DESIGN WITH ME - TRANSLATE TO HARDSCAPE

Step four of the theme garden design process is a doozie.  It does take a bit of time to pull together all the physical parts of a garden.  Today let's talk about hardscapes.  

1. Pick a theme 
2. Brainstorm
3. Research 
4. Translate ideas to physical form (yes, we're still here!)
5. Create the plan

HARDSCAPES
Hardscape typically encompass non-living permanent materials.  These can include paving, arbors, pergolas, walls, trellises, fences, gazebos, and whatever other garden architecture you can dream up.

Try to think in three dimensions when considering hardscapes, since you are creating a garden space.  An easy way to conceptualize this is in terms of a floor, walls, and ceiling.

Take a shape or two from the last post and try converting those to a hardscape element, plus think about how our colors can be translated to a hardscape material.

Let's start with the garden floor (paving, for instance).  For fun, let's take the idea of heavy metal posters.  I want to show how you can take one of the shapes from our list in garden STRUCTURE then translate it into a hardscape.  I'm picking a simple shape, but you can also do this with the shape of a skull, jeans, chains or anything from our list. 

Here is another example of paving using a drum as inspiration instead.  I also linked them like chains, plus used three of them to represent the trifecta of heavy metal (speed, power and precision).  Hey, why not have symbolism in layers?  It's a great story to tell your friends.

Now let's think about the walls in your garden. Walls can take many forms, but I've included just two simple fence designs.  

There are also lots of options for ceilings in your garden (including none and just enjoying the sky). I've included just one example of how we could incorporate our theme into an overhead structure.  I was inspired by the flying V guitar.

I could go on and on and on with hardscapes inspired by the heavy metal theme.  Again, take a look at our brainstorming and research lists and let me know if you think of other fabulous ideas.