For making your backyard a gorgeous place it is easier to properly place an accent, that will create a balanced composition. And it is also cheaper.
Properly placed accents make the garden memorable and interesting at any time of the year. They also save a lot of money. It is so wrong to buy an expensive plant, that never will be noticed.
What kind of “focal point”
The principle of emphasis is easiest to explain with an interior example. Entering the room, a person involuntarily looks at the window (as the brightest spot) or draws attention to the brightest object in the setting. Focal points can be a water fountain, a fire pit, or a statue that would automatically be the first thing to notice in your backyard. If your first choice is installing a water feature, OutdoorFountainPros.com has some really great fixtures to choose from.
Knowing this, designers fill the interiors with tricks or “focal points”. This is why they make the most spectacular place where the sight will be guaranteed to be directed. Even if the rest of the interior is modest, the “wow effect” will still remain.
Exactly the same visual rules work in the garden, just the focal points are less obvious.
How to use visual techniques in a small garden
To achieve a “wow reaction” with relatives and friends visiting, you do not need hectares of land. Visual effects work well in small gardens.
Accent points at the entrance
The first thing that greets visitors to the garden is the driveway, gate and house. What accents are there if paving and construction are around? In this place, the main role will be played by flowerpots and: decorate the space near the fence with a group of flowerpots in the same style, but in a different shape, hang on the windows and railings some pot holders with plants – and now the first impression has been created. At the entrance, you can plant Thuja Green Giant like the ones you can find on this website.
Straight path + accent
Here we act as royal gardeners: in the end, we must put something attractive. If not a fountain, then a small sculpture.
The viewer should not have a chance not to see and appreciate the idea, so to focus the view, you can cover path’s sides with the short plant fence with or a mixed border.
If the path leads to the outbuilding, place a pad at the end of the path. It can be around or rectangular paved area with a sculpture or flowerpots in the center. Or it can be some decked pad with some patio dining set. To make this kind of pad you can visit this site, which will help you to realize this idea. Or a rounded path, inside which there will be an interesting group of plants, a beautiful tree, or even a fountain.
If the building is small, then the accent can be positioned closer to it, if it is something high, then closer to the house. To prevent the gaze from “wandering”, you can put shorn bushes on the sides of the platform. Purpose: To shift the emphasis from an unsightly building to a beautiful object.
Curved paths
There is such a thing as “visual comfort” – this is the angle that makes it easy to distinguish all objects in general and in detail. For humans, this angle is about 30 degrees. And although the general field of view is much wider, but these 30 degrees are the main ones for visual perception.
Imagine that you are walking along a smoothly curving path, walking aimlessly, without the desire to see something or meet a friend. Look straight and relaxed. Different views will gradually appear to your gaze. If we imagine the turn of the path, then at its highest point from the outside there will be a place in which the gaze “rests” and it doesn’t matter in which direction you are going. This will be an accent point.
What exactly should be there? Usually – a large beautiful tree, a group of shrubs, a rockery, a flower garden or a small clearing, the view of which will open “suddenly.” All these decisions are usually made by a landscape designer when designing a garden for a client.
Important: The emphasis will be visible only until it falls into those cherished 30 degrees of comfortable vision. The smoother the path, the sooner they will notice and will enjoy the view longer. The steeper the turn, the more sudden and brighter, but the effect will be more transient. The more turns on the track, the more accent points there will be on it. But here it is important not to overdo it: firstly, the winding paths greatly lengthen the route, which is not always appropriate and convenient. Secondly, satiety with beauty is also not good.
Maybe some pond?
If the backyard is small, make the pond appear larger than its true size. For example, it can be made oblong in shape, and the recreation area should be placed at a point from which its entire length will be visible.
The longer the perspective, the larger the object appears. A round pond of the same volume will seem much smaller because its banks are closer to the viewer. If you place something beautiful at the end of a perspective view, its appearance will be doubled by reflection, which can create a truly grandiose effect.
You can check here to help you decide what kind of ponds suits your lawn. A quick look at the detailed product reviews will reveal all you need to know about each item.
The view from the windows of the house
When creating a garden, it is sometimes forgotten that “viewers” evaluate it not only from the street but also from inside the premises. Here you can act in two ways. You can arrange the furniture so that the cherished 30 degrees of view is directed to the most interesting corners of the garden. Turning a chair, arranging a dining table, setting an easel.
The best way is when the layout of the house and the creation of the landscape are developed simultaneously (architect and landscape designer). Then there will be no situations that the living room window opens at that part of the garden where planned plants cannot be planted – too shady, marshy, and so on.
If the house is already built, you can go the opposite way – to plan a garden from the existing interior. Sit on the couch, at the table, if the kitchen sink is by the window – stand next to it. If the bathroom has a window, lie down in the bath. So you will find out where your gaze is directed and where it is better to arrange interesting elements of the garden. It can be both plants and sculptures. If buildings come into view, it is important to figure out how to decorate them or, conversely, make them independent accents.
