Principles of Garden Design: Framing the View | Garden Home (107)

On this episode of Garden Home, host P. Allen Smith will talk about one of the principles of garden design: framing views. Allen will show you the best tips on how to make beautiful frames in your garden. From a list on annual plants to examples of garden views, Allen will discuss the best methods to make the best views out of your garden home.

Topics Include
Designing to Frame a View
Garden Tour
Allen’s Garden View Frames
List of Annuals for containers
Screening Views
Garden Tour in Illinois
Container Gardening

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P. Allen Smith is a landscape and garden designer, horticulturist, preservationist and television host. His passions span the subjects of community, health, sustainability and history. He has designed the grounds at many of the nation’s most notable estate properties, townhomes, and commercial complexes. And, for over 19 years, he has shared his green knowledge and insight with the public via ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, his own PBS television, and six book titles. Currently, Allen is focused on residential, commercial and community designs that are beautiful, improve our contentedness, and our social and physical health.

To learn more about:
…Allen’s horticultural interests and secrets, sign up for his weekly newsletter: https://pallensmith.com/

…visiting Allen’s Garden Home above the Arkansas River, see https://pallensmith.com/tours/

….Allen’s favorite plants mentioned in his social media, see: To review many of the plants Allen mentions in his posts and that are planted in his own garden, see https://pallensmith.com/gilbert-h-wild-allens-favorites/

….retaining Allen’s Garden and Landscape design firm, see http://www.pallensmithandassociates.com/

…Allen’s Garden Home-inspired intergenerational community in Monroe, LA, see https://www.gardensofsomerset.com/

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When you have something you really want to show off you frame it more on this design principle in today’s show over the past 20 years as a garden designer I’ve enjoyed helping homeowners create private sanctuaries full of beauty and wonder I find each garden to be a fresh

Opportunity to explore ways to create uniquely personal spaces these are just a few of the gardens I’ve helped to transform into garden hose Hi I’m Allen Smith welcome to the garden home where you’ll find practical ideas beautiful landscapes and much more to help inspire you to push the boundaries of your home out into the garden to the edges of your property now today’s show we’re going to focus on an idea that

When it’s present in the landscape it’s hard to miss this principle of design is called framing the view now I’ve brought my easel and paints out into this beautiful garden I helped design several years ago taking advantage of this lovely fall day this home in Gardner based around this magnificent view of

The mountain range beyond this view makes the perfect setting that any artist would enjoy painting in fact I think the frame views in the garden the land artists would I’m framing beautiful garden pictures over the past 20 years I’ve had the opportunity to create lots of garden homes and I’ve realized that

There are certain secrets that help you transform an ordinary garden or yard into a beautiful garden home you see the way I see it good garden design is about good picture making now when we create a garden we also have to think of screening views you see this works hand

In hand with framing the views we want to embrace the beautiful views and screen the unsightly ones now a little later in the show I’m going to give you a list of some of the best screening plants for doing just that job now it’s important to understand that framing the

View is just one of the elements needed to create an attractive and interesting garden home in fact I reduced the list down to 12 principles now we don’t have time to cover all 12 in this show but we’ll focus on a few that complement frame the view specifically accenting

The entry and utilizing garden focal points when it comes to framing the view I think the great landscape painters throughout history can teach us a lot we can take a page from art class and transform it into our own personal garden masterpiece now when we started

This garden about 10 years ago it was a blank canvas nothing was here the owners found the property and soon after I did the house and the garden they were drawn to this property because of its privacy and magnificent views now as the design process began to unfold we

Discovered wonderful garden views to frame Ward Lyle architect on the project explains how we framed many of the views in the garden Ward this property has so many beautiful views how did you arrive at positioning the house exactly here well one of the goals of the project was to have a view out over the valley

Towards the mountains and towards the sunset and it just happened the end of this Ridge face due west we just won the house up on the compass points well I noticed now over the years that the pine trees have even begun to grow up enough

To hide the powerlines it was sort of an accidental occurrence that the pines were already established but they’ve helped us to really screen out the view of the road down there and of the powerlines well screening views is certainly a part of this idea of framing the best views

Went in from the beginning your idea was to create an interior space that that reached out into the garden and embraced those views all along a big big part of the planning of this house was the outdoor living spaces and really when we were searing the plan of the house this

Porch was like another room of the house and it was considered that way the dining space flows out into the porch and the living space does as well so it’s really another room of the house and that carries over into some of the garden spaces there’s the courtyard

Garden there’s the walled garden that’s the private garden off the master bath so there’s various levels of indoor/outdoor connectivity the gull garden is a series of rooms that plays off the plan of the house well it’s such a beautiful example of the garden home well thank you here we are in the middle

Of autumn and it’s spectacular but in the spring when all the roses are in bloom it’s equally beautiful if not more if you’re a flower lover and especially the way they actually frame the windows of the house yeah in the walled garden we used the that gigantic lady banks

Rose to frame the little oculis window looking into the potting shed we have the Rose behind us that goes up the corner of the screen porch that’s climbing iceberg yeah it’s a great rose yeah blooms all the time everything has its peak in its season but the

Continuity through it all the thing that makes it work is you always have this majestic view to fall back on it changes with the seasons in the spring the the line green of the new foliage and then in the fall the fall colors so there’s it’s really an

Ever-changing Vista the Occulus that you created in the in the pediment of the porch runs right through the house and you can appreciate the views through that oculus from actually inside the home yeah actually there’s a bedroom up in the very center of the house what we

Did is just cut this oculus and so you have this discrete little framed view looking through the twin oculus out of the valley and it’s actually a lot more interesting is that then if you didn’t have it if it were just wide open sometimes containing the view makes it a

Lot more intriguing than just a wall of glass and nothing to frame it looking back up towards the house we’ve used sweet gums and the Italian Cypress to frame the the view of the facade of the house primarily this porch yeah the Italian Cypress had such a strong

Element of verticality and if they do they provide that vertical emphasis and because they’re evergreen it’s effective year-round and then that’s really complemented by the upright shape of the sweetgum rotunda loba and then the London plain trees will eventually form massive shade trees and give us a break

From this heat on the western side of the house and plus their bark and winter as well all year long is really outstanding yeah it really is there’s really nothing quite as spectacular as a that gray green bark in the winter Another example of framing the views in this garden that shouldn’t go unnoticed is a series of columns or this colonnade on the backside of the house you see the views from inside the house are framed by these rustic columns that support this beautiful classical pergola that’s covered with old-fashioned roses this

White blooming one is unwise ette called Lamarck i grow it on my tool shed it’s very floral for us you can see it continues to throw off blooms even late in the fall now as we’ve toured this garden I’m sure you’ve noticed that it’s divided in lots of individual garden

Rooms you see when I’m designing a garden it’s so much easier for me to break the space down into individual rooms it’s also a lot easier for me to take care of a garden when it’s divided into these rooms when I say rooms I don’t mean that literally but it is an

Extension of this idea of the rooms in our homes walls can be a hedge a fence or even implied by a series of columns garden rooms have floors and pathways some common floor materials are gravel brick grass stone even ceramic tiles and then of course there’s the ceiling

In the garden room that’s usually the sky except in cases where one might be under a porch or under a beautiful pavilion such as this you see I believe that our garden rooms should be as beautifully appointed as our homes we should have the same creature comforts

Outdoors as we do inside affording us beautiful places to relax dine and entertain friends this garden room is certainly an extension of the home and it provides a relaxing place to spend a lazy afternoon painting reading or just daydreaming now there’s no time for daydreaming just now because I want to

Share with you some examples of framing the view in my own garden home If you stand in my front garden and look back through the arbors the entries to my fountain garden you look down the long axis and you can see the toolshed at the terminus this is a focal point in the garden now a focal point is another

Design principle but as you can see it works in harmony with this idea of framing the view to bring the garden closer to me especially in winter when it’s too cold to enjoy being outdoors I’ve made my fountain garden an extension of my study you can look out

The windows which serve as frames and see the garden beyond using this approach I’ve taken advantage of an existing structure the window of my house and frame the view outside the window here’s another way I framed the view in my garden along my woodland path I’ve created a view through this cypress

Arch I simply planted a hedge of the fast-growing Leyland cypress and cut an arch in the center of it peeking through this you can see a wide range of shade loving plants there’s foxglove lamium hosta rhododendron azaleas solomon seal and impatience this cypress arch reminds me of another principle that harmonizes

Well with the idea of framing the view and that’s accenting the entry an arbor or arch creates a picture for the visitor of what lies beyond to really set off this framed view I suggest accenting the entries in my garden I created an entry that’s made up

Of three simple elements a gate an arbor and a beautiful nude on Rose the Rose really says welcome and as you approach the gate you’re greeted with a picture of the garden one of my favorite times of the year to see this framed view is in the spring when the pink impression

Tulips fill the beds in the rondell you can also accent the entry and thereby frame the view now using something as simple as containers A few years ago I was inspired to plant a pair of wisteria trees in containers on each side of the path leading to my tool shed and I enjoy making seasonal containers full of beautiful annuals to bring sparkle to entries if the thought of creating a container seems daunting

Then let me put your mind at ease just start with the basics ask yourself where will the container be placed would be in Sun or shade then from there make your plant choices and then work out the design of the container you see I’d like to look for something that’s tall and

Spiky to go in the center and something round and full to fill out the base and for a finishing touch cascading plants to spill over the edge now if you’re looking for a bright colored container that’ll take sunny conditions you might want to give this one a try I chose the

Canna Tropicana for the tall spiky element you see Khanna’s are considered tropicals and grow from rhizomes they come in many colors and even sizes and are perfect as a centerpiece of a planting or massed together where they can serve as a backdrop to many other sun-loving garden plans now you can see

Next to the can I filled in with several plants including lolani Adger aadum coleus copper and lime rock ruby coreopsis to create the round and full effect I have to say that I’m really knocked out by these coleus while traditionally a shade plant I found that

The more Sun they get the more vivid the colors become some of my favorites come from a series called the stained glass works petunias are wonderful for adding a splash of color to containers and to flowerbeds just remember to keep them blooming all summer long you need to

Feed them regularly and cascading down the front is a very popular ground cover called sweet potato vine this variety is ace of spades I think it really gives the composition a finishing touch Now remember the flipside to framing the view which I mentioned earlier is screening the view cutting out anything you necessarily don’t want to see and embracing what makes your garden space more ideal you can see where this would work really well in a city environment no matter how much you like your

Neighbors you don’t want to see them all the time I’ve used a variety of plants to screen views such as this Russell’s cottage Rose and several other old-fashioned Rose varieties that I grow in my front garden you see while they don’t create a solid screen they do provide a more intimate and private

Feeling in this area I started with a picket fence and then I began growing climbing and shrub roses along the fence and within a few years well here are the results I’ve also used three columnar shaped arbor vitae in the front to screen the garden from a busy

Intersection as you can see these arborvitaes are a great evergreen screen some others you might consider our Hollies of many varieties you the fast-growing cryptomeria and Leyland cypress as well as southern magnolias if you live in a warm part of the country and you’ve got an area that needs to be

Screened in a big way if you’re looking for a gray screen that’s right a gray hedge you might try using this ely agnes or silver berry it’s called ely agnes of india and it takes pruning very well you can see that this effectively separates the drive from the

Garden beyond during a visit to Chicago Claire Kettle camp a landscape architect with the Douglas hair firm took me on a tour of a garden we’re screening the view helped to pull the entire project together Claire I understand this garden was strictly utilitarian and functional in the beginning and now you’ve turned

It into something beautiful and fun that’s right it was actually a driveway look at this it’s gorgeous we had a lot of challenges with this garden we have four air conditioners also all the AC units for the house are here and then we have four dogs so there’s a dog run

Incorporate it had to be functional and beautiful I love the way you screened this area with the pleats Linden turn if London’s are used to define the space and to provide screening and I think it’s an underutilized horticultural technique it’s actually a hedge on top of a wall I couldn’t agree more

Yeah it’s a hedge on still that’s right it’s a very effective screen I love the rhythm the trunks create quite a nice cadence wall really gives the gives us space wonderful privacy which was our criteria in the design of this garden this garden is really about enclosure

Enclosure and pattern yes I’d have to say look at the marvelous brick and which leads off onto stone and then the planting itself has its own pattern I love these rectilinear shapes of boxwood it was basically designed on a grid and the boxwood are trained in different

Heights we have tall medium and low well I see the seasonal plantings are also planted in a pattern you’ve got herbs mixed with impatience I guess that’s New Guinea impatient yes beginning the New Guinea is planted in a checkerboard and the herbs mingle in among them oh it’s

Wonderful we even though this is a very formal layout the softness of these plantings really give it a comfortable relaxed feeling yes and a warmth and again a utilitarian component of the garden right you can take these herbs directly into the kitchen and create a wonderful meal that’s right what’s marvelous about this

Garden is the simple limited palette of plants you’ve use you’ve got the linden trees themselves the boxwood some pachysandra as a ground cover and that’s essentially it it makes the design very cohesive what’s so appealing about this is that you really have a limited amount of space that you have to change out

Seasonally that’s right the framework is here it’s consistent and then you just have these pockets that you plant out in the spring and summer tell me about the focal point because as we came in I couldn’t help but notice that statue on the wall there that’s pan and he’s

Actually a water feature he’s a fountain that adds a tranquil quality to the space so much in such little little space how large is this area would you say I would say it’s about 25 or 30 feet wide and about 50 feet long I think what

I like so much about it’s so manageable it really is it’s not overwhelming no it’s not thank you so much for sharing the space with us I think it gives us lots of ideas on how we can take a small space and make the most of it well

You’re more than welcome in a real pleasure This idea of screening the view applies to any size property so often if we can figure out a way to screen off an area we can create new gardens and new living spaces to enjoy outdoors Clair’s design was in the suburbs and the house had an Italian Country field one of Claire’s

Colleagues Kathleen Golomb showed me an apartment garden in downtown Chicago were framing the view and screening the view were essential to get the look her clients wanted what a spectacular view obviously this garden was designed around that view of Lake Michigan absolutely it’s incredible the architecture it’s a David Adler building

So we wanted to just build on the exquisite architecture that was already here and obviously screen views that weren’t appropriate and open up the ones that were just spectacular well you’ve done a magnificent job the building itself in this big ball finial create a beautiful frame for this

This Vista and exactly and working with the plant material here it’s also a challenge dealing with the wind the winds is somewhat desiccating so we do have to adjust the irrigation this is more of a casual dining Terrace so it’s usually used more in the morning to

Enjoy breakfast here so it’s just a little bit more of the mellow colors some deeper rich Purple’s some nice fuchsia pinks and some just really really nice texture features which is what was important especially in the morning hours the screen that you’ve put up on the side of the garden I really

Like the way that works because it’s not a solid screen you do get little vistas or vignettes through the screen itself and the hanging baskets but it does serve to give one a sense of intimacy and privacy in this place exactly and it’s just amazing once we do put the

Baskets on in the spring and summer and even through the fall again that greenery helps just enclose the space so it does feel more private even though it is still open in area at the same time we do a very full lush spring rotation we have tried in the past to try and

Over plant bulbs in the fall to see if they’d actually come up we’ve had limited success with that is it because the it’s so cold here and ground freezes and it really debilitates the ball exactly these these specific containers are not insulated so it is more difficult to have those bulbs over

Winter or not freeze out completely and then it has changed out again in the summer fall we sup take out some of the tender plants supplement with fall cool season crops and then for winter we have a nice winter display with cut branches and evergreen boughs that’s the wonderful thing about container

Gardening because you can change it out for any season or any look or color thing exactly very good well this has been wonderful thank you thank you so much for the tour Whether you have a lot of space or none at all there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have lots of color in your life throughout the gardening season here’s a project that will help you create framed views right at your window it’s my design for an easy window box to

Assemble this I started with a 4 inch 2 by 12 board and 3 10 inch terra cotta pots I trace the pots off and cut out three holes just large enough for the 10 inch clay pot to drop in you see the collar or the lip of the container holds it in place

Now the brackets are made from a piece of the 2 by 12 board and they’re connected by a 1 by 4 board that just runs across the back this is important because it’s this board that will allow you to mount the window box to your house I like to use wood screws in

Assembling these because it keeps the wood from splitting from here just use your imagination when it comes to color drop in pots of your favorite flowers throughout the season Once you frame the view you should begin to think about a focal point something to capture your attention and direct the eye in this small walled garden we have a pool and a fountain to serve as a focal point but a focal point can be just about anything in this garden it’s

A fountain but in other gardens it might be a building or an urn of plants or a statue and the focal point should always fit the scale of the garden in my garden a large statue would be out of place but a simple bench fits just right during a

Visit to one of the grandest gardens in England Chatsworth I noticed a marvelous frame view with a focal point punctuating the end I asked the Duchess of Devonshire about this crinkle crinkle hedge and the bust at the end you know one of the things that strikes me about

The garden here at Chatsworth is that it’s very axial the marvelous thing about walking through the garden is that at every turn you can look down a path and you see a focal point or an eye-catcher tell me about the inspiration for the the serpentine lines

That lead up to the sixth Duke’s bust the crinkle krinkle as it were yeah well that’s that was easy I would have loved to put a wall there but of course it has been so expensive we couldn’t have done it and we thought it needed a better

Approach that passed it was just in a wood so the wall was out of the question and so we planted beach instead but they look daft for years and years because they went in at 18 inches high and it just looked as if a child of him

Playing and playing garden design and so we have to wait about maybe 15 years but it’s it’s pretty high now and it well it certainly come into its own it’s beautiful good very glad to think you came to this house and began to create a garden you and the Duke some fifty years

Ago how did it feel coming to this place and and creating a garden here did you ever feel like you were stepping on the toes of ghosts no because when we came here we were both 30 and then you think you can do anything I think house like this you’ve got to

Get used to it and you’ve got to get its own field it has a very strong better word really personality of its own and when you’ve been here for a bit it makes its own rules in a funny way your garden design instincts are marvelous the kitchen garden the cottage garden these

Beautiful blue borders here behind us they really speak to me well that’s really nice room remember when I create a garden home I employ 12 principles of design and in today’s show we focused on framing the view and of course hand in hand with framing the view is screening

Out those unsightly views the two gardens in Chicago are great examples of framing the view by eliminating the intruding views of unsightly buildings and busy neighborhoods we also talked about focal points remember at Chatsworth the bust of the sixth Duke of Devonshire framed by that magnificent crinkle crinkle hedge another way to

Frame the view is by accenting the entry which I did in my woodland garden with a cypress arch and also with those Rose arbors that look into my rondell garden so I challenge you now that you’ve seen the show to take a look at your own

Garden and take note of the views you want to keep and improve upon and those you want to scream and then set out as an artist wood to frame the views from the garden home I’m allen Smith more information about today’s topic and other topics covered in this series can

Be found at P Allen smith.com on an upcoming episode of PL on Smith’s garden home hi I’m allen Smith join me as we explore the effect thyme has on the garden and I don’t mean how plants grow over time I’m also talking about the past for instance an old home antique or

Antique looking garden ornaments even artifacts found while working in a garden plus great ideas for bringing color into your garden so join me