Landscaping
What is Landscaping?
 Landscaping is a profession that includes
designing, installing, and maintaining the
outdoor human environment.
 There are 3 branches of the landscaping
industry
 Landscape Architecture
 Landscape Contractors
 Landscape Maintenance
Landscape Architects
Licensed professions
Landscape designers usually do actual
drawings for residential landscapes.
Landscape Contractors
 Carry out the installation or actual
construction of the landscape plan
 Often use subcontractors to do special
work such as pools, electrical work,
stonework, etc.
Landscape Maintenance
 Extended care of
existing landscapes
 The care and upkeep
of the landscape after
installation
Landscape Nursery Worker
 Professional who sells and installs landscape
plants and related materials.
Types of Landscape Plans
Landscape Plans
Landscape Principles and
Procedures
Principles of Design
 Balance
 Focalization of Interest
 Simplicity
 Rhythm and Line
 Proportion
 Unity
Balance
 Materials are distributed evenly on opposite
sides of a central axis
 Three types of balance:
 Symmetric
 Asymmetric
 Proximal/distal
 Macro-range-the viewer sees the landscape
from the most distant vantage point
 Closer range-the views from other locations not
as distant
Symmetric Balance
 One side is a
reflective mirror
image of the opposite
side
 Most formal type of
balance
Asymmetric Balance
 Each side has as much interest as the
other
 Not a duplicate of the other side
Proximal/Distal Balance
 Balances right and left as well as near and
far
Focalization of Interest
 Selects and positions visually strong items
in the landscape composition to create
focal points
 Draws the eye of the viewer to one major
feature in each use area
 Example:
corner planting
Simplicity
 Seeks to make viewers comfortable within
the landscape
 Excludes any unnecessary changes in
shape, color, direction, etc.
Rhythm and Line
 Repeating something at a standard
interval or pattern creates rhythm
 Lines establish the shape and form of the
landscape
 Replicating strong existing lines such as
the lines of a house or a pool
 Functions of line plantings include
foundation plantings, block a view, frame a
view, and provide privacy.
Proportion
 The size relationships
between all the
features of the
landscape including
vertical, horizontal,
and spatial
relationships
Proportion
 Will maintain proper
proportional
relationships in a
landscape between
 Buildings and people
 Buildings and plants
 Plants and people
 Plants and plants
 Masses and soils
Unity
 All the separate parts contribute to the
creation of the total design
 Ties together individual parts of each area
by:
 Repeating prominent colors
 Repeating construction materials
 Continuing interior design themes to outdoor
rooms
 Repeat plant species
 Raise patios, decks, and porches to door level
Landscape Processes
 Process is a sequence of steps to reach a
goal
 There are three parts to the landscape
process
 Project development
 Project maintenance
 Design
Project Development Process
 Includes determining need or objective
 Design process
 Accepting the design
 Contracting and subcontracting
 Landscaping
 Acceptance
 Billing and payment
Project Maintenance Process
 Determining need or desire
 Selecting landscape maintenance
company which assesses the needs and
presents a proposal
 If the proposal is accepted, the company
schedules and does the work
 Customer is billed
Design Process
 Site analysis and program analysis
Interior Landscaping
Interior Landscaping
 Called interior plantscaping or interiorscaping
Purposes of Interior Landscaping
 Add color
 Provide herbs for
 Add textures
cooking, medicine, or
fragrance
 Add beauty and
comfort by combining
all of the previously
mentioned purposes
 Add softness
 Add life
 Increase employee
productivity
 Decrease employee
absenteeism
 Add oxygen
Benefits of Interior Landscaping
 Adds color, texture, softness, life and
oxygen to interior plantscape
 Increases employee productivity
 Decreases employee absences from work
 Provides herbs for cooking, fragrance, or
medicine
Disadvantages of Interior
Landscaping
 Reduced light
 Reduced root system
 Dependant upon people for watering
 Build-up of soluble salts from fertilizer
 Plugging stomata from dust on leaves
 Damage from heating, air conditioning,
and cleaning chemicals
Disadvantages of Interior
Landscaping
 Growing medium
 Only plants that will grow inside can be
used
 Picking or breaking leaves by people using
the interior building area
Benefits of Exterior Landscaping
 Adds color, texture, and life
 Adds aesthetic value (beauty)
 Adds economic value to property
 Adds comfort (shade)
 Adds privacy—borders, fences, etc.
 Helps prevent erosion
 Can use larger exterior plants
 Rain natural soil provide most of required water
 Gets natural light
Disadvantages of Exterior
Landscaping
 May get too much rain and drown
 Natural soils may have diseases, insects,
improper pH, etc.
 Natural soils may be shallow or rocky
 Natural outdoor soils may be subject to
erosion
 Weed and insect control is more difficult
 Large areas of landscaping costs more
 More labor is required to establish outdoor
landscape
Methods of Planting Ornamental
Plants
Planting Ornamental Plants
 Tools vary depending
upon type and size of
plants from bulb
planter, trowel, spade,
shovel to power
augers and front end
loaders.