Making Your Garden 3-Dimensional With Shrubs and Small Trees
The best gardens are those that take advantage of shrubs and small trees to shape 3-dimensional space. This article will teach you a few ways that you can do just that for your garden space.
For some art forms, the final product is a two-dimensional image that the viewer can enjoy. However, that is not at all the case for a landscape design. Landscapes and garden spaces are places that we move through as we experience them. The way you arrange your trees and shrubs is one of the main ways that you can shape that three-dimensional space. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few of the basics regarding how to make your garden three-dimensional with trees and shrubs.
At the most fundamental level, the role of a landscape designer is to create outdoor places that are enjoyable to be in. As such, a major part of the landscape design process is shaping space through the use of plants.
In this effort, a garden designer is wise to take cues from architects and interior designers. Those professionals serve a similar foundational role by taking great care in shaping the indoor spaces in which we live. Although it is not immediately obvious, landscape spaces often have elements that mimic the floors, walls, and ceilings that an architect adds to a building. The main difference is that landscape designers use plants and garden structures rather than the materials that would compose an architect’s house or building.
Landscape spaces also have a lesser degree of enclosure than the rooms of a building. Rather than having a complete set of walls, a landscape space will have exposure to the sky or to other parts of the garden. However, the presence of these elements can play a key role in making a garden space feel like a protected and secluded retreat. Let’s proceed to two distinct ways that you can use trees and shrubs to achieve that effect.
One of the best ways to use shrubs and small trees in your landscape design is to add privacy. For example, by surrounding a patio space with large shrubs, you can easily block sightlines from neighboring properties. In this instance, the foliage of the hedge you plant acts as a wall to your patio space.
If enhancing the privacy of your garden is your goal, you should consider using plant species that are evergreen. That way, you can have a visual barrier around your favorite garden spaces during all seasons of the year. A well-placed privacy hedge can also block cold season winds, making your garden a pleasant place for more of the year.
This sort of three-dimensional design thought is also very useful for any time you wish to add definition to your landscape. For example, you may wish to form divisions between different landscape spaces within your yard. Or, you can use large shrubs as a way to delineate a property line where no other physical marker exists.
Another way that you can create an interesting three-dimensional effect in your garden is to use small trees to create an overhead canopy. A small tree canopy can make your outdoor spaces more bearable during the hot summer months by casting some much-needed shade. They also have an intriguing visual effect as they cast a shimmering filtered light to the ground below.
To create such a canopy using small trees, you should choose a species that has a round or spreading form. With such a growth habit, your tree will continue to spread over the years, creating a complete ceiling effect above your garden.
Interestingly, a healthy overhead canopy seems to impact us on a deep psychological level. The prospect refuge theory suggests that being beneath a tree canopy can tap into our primal need for security. In that light, a small tree canopy might be just what you need to make your garden that much more soothing to you and those who visit it.
Defining space is a primary concern for anyone using trees and shrubs in a landscape design. However, there is another way that you can add trees and shrubs to your garden. Some gardeners take the approach of treating trees and shrubs as sculptural elements.
Just as a real sculpture is something that we can view and admire from all angles, an impressive plant can give the same feeling. That is one reason why both sculptures and specimen plants are common focal points in many gardens.
To pull this off, you should select a small tree or shrub that has captivating ornamental qualities or an appealing growth habit. Then place that plant in an area of the garden where it can get some attention. Selective pruning will make your specimen tree a showcase item in your garden season after season.
