Coming from a professional background in photography to one in landscape design, Mark Goddard of Mr Goddard Landscape Design has a few garden design ideas about composition. Photography and landscape design share many of the same visual rules when it comes to designing a garden. While photography looks within the frame, landscape design must also consider the activities of people in three-dimensional space and seasonal changes to plants and the garden environment. Photographs often capture the little everyday things or special moments, evoking memories of people and places. Landscape design works in a similar way to create beautiful places to celebrate in with family and friends, to relax in after work or to be inspired by. Here are ten elements of photographic design to consider when planning your home garden.

Light

• Consider shadow play from trees and structures to provide depth and interest
• Use the low angle of the sun as a back light to silhouette interesting shapes when looking from the shadow side
• Surface materials can reveal their texture when the light is shining across a surface

Framing

• Use a pergola, arbor, tree or a space between two shrubs to frame a scene that’s inspiring or to invite further exploration

Leading Lines

• This can be applied literally by incorporating a path, wall or a garden bed through a space to a point of interest
• Strategically placed statues, feature plants or a seat create implied leading lines that immediately draw the eye across the garden. These points of interest may only reveal themselves as someone moves through a garden, creating a sense of discovery

Foreground, midground, background

• This can be applied to emphasise depth and height in a garden much like what you’d see in a traditional landscape photograph
• Plant selection naturally includes tall, medium and low growing sizes to accentuate height and depth. Plant sizes are of course relative to the size of each space

Colour

• Warm colours advance, cool colours recede. Warm colours are attention grabbing and dynamic while cool colours provide a sense of space and peace
• Colour contrasts are found opposite each other on the colour wheel and provide a harmony they don’t usually have on their own. In a ying-yang of colour pairings, they include red-green, yellow-purple and blue-orange
• Monochrome colour – designing a colour palette of green leafed plants only
• Point of colour – use a bold or different colour that captures someone’s attention

Texture

• Include plants with different leaf shapes, lengths, sizes and patterns to provide visual interest in the garden

Form

• Creating a rhythm works well with formal layouts to emphasise structure shape, lines and geometry
• Curves are more organic and natural and can soften spaces that include strong structural features
• Garden balance can be created using repeated group plantings that tie different areas of a garden together

Scale

• Scale can provide depth to a garden. Placing smaller objects further away and larger objects in front suggests the space is in fact larger

Perspective

• Create an alternative point of view on flat sites by raising or lowering entertainment areas in a garden. Sitting lower than normal can emphasise height and immersion while sitting higher such as on a raised deck can emphasise space
• Paths seen in their entirety can be slightly reduced in width at the far end to provide the illusion of increased distance

Movement

• On windy days, the garden really comes alive with wind ornaments or plants swaying in the breeze. A water feature also adds sound and movement in the garden on still days.