DRAWING A TREE

A fun way to design a landscape is in elevation - or a straight-on view as if you were standing and looking at it (vs. a plan view that is looking down from the sky). When designing in elevation take note of how all plants have a unique form. Some are circular, oval, columnar, pyramidal, weeping or even irregular. You can read more about plant forms here.

Take a photo of your house, lay tracing paper over it, then try drawing a composition of different plant forms in front of it. Think about accentuating your entry, while also framing your house overall.  Mix different forms, plus layer them (2-3 rows of plants is much more interesting than one). Click here to see an example.

Below is a simple tutorial of how to draw a tree, so you can focus on designing, rather than worrying about your drawing skills (anyone can draw a tree, really).  I also have a slightly different format of this graphic tutorial available for purchase as a digital file here or a hard copy here.

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