There are a number of yard and garden elements that provide height.  Some of the more obvious of these might include trees, fences, decks, and tall shrubs.  However, all of these garden elements have one thing in common: they are permanent.  While it is important and often times necessary to have these types of structures, sometimes it’s better to have the option to move your vertical garden elements around, as needed.  In this article, we’ll explore four non-permanent vertical elements that you can use to spice up your garden or landscape.

#1 – Hanging Baskets
Hanging baskets are one of the easiest ways to add a vertical element to your garden, plus they have the benefit of being mobile.  Most homeowners who do any type of outdoor planting will find themselves using hanging baskets at some point.  They come in many varieties, colors and materials to compliment your decor.  Most common are the free hanging baskets that allow flowers to drape down all sides as well as up the hanger.  By moving your hanging baskets around, you can easily provide a splash of color to a specific area of your yard or garden at any time throughout the growing season.

#2 – Trellises
Trellises have been long been used as a vertical garden element, giving support to climbing vines and flowers and providing elevated color on sides of structures.  Garden trellises are also available in varying sizes, shapes, colors and materials.  Depending on the type of climbing plants you use, trellises can be moved around from year to year as your landscape design changes.  Trellises with flowers in full bloom make a spectacular privacy barrier.  Another option for portable garden trellises would be to place a smaller trellis in a pot or planter base, creating a movable vertical structure for your deck or patio.

#3 – Obelisks
Obelisks are another type of trellis, usually in a tall, slender pyramidal shape.  These unique structures create a look all their own in a landscape.  Because they resemble a piece of artwork by themselves, obelisks can provide visual interest in a garden even without the addition of a flowering vine.  However, when an obelisk and a great climbing plant are paired together, it can create a real show stopper in your landscape.  Obelisks are another garden element that can be placed in a pot or planter, and then moved around through the growing season.

#4 – Arbors
Arbors are another way of giving your garden height.  These large garden structures can be the focal point of a landscape, or they can be used as a welcoming entrance.  While many arbors are permanent structures, either set into cement, or staked firmly to the ground, this doesn’t have to always be the case.  Many arbors are now available with footed bases that can rest, freestanding, on a deck, patio, or sidewalk.  Usually some large and heavy object must be placed on top of the base, to weight the arbor down and prevent it from blowing over in strong winds.  A large potted plant would be an excellent choice for this purpose.

No matter what your choices are for your garden or landscape, using vertical elements is a good way to add structure and visual interest to an area.  And more specifically, when your vertical elements can be easily moved and repositioned as needed, it’s easy to keep your yard and garden looking its best at all times.  With the large array of vertical garden products available today, your perfect landscape design is limited only by your imagination.

Creating a well designed landscape is a lot like creating a well designed piece of artwork.  The guiding principles of design are the same.  A well designed landscape is made of three basic elements, or principles: good balance of scale, color, and perspective.  In this article, we’ll explain what each of these design principles means, and how you can apply them when creating your landscaping plan.

The first basic principle, balance of scale, refers to the size of the various elements you incorporate into your plan.  For example, a landscape made up entirely of low, bushy plants that are all the same size would be fairly boring.  However, if you mix in a few large landscape trees, some tall ornamental grasses, and some groundcover plants, now you have a range of sizes that is more visually appealing.  A general rule of thumb is to balance the scale of your landscape by thirds.  One third of the visual space should be large, one third medium, and the last third small size.  Also remember that not all the elements have to be plants.  Other structures like trellises, arbors, and pergolas can be worked into a landscaping plan to lend additional variety and balance out the overall scale.

The second basic principle is color.  Color is a far more complex topic than many people realize; there are entire fields of study devoted to color.  To fully understand how colors work together, it is helpful to study a color wheel.  Colors are positioned around the wheel based on how they relate to one another.  Take the complimentary color scheme, for example, which is probably the most basic and fundamental of all the color schemes .  Complimentary colors are two colors directly opposite one another on the color wheel.  Other color scheme options include analogous, which is a group of two or three colors directly beside each other on the wheel, or triadic, which are three colors equidistant from each other on the wheel.  All this relates to landscape design in the colors of flower, plants, and other elements we choose.  For example, a yard made up entirely of yellow flowers would be visually overwhelming.  However, when you add a few colors next to yellow, such as orange and red, now you have an analogous color scheme that is aesthetically pleasing and visually interesting.  For more information on color schemes, it might be helpful to consult a book or website about color theory.

The last basic element of landscape design is perspective.  Perspective can mean a lot of different things, but for the purposes of our discussion, we will define it as the particular view of the observer, based on the location they are standing in relative to your yard or home.  Ideally, your landscape should have a well balanced perspective for all potential onlookers.  Many of us focus on the view of our home and yard from the street, but what about the view seen by your most frequent observers, your neighbors?  And then there is the most important perspective of all: the one seen when you are inside your home looking outward.  After all, it is your yard; shouldn’t you and your family be the ones to enjoy the most attractive view?  The point of a well designed landscape is to take into account the perspective of all potential vantage points, and try to make every view as attractive and balanced as possible.

By taking into account all three of the basic design elements, scale, color, and perspective, you will ensure that your landscape is well balanced and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  Remember, you don’t have to have a degree in art or landscape architecture to create a beautiful landscape.  When you design with these fundamental principles in mind, you’re sure to end up with an attractive result that you can enjoy for years to come.