Fear of Commitment

A client with whom I am working this week prompted this week’s blog post. Their beautiful new home is a brick Georgian-Colonial style, 2-story residence in north Macon. This style of home does very well with several design styles, from the color and ‘floppiness’ of an English Garden to the clean and symmetrical lines of a formal landscape. The problem is, no commitment has been made to any particular style. There are some aspects that are definitely loose and colorful, while other areas are more formal. Consequently, there just isn’t any impact with the current landscape. Sometimes you just need to make a commitment to a style.

I think a lack of confidence or maybe the fear of making a poor choice plays into the reluctance to fully commit to a landscape style. But one thing is for sure: the overall landscape will suffer if it ends up being a collection of this and that with no sense of a cohesive whole.

For this client I re-configured the bed lines to include more symmetry and straight lines. Beds were balanced and replanted with much more formal plant material: evergreen shrubs clipped neatly, layered with more evergreen material, and accented with perennials. I also added brick bed edging to match the brick on the home along with brick paths and an occasional well-placed bench to give the landscape an unmistakable and bold formal landscape. Now, with its obvious formal style matching the elegance and grace of the home, the landscape really has taken on a personality of its own. Beautiful!

If your landscape just isn’t popping, consider whether there is a definable style (whatever that might be) that you can build on (be bold!). Or do you need to commit to a style?

Thank you for reading. Just let me know if you have any questions or comments. I would love to hear from you.

Michael Turner

Southern Accents Landscape Design