Landscaping is the art of garden design. Look at the important principles and parts of the landscaping design process.

Incorporating aesthetics with functionality is the secret to good garden landscaping design. Learn about some of the design elements you, or your landscape designer, will need to consider when creating a garden.

Living vs non-living

When landscaping, you must consider how the living and non-living components fit together. You should select your living components – trees, plants, even animals – to suit your paving, paths, rockery, statues and walls, and vice versa.

Treat it like a room

When planning your garden landscaping, conceptualize your outdoor space as you would a room in your house. Thus, storage issues, outdoor furniture, power, and things like clothes lines are less likely to be left off the list.

Don’t be a fashion victim

Choosing the very latest fad in garden landscaping can actually work against you in the long run. Fashion faux pas all the time - certain styles of pavers, or swimming pool shapes, pebblecrete and so on. If you want a garden that grows in value, timeless design is important.

Keep it simple

Lots of garden landscaping experts suggest the mantra "Try to keep it simple." Any short-term landscaping design features should be minor so that if it does become dated, it can be easily changed. Hence, good use of space is more important than putting in a trendy water feature.

Create separate spaces

In garden landscaping, a good way to achieve separated spaces is to create a split level garden. Be sure this type of design can do wonders for a sloping block by creating a cascade of workable flat spaces.
Remember that creating a split level garden requires the expertise of a professional, experienced in constructed retaining walls and establishing drainage systems.

- Screens, archways, pergolas, bridges and hedges are landscaping devices that can act as 'gateways' between different spaces in your garden.

Year-round usability

Visualize how your imagined garden landscaping will look in all four seasons.
- Will the pergola or feature trees stop much-needed winter light from entering the house?
- Will the feature trees produce overwhelming leaf litter over the entertainment area in autumn?