Lines a mighty garden design tool

Summer challenges us in more ways then one. At a time when the most stately of irises rise above sword-shaped foliage and buds of the elegant foxglove begin to dart out of mounds of supple green leaves, the biggest challenge is what precisely should we look at first?

Landscape designers think long and hard when composing a garden about where the viewer’s attention should be directed. They weave focal points into the design to help draw the viewer’s eye. They try to frame the best vistas, garden art, waterways or plant specimens.

A list of possible focal points in the garden could be, in all probability, endless. Should it be a statue, trellis, prize-plant specimen or sundial? Why not a garden bench, decorative urn or gazebo? A bird bath, wagon wheel or hanging planter? We are limited more by our creativity then by our garden or landscape.

From the grandest formal garden to the tiniest container garden, drawing the eye is a matter of using space, color and form wisely. Whether practical or purely decorative, the focal point should be incorporated into a design after some key factors are considered. Consider first: what makes a focal point? In a word: lines. Lines are drawn in the greater landscape by nature.

The horizon is the most significant line. When we scan the landscape from the top of a hill we’re more apt to look where the horizon line directs our attention than to what is closest to our point of view or what’s up in the sky. Is it the setting sun, a farm framed in the valley of two distant hills or the wispy clouds hovering just above the horizon? Many more lines are drawn in nature and in our communities. In a rural setting, the tops of trees, old stone walls and field edges form lines; in an urban setting, roadways, sidewalks, hedges, fences and adjacent buildings shape the landscape.

In the garden, the lines may not be as grand as the horizon line, but they can be as powerful. Some of the easiest to define are created by the clearly cut edges of garden beds. Remember those connect-the-dot puzzles you did as a child? Well, lines can be created in the garden by using plant material of similar color or form to help the viewer “connect the dots” ending at a focal point.

While it may be an oversimplification of what is a great and complex skill, successfully incorporating a focal point is not unlike composing a good photograph. After all, when we create a garden, we are creating a picture of sorts. A thoughtful photographer carefully examines the lines through the viewfinder in his camera to be sure they direct the eye to the primary subject. The lines in the photo – just as the lines in our garden – may be straight, curvy, horizontal, vertical or diagonal. They may be created by the horizon, objects in the picture or by the subject matter itself.

Imagine for a moment that you’re facing the side of a big old barn. Most likely you’ll study the face of the barn. You’ll look at the doors or windows, but inevitably your eye will wander to the edges of the structure. The walls will direct your eyes upward to the eaves. From the eaves your eyes follow the roof to the peak. From the peak, they travel to the cupola and rove upward until arriving at the focal point: a weathervane. From the ground, the lines of the barn drew your eyes through the “picture” to the focal point.

Consider when designing where the most likely perspective is. From a deck, gazebo or resting place? From a bend in the garden path or the roadway? From the patio or house? Do you want to enhance an area or distract from another that is less pleasing? A focal point can be a diversion from an undesirable view.

Like paths that lead a neighbor to your door, well-designed landscapes use lines to lead the eye of the viewer to your garden’s best features, to the centerpieces of your yard.

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, RR1, Box 2120, Montville 04941, or e-mail them to dianagc@ctel.net. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.