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Themed landscapes are landscape designs with a purpose. Having a landscape design theme not only gives you inspiration, but helps you make decisions on specific things you want to include in your design. Most often homeowners have an idea of what they would like to include in their design, but are often unsure how to put it “all together.” 

When designing your landscape based on a theme there will be identifiable characteristics such as distinguishing materials, built in features, a signature form, and recognizable organization. Some themes have been used for centuries and are easily defined. A theme such as a Japanese Garden is an example of this.  

A design theme can be based on a form, a type of landscape, a style, or a combination of any of the three.

Landscape forms are the easiest to recognize because they are characterized by the attractive three-dimensional qualities in a landscape, such as the flow between outdoor areas, the topography of the landscape, as well as smaller elements, such as hedges, trees, foliage and hardscaped structures like outdoor fireplaces and retaining walls. The forms generally fall into two categories, naturalistic and geometric, which are often used together in most gardens. 

Landscape styles are identified based on their distinctive features and materials. Some examples would include cultural and historical gardens such as Italian or Spanish colonial gardens. 

Landscape types are based on the ecosystem or plant material such as desert, prairie, woodland, or coastal. Landscape types sometimes mimic naturalistic form or geometric form, meaning the plant materials are found in nature or can have a more structured layout. 

There are several places to find design theme inspiration. Start with looking around your community to see anything that you might like. When looking for a design theme some things to consider are the region that you live in, the style of your house, looking at neighborhoods you like, look in magazines or garden books, find plants you find appealing, forms that you like, or look at the shape of open spaces in your yard. This is a great place to start when trying to decide on a theme. 

If you’re looking for professional garden design and landscaping services, here at Stoney Acres we can assist you with your landscape needs and provide you further guidance. Give us a call at 570-925-6826 to schedule an appointment. We can’t wait to hear from you.