Symmetrical Landscape Ideas

Trees and Shrubs

• Trees are key foundational landscape elements. Place these at perimeters planted in formal rows or lines with enough space around to fully mature. While trees’ overall shape may nearly identical, branching patterns vary. Maintain a pruning and shaping regime acquires a fully balanced look through time. Space shrubbery duets either like the larger trees or in mirroring lines within the tree framework. Look for fruit trees that grow in your region.

Beds and Pathways

• Design glower and perennial beds in pairs with plants laid out in formal blocks. Roses, dahlias, irises and herbs work well in formal gardens, while vines may grow too haphazardly. Decide if you want framed beds, raised beds or berm, and choose identical shapes that work best with the rest of your landscape. Two long, rectangular beds along a central path can work, as can a series of beds paired around a round central feature with spokes going off in several directions, similar to compass points.

Repetition Matters

• What makes a formal garden appear balanced and harmonious are patterned lines of repetition, as well as repeated plant selections. Boxwood hedges framing your beds are one example. Another is using pairs of plants set across from each other, increasing in size as you move nearer toward the house. Repeat patterns in stonework, use large double vases, double fountains, or multiples of lampposts and statuary adds to the symmetry.

Size and Color Concerns

• If you want symmetry, you cannot plant a line of 10-foot red rhododendrons across from a row of 20-foot pink dogwood trees or 100-foot redwoods. The redwoods would overwhelm any home garden, but you can find smaller evergreens, such as six cypress trees to oppose one another as triplets in the design. Layout the garden to employ bloom and leaf colors in mirroring form. Gardens that feature one bloom or bark color make for interesting landscapes when done in symmetrical design. Be creative, but keep balance as the goal.