Comments on: Landscape Design 401…The Principle of Proportion

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:20:30 +0000

Barbara,

Thanks for stopping by. There are several schools of thought for how to best determine the width of a bed near structure. Some people will tell you that the bed should be as wide as the wall (so if you have a single story house and the outside wall is 10′, the bed should be 10′ wide).

When I teach my garden design classes I tell my students to remember the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio is 1.618 and you can use is to find the optimal lenght or width of a bed as long as you have one fixed parameter. So, if you have a border that is 15’ long, you divide 15 by 1.618 and you get approx. 9′ wide. If you have a border that is 8’ wide, you multiply 8 by 1.618 and you get approx. 13′ long.

I hope that helps. If not, please let me know and we’ll take a different approach.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:57:33 +0000

Hi Debbie,

I am redesigning my flower/shrub garden on the side
of my 1 car garage attached to a cape style home. The
current garden depth is obviously too shallow for the
height of the garage (with gable). Is there a general rule
for depth vs height of the vertical structure that I can use
to help me with the new layout?

Thanks!!!

By: Landscape Design 501…The Principles of Rhythm and Movement

Landscape Design 501…The Principles of Rhythm and Movement — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:52:29 +0000

[...] This is the fifth article in a series about the basic principles that should be considered when designing a landscape or garden. The first installment, an overview of the five principles, can be found here. To find out more about the principle of Unity and how it applies to landscape design, click here. The third installment in the series, the principle of Balance, can be found here. The fourth installment in the series which deals with the principle of Proportion can be found here. [...]

By: Landscape Design 501…The Principles of Rhythm and Movement « A Garden of Possibilities

Tue, 05 May 2009 08:35:00 +0000

[...] May 5, 2009 by Debbie This is the fifth article in a series about the basic principles that should be considered when designing a landscape or garden. The first installment, an overview of the five principles, can be found here. To find out more about the principle of Unity and how it applies to landscape design, click here. The third installment in the series, the principle of Balance, can be found here. The fourth installment in the series which deals with the principle of Proportion can be found here. [...]

By: Landscape Design 401…The Principle of Proportion | landscaping garden

Landscape Design 401…The Principle of Proportion | landscaping garden — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:59:47 +0000

[...] See the original post: Landscape Design 401…The Principle of Proportion [...]