Home Landscape Design IV
By:  S.V. Scott, Master Gardener

There is a rule of thumb in literature that if you want to make a point you must repeat it at least three times. That's not a bad idea when applied to landscape design, either. Repetition gives a design a cohesion it cannot acquire any other way.

Imagine for one moment a world in which every element (tree, shrub, building material) is different from each other, and none is repeated. This is the land of chaos. Repetition is how we make sense of the world; it's also a valuable design tool. Used skillfully, it connects our homes to the surrounding environment.

Repeat elements of your home's construction in the hardscape and outbuildings; the same brick and stone, the same arches, columns, and paving.

Plant native trees and shrubs to attract wildlife and connect your landscape to the larger environment; repeat plants that your neighbors use to connect your garden to the surrounding community. The most attractive homes appear as if they grew out of the earth; an organic part of the land. If you use stone, use only native stone; if that's not possible use only one kind of stone so that you can pretend that it's native.

Repeat the same colors outside as inside, on furniture, accessories, and trim. Group like materials together; all terra cotta pots in a collection, for example, are much more effective together than if they are mixed with plastic or concrete.

Decorative themes repeat well inside and out. Framed herb prints in the kitchen find their mates in the garden beds. Bird, butterfly, and animal representations inside echo their counterparts outside, both real and fabricated.

Repeated plantings give a design order. They are useful backgrounds; as screens and hedges, and useful in the foreground too; as lawns and groundcovers. They frame distant vistas, and give depth to a view. They direct the eye in diminishing perspective, and foreshorten the view with perspective that is false. They obscure what is irregular or unsightly, and emphasize what is pleasingly uniform.

Repetition is a tool with infinite applications. In order to make the best use of this versatile design technique, simply find something you like, and repeat it!