The 4 Basic Elements of Landscaping

Landscaping combines four primary building blocks: lines, form, texture, and color. But what do each of these elements mean, and how do they work together to create a full landscape? 

1.) Lines

You don’t have to cover your yard in stripes to incorporate lines in your landscape. In the world of landscaping design, lines are created where two materials meet, where edges are visible against a background, or where a structure in a linear shape sits in a yard.

Sound a little abstract? Here are some examples of lines in a landscape:

• Fences
• Garden bed borders
• Sod lines
• Garden paths
• Patio borders
• Tall trees
• Pole-mounted birdhouses (or bat houses)

Lines can influence the character of a landscape – straight lines create structure and formality while curves create relaxation or natural ambience. Vertical lines create movement and excitement and can emphasize certain features, while horizontal lines evoke rest and work to divide or tie a space together.

2.) Form

Form refers to three-dimensional shapes in the landscape, such as bushes, garden beds, and hardscaping structures like sheds, walkways, or gazebos. 

Form is typically considered in conjunction with the style of your home – for instance, round or soft shapes will complement a Mediterranean or cottage house, while right angles are best for mid-century modern and ranch-style houses.

Form organizes the landscape and typically determines the style of the garden. Geometric forms include circles, squares, and polygons, while naturalistic forms include organic edges like boulders and foliage, as well as pathways or garden beds with meandering lines that mimic water. 

3.) Texture

Texture refers to the feeling and appearance of surfaces in the landscape, such as plants, hardscape elements, and rocks or boulders. Texture can create contrast or unity, which is generally determined by whether the surface is coarse or fine – coarse textures stand out more, while fine ones blend into the surrounding landscape.

The surface of bark, the shape and size of leaves, the intensity of color, and the cut or finish of hardscaping brick or stone all carry texture. A peeling crape myrtle, for instance, will create a more dominant texture than the smooth bark of a birch tree. Coarse textures can make a landscape feel smaller, while fine ones can make a small space seem larger.

4.) Color

Color is the most noticeable element in a landscape, but it also changes the most throughout the year–– colorful flowers may go dormant or die off as their blooming season ends, while lush green leaves turn into an array of fall colors. Still, brightening up your landscape with a color scheme is a great way to customize and take advantage of the functionality it can offer.

Here are just a few ways color can work for you:

• Attract attention to a focal point, such as a door or water feature
• Divert attention away from functional elements, such as utility boxes
• Combine with texture to make your yard appear bigger or smaller

Use of color in landscape design is guided by the color wheel, which maps out warm colors red, yellow, and orange, and cool colors blue and green. Purple can appear cool or warm in a landscape depending on the colors around it. Warm colors create excitement and pop in your landscape, while cool colors blend into the background and evoke serenity and calm. Source e