Horticulture Principles and Practices

15
Principles of Landscaping
PURPOSE AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES
This chapter discusses the principles and steps involved in landscape design.
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to
1. Define the term landscaping and discuss its categories.
2. List and discuss the basic principles of landscaping.
3. Describe the steps involved in a landscape design.
4. Describe how plants are selected for a landscape.
OVERVIEW
Using plants outdoors to enhance the general view is not a modern-day invention.
Although sometimes plants are used alone, at other times they are used in conjunction
with nonplant elements such as sculptures, walkways, and fountains to create a view or
environment that is aesthetically pleasing and nurturing to the human spirit (Figure 15–1).
The key goals of landscaping design may be summed up into two—function and
aesthetics. You may remember from an earlier chapter that horticulture is both a science
and an art. Landscaping may be likened to using plants to paint a picture, with the open
space as the canvas. One key difference is that unlike painting on canvas, the subjects in
the picture are not static but change with time. The changes may be in form, size, and
age. It takes time to stabilize plant characteristics, which can be controlled only with
good maintenance. However, there is more to landscaping than appearance, even though
aesthetics is what is most readily noticeable to most people and thus associated with the
discipline. The landscape artist, properly called a landscape designer, can, with proper
choice of plants and design or arrangement, elicit certain responses from people who use
the landscaped area.
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