Who knew that one of of the easiest landscape design moves could also be one of the most elegant? Not only an implementation to be relegated to farms and fields, massing is a design tool that transcends all styles and lot sizes.

Mass plantings produce a dramatic effect at any scale, and they have the ability to reveal any number of design styles or plant features with ease. Before you plant, think about what it is that you would like to highlight in your garden. Do you want the coastal breeze to be revealed through your plant palette? Or perhaps your are looking for a way to continue the geometry and minimalism of the architecture of your home? By adapting and manipulating how you use massing in your yard, you can easily create an effortlessly beautiful landscape almost instantly. In this case, let the plants do the work. Consider these styles and effects: Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture Modern. If a modern landscape is what you strive for, think of the plant material as just another texture, material, or color to incorporate into your landscape. The linear swaths of green juxtaposed with the industrial concrete walls complete the perfect minimal garden. Naturalistic. In this case, the visualization of a field is the perfect use of mass plantings. Look to the existing surrounding landscapes for inspiration, and enhance the effect for a naturalistic landscape. The warm gold of the beach grasses welcome any visitor to this Nantucket cottage. Garrett Churchill Inc. Formal. For a formal featured garden, manicured parterres and hedges evoke images of English manors and French chateaus. Here is an example where control and precision dictate the planting pattern. Manipulation of the natural form of the masses reveals a garden that is anything but natural. Randy Thueme Design Inc. - Landscape Architecture Movement. The repetition of a single plant species, like these grasses, is best appreciated on a windy day. It can appear as if the individual plants have merged to form a single unit as they sway and bend in unison with the breeze. debora carl landscape design Texture. Mass plantings allow the viewer to really appreciate the texture of the plant. When you no longer need to focus your attention on contrasting colors or habits of multiple plant varieties, you are able to notice the more subtle and delicate features, such as texture. This effect can be achieved with a single species or multiples with similar textures. It's all about creating continuity and consistency. Carolyn Chadwick Color. Mass plantings in a single color, using one or multiple plant species, is a beautiful and unexpected way to design. For this island garden in Greece, it was the colors of the ocean that inspired the designer. Imagine visiting this site and experiencing the view of the vast blue of the ocean alongside the vast pink ocean of society garlic. Leff Landscape Associates, Inc. Geometry. A perfect complement for any formal or minimal garden, geometry and order in nature can be revealed through a massed landscape. With the focus off of the foliage, texture, or shape of the plant, the precise bands of plants maintain a coherent unity through intentional stripes of uniformity. Zeterre Landscape Architecture Mass plantings to highlight specimen plants. Usually you admire roses in a floral arrangement or as a specimen bush. Although some may argue that an entire bank planted with the same species of rose contradicts the unique and rare qualities that are associated with a single bush or stem, I think this flourish of roses only escalates the grandeur and beauty of the rose. In this case, too much of a good thing is a great thing. Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture Mass plantings to elevate common plants. Alternative to the mass of roses, massing can create a dramatic effect solely through the sheer number of plants being used. By planting an entire yard with a single species of common grass, the volume of the grass creates an impressive and attractive backdrop for the house. The Garden Consultants, Inc. Single species. Sticking to one species of plant takes all of the guesswork out of laying out your garden. A field of grasses covers the entire property here, creating a natural and wild mass. A formal network of paths carves through the landscape, but the single species continues from one side of the path to the other, unchanged. Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture Create masses of multiple species. You can also try massing multiple species throughout your yard. The contrasts among them can reveal features in each that may have gone on unnoticed had only one plant type been used. The varieties play off each other's characteristics in unexpected ways. Giulietti Schouten Architects Unique mass plantings. If you have less space, or just want a fresh take on mass plantings, consider massing with container gardens. When it comes to massing, the sum is greater than its parts. Here you can see how both can act simultaneously. The planters may separate the individual plants, but stepping back to admire the entire space reveals a solid, linear mass of grass.

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