Landscape Design

Landscape design marries art and science, culture and nature. In working with land and people it considers landform and geography, climate and botany, aesthetics and functionality, aspirations and finances, and the more intangible genius loci or spirit of place.

It may work subtly with nature and earth energies, help to restore and heal degraded areas, adapt a small space for personal repose, or manipulate landforms and materials for grander and less naturalistic effects. It links the indoors to the outdoors, and the tamed to the relatively untamed beyond.

It draws on local or other cultural traditions, invents new forms and expressions; and consults with the related disciplines of planning, surveying, architecture, civil engineering, art, ecology and construction. It plays with hardscape and softscape design; formality and informality; large scale urban masterplans and civic landscapes to small scale gardens and specific feature elements.

It adds aesthetic, cultural, environmental and financial value to the properties it complements. It creates living works of art which are never static, always growing and changing, and therefore rarely finished.

It requires ongoing human engagement with its creations – for those who maintain it, use it for a multiplicity of purposes, sit in it, pass through it, or contemplate its beauty and connect with its spirit.

It is a perfect medium for the creation of sanctuaries for people and non-human species; for re-energising the spirit of place through love and care; and for the delivery of sustainability in its sourcing and use of materials, environmental improvements, and ongoing site usage, interest and maintenance.

Landscape Design