“That makes a space feel bigger and the tree seems farther away, even if it’s planted at the edge of the property.” “A tall tree draws your eye up,” Reynolds says. Or plant a few tall trees near your fence line. Borrow a neighbor’s landscaping by framing a view of their trees and creating the illusion that your garden extends out past the property line. ![]() Photo: Richard Bloom.Ī small garden feels larger if it draws the eye up and over the boundary fence. This home’s living room transforms into a covered porch when glass doors are unfolded, revealing a modestly-sized 14-by-14-foot swimming pool, a lawn, and privacy-providing greenery. “When you look out, you want a sense of space,” not a yard jam-packed with wish-list items. Make it a design feature, not the dominant element. For pools especially, Reynolds suggests, it’s better to err on the smaller side. Proper proportion is key to a successful garden design, especially for patios and swimming pools, and they must relate well to the size of the house and other garden elements. “If you can get rid of hot spots, the lighting looks natural.” Focus, too, on highlighting features you want to accentuate and letting less important elements recede into darkness. Eliminating hot spots-the glare of an exposed bulb-is the number one challenge, he says. "Lighting is a huge part of my designs,” Reynolds says. “This gave us a little more space for a patio.” Photo: Richard Bloom. “We used what was next door so that we didn’t have to plant on the inside of the wall,” Reynolds says. Masses unify a textural, heavily planted garden.”įicus repens greens up a white stucco wall, while a borrowed view of neighboring palms fosters the illusion that this garden continues beyond its quarter-acre boundary. “You may have five or six species of plants, and use maybe 10 of one, 20 of another, and 100 of the smaller groundcovers. ![]() No matter what size space you’re planting, “you need masses of things,” Reynolds says. Here are eight tips from Reynolds on creating a garden that feels like art. “I like gardens to feel sculptural and designed in a way that feels like artwork,” he says. “I use native plants in the background as a framework, and in front I layer tropical-looking plants like philodendrons, palms, and variegated plants to bring in color,” he says. Reynolds, who has projects throughout South Florida, the Florida Keys, and the Caribbean, approaches each project much as he would if he were painting a landscape. “Every piece of land has a fingerprint, by which I mean proportion, scale, circulation. “Garden design is my clay,” he says of his process of imagining an outdoor space. ![]() But Key West landscape architect Craig Reynolds, who studied ceramics in college, sees the connection. Molding clay into ceramics may not seem like the most logical preparation for a career designing gardens. FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: Plants, Design Ideas, Gardening Solutions & More!
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