom there is a mass of color that really stands out from the street or from inside the house," she explained. "An entire drift of the same color azaleas is much more effective than a polka-dot effect with a lot of different colors.

"The other way to get the most out of these plantings is to avoid the routine plant material," she continued. "For us in Cleveland, there is a lot of uncommon material that is perfectly hardy and blooms at a different time than the azaleas and rhododendrons, and that will help the property stand out from others."

"Water features are also popular and will vary in size, but they are also expensive and very high end, so we won’t include them in a design unless they are specifically asked for and there is at least $10,000 in the budget just for the water feature," Becker added. "Water features are a challenge, and there’s nothing worse than a poorly done water feature."

Other landscape elements Becker likes to incorporate for focal points include architecture in the landscape, such as a freestanding pergola, architectural salvage or a freestanding decorative fence panel. "Architecture in the landscape is great, and the fence panels work well to block a view or create a sense of a room," he said.

BUDGETARY BLUES. Of course, the ultimate limitation on what can be accomplished on a project is almost always the customer’s budget, and that’s a key piece of information for designers to be aware of.

"One of our first questions when entering into a design contract is what dollar amount we’re designing to," related Becker. "People aren’t always happy about divulging their budget, but you have to reassure them that they have to let you know so you can plan their landscape accordingly."

"Overdesigning a site is very easy to do, so part of our initial interview with the client is a very serious discussion about their budget," agreed Crowley. "We want to be clear about what they want to invest so we can figure out how to maximize the effect of those dollars."

Becker said he takes into account the client’s budget and their goals with the landscape to plan the project. "If they want curb appeal, then we’ll focus first on the front of the house," he explained. "If they want to entertain, then we’ll see what we can do with a patio and some beds behind the house instead."

In general, Becker thinks landscape beds offer the best opportunity for designers to achieve the strongest impact on tight budgets. "The first thing you want to do on a job is establish good beds with clean lines and then plant some trees," he recommended. "I think a good bed with a clean line is more attractive than a poorly established bed with a couple of spindly shrubs in it."

While Crowley agreed that managing the foundation planting correctly is important, she said this part of the project requires additional customer communication. "The hardest part of phasing in a project is the first year when the nuts and bolts are taken care of because there really isn’t any pizzazz added to the property," she observed.

Becker said this approach also lends itself well to phasing in a master plan over the span of a few years to accommodate a client’s budget. "Phasing the project in this way can work well because we can focus on one area at a time, such as getting the foundation plantings in one year and the irrigation system in another year," he noted, adding that 95 percent of Estate Gardeners’ projects are installed in phases over multiple years. "Otherwise money can be wasted by having to transplant plants or renovate the irrigation system because it wasn’t installed to accommodate the final plans."