Garden Design Principle: Balance and Proportion

When designing a garden there are several design principles which act as a guide throughout the design process. When viewing a garden, we automatically evaluate what we see to try and make sense of the space. 

This happens without thinking and can either make the experience an enjoyable one if the principles are followed, or uncomfortable or ‘shocking’ if they are not followed.

It is worth noting that sometimes going against these principles can create drama or impact, which may be the intention of the garden designer.

What is balance?

When designing a garden, it can be useful to think of the garden as a set of weighing scales. When an object is placed on one side of the scale / garden, it should be balanced by another object on the opposite side.

How do we achieve balance?

There are two ways in which balance can be achieved:

• Formal balance (symmetrical balance)

• Hidden balance (asymmetrical balance)

Formal balance

Symmetrical Balance is where we create a mirror image to our design. E.g. having a tree either side of a pathway. Think of the symmetry we find when visiting the gardens of a stately home.

Hidden balance

Unlike formal balance, it is not essential to have a mirror image when designing a garden, but you add an object of similar proportions to the opposite side of the garden.

This goes back to the idea of having a set of weighing scales where your aim is to make the garden balance by having the same ‘weight’ of objects on either side of the design. This form of balance would be more appropriate when designing a modern, relaxed style garden compared to a formal garden found in a stately home.

Proportion

The best way to explain proportion is through examples of where it’s not achieved. You may have a large lawn in a garden with a very small pond in the centre of the lawn. The pond here would look out of place, as it is not in proportion to the size of the large lawn.

Maybe you install a garden bench and plant a small shrub either side of the bench. The first few years the shrubs grow a little, but then in years 2 and 3 the shrubs grow drastically and now look out of place, towering over the bench. This is another example of where the proportions are now all wrong.

How to achieve proportion

There are several steps you can take to ensure that you have proportion in your garden.

• Ensure each element of your garden is in proportion to the surrounding environment. 

• Consider not just the size of the plant or element, but also the colour. Dark colours add more ‘weight’ to their appearance, making them appear larger than lighter colours.

• Think of the future. The plants you have chosen, will they still look proportional to the rest of the garden once they have matured in a few years?

Now than you understand the basics of balance and proportion, I hope that you will view your own garden in a new light so that it’s the best it can be.

Happy gardening!