Features Of The Design Of Tracks With Elevation Differences. Photo

Table of contents:

Features Of The Design Of Tracks With Elevation Differences. Photo
Features Of The Design Of Tracks With Elevation Differences. Photo

Video: Features Of The Design Of Tracks With Elevation Differences. Photo

Video: Features Of The Design Of Tracks With Elevation Differences. Photo
Video: How to Survey Building Elevations in Google Earth Pro 2024, March
Anonim

Objects that play up the elevation differences and connect different levels of the garden always attract increased attention. Inimitable garden pedestals, staircases, walkways, paths with staircase sections, thanks to the raised elements, are invariably the first to attract the eye and stand out against any background. But no matter how spectacular the object itself is, it needs a worthy accompaniment - a well thought-out and profitable landscaping that reveals all the advantages of multi-level structures.

High steps are hidden by bushes, on the other side are framed with geraniums and ivy
High steps are hidden by bushes, on the other side are framed with geraniums and ivy

Content:

  • The specifics of landscaping multi-level paths and stairs
  • Plants for framing multi-level paths and playgrounds
  • Landscaping with pot and tub plants

The specifics of landscaping multi-level paths and stairs

Even the most spectacular garden objects with an impeccable and very beautiful paving-coating, unusual shape or original design techniques without landscaping elements in the garden will be lost or look like an alien object that is not connected with the whole project. A path that turns into a small staircase and continues at the top or flows into a platform, as well as beautiful wide promenades of a terraced garden or complex communication paths, divided into separate fragments using garden pedestals, in order to become an organic part of the garden, need additional decorative tricks (even if they are laid on an ideal lawn or area covered with decorative mulch).

Landscaping of multi-level paths and stairs can be very different - a continuous curb-mixborder or laconic, using only a few plants. But the requirement remains unchanged to present such objects vividly, to set off their beauty and role in the garden in such a way as to create a lush, effective and catchy presentation.

Landscaping of paths with elevation differences and garden promenades is based on the need to perform two radically different tasks:

  1. use plants to inscribe a multi-level path or staircase into the garden, partially disguise and hide its dominance;
  2. emphasize the difference in heights, the shape and role of multilevel objects, reveal their beauty.
Track in a section with elevation differences
Track in a section with elevation differences

Masking and underlining at the same time are not incompatible tasks at all. With the help of plants, each object, using the differences in heights and the complexity of the relief, turns into a harmonious, holistic and attractive, complete structural element. The ability of each object raised in relation to the rest of the garden or emphasizing the contrast of the height of different parts of the object to attract the eyes is not only an advantage, but also a disadvantage.

Attracting attention, such garden paths with a difference in height affect the perception of space, distract attention from the landscaping and beauty of neighboring zones and objects, hide the feeling of balance between massive plantings and empty, free areas and visually reduce the size of the site. To compensate for their influence, or, conversely, to strengthen, soften hard lines and make the whole design more organic, different landscaping strategies are used:

  • create a continuous lush mixborder or curb along the entire contour of a path or staircase, reminiscent of lush thickets on the sides of a passage or a simple straight path;
  • perform dotted gardening, creating several islands of plants located in the most advantageous locations along the contours of a path or area with a symmetrical or asymmetrical placement;
  • use combined options, playing with lush islands of individual sites or the steepest transitions and decorating straight sections of paths or one of the levels with a border or mixborder.

Determining which strategy to choose, which plants and in what quantity to use in the design of the track with differences is not so difficult. In fact, framing objects with elevation changes resembles the process of creating a flower-ring around a recreation area: an effective frame is also created here, it is simply not the task of masking the object itself and hiding it from prying eyes. On the contrary, in gardening they strive to reveal all the advantages of a multi-level path. Around the path or staircase, it is necessary to create a frame corresponding to the style and nature of the garden design, which will become the final touch of its perception as an integral harmonious object and visually connect it with the rest of the garden.

Track in a section with elevation differences
Track in a section with elevation differences

To find the optimal strategy, follow a few simple steps and plan your landscaping concept:

  1. Determine the most winning lines and transitions, places that need to be emphasized as much as possible and stand out from the general background and use either the most lush plant frames to frame them, or enter large accent plants - standard trees, shrubs, mini-flower beds outlined with an outline, etc. …
  2. Choose areas that negatively affect the perception of the garden as a whole and hide as much as possible behind the lush thickets the contours of this section of the path or staircase.
  3. Mark on the plan or directly on the ground the optimal width of the vegetation strips and limit the future landing site.
  4. Choose from among the plants already used in your garden, first the accents, then the most striking flowering elements in the plant frame, lastly choosing 2-3 crops from among the partner perennials to fill in the gaps.
  5. Fill the designated areas with plants and create a beautiful plant frame. Treat planted crops as needed.

Plants for framing multi-level paths and playgrounds

Paths with elevation changes, combined with podiums or garden stairs, are predominantly framed with a wide curb or mixborder, placing high and catchy accents that emphasize the elevation differences at the beginning of each level. Lush design or several "islands" along the path, "dotted" design "and even minimalistic solutions based on the principle of plant selection practically do not differ from each other: to create plantations framing paths with a difference in height, up to 5-6 crops are chosen, creating lush thickets and textured volumetric background and choose several accents for vertical structuring of landscaping.

Small steps are decorated with moss and carnation at the edges
Small steps are decorated with moss and carnation at the edges
Small steps are decorated with moss and along the edges
Small steps are decorated with moss and along the edges

First of all, they choose large, or structural accents. Asymmetric shrubs and trees located only on one side or parallel to each other (they are called guardian plants for nothing), appealing to strict geometry - the choice is just as great as when decorating any path in a plant frame. Climbing vines or large shrub roses, common yews or mulberries, sharp-leaved maples, catalpa, sheared cubes or boxwood spheres, flowering shrubs - deytion, scumpia, forsythia, hydrangea, etc., adorned with obelisks or pyramids - will perfectly cope with this task. The beauty of the soloist can always be emphasized with a boxwood border or other contour along the near-trunk circle, patterned planting of neighboring plants, etc.

Partner plants with which you can create the main lush contour around the paths with stairs must meet only two criteria - they require almost no maintenance and have the ability to create volumetric thickets and overlap the soil. Long-lasting, tireless and attractive all year round garden geraniums, soft cuff, hosts, ground cover roses, thyme, ivy, foxglove and astilbe, daylilies, bells, chippings, ground cover phlox, ferns, sage and catnip, veronica, veronica lupins, Fortune euonymus, creeping junipers - the choice is amazingly large.

Large plants are able to emphasize the steps and at the same time hide the difference in height
Large plants are able to emphasize the steps and at the same time hide the difference in height

But it is not at all necessary to break up whole flower beds along the contour of the paths and stairs that beat the height differences: a beautiful border or edge, decorative filling or adjoining to the lawn can become an excellent basis for bright and solemn minimalistic solutions, in which the feeling of unity with the rest of the garden is brought with the help of single soloists, piece accents that create common motives.

Landscaping with pot and tub plants

It is not always possible to create another flower garden or mixborder on the site with the help of landscaping multilevel paths, which will have to be looked after. It is possible to solve the problem of organic decoration of such objects with the help of potted plants that complement the narrow edge of the curb or just a few crops planted as accents.

In tubs and pots, hosts, hydrangeas, roses, southern exotic plants, flowering summer plants can be placed both in groups and in a strict row, creating a feeling of lush, but temporary decoration. Such potty assemblies can decorate the stairs and landings themselves or the space around them, replace large accents, add missing expressiveness and beautiful details, etc.

Wide steps can be decorated with flowerpots or pots
Wide steps can be decorated with flowerpots or pots

Combined design options also look good, in which only individual fragments of a path or staircase are framed by plants, echoing in potted accents used in non-green areas of multi-level paths as piece, crowning decorations.

Recommended: