First impressions are vital in the search for a home. The landscape of a condo or housing association says as much about a community as its architecture. While the mere arrangement of shrubs may not seem like something that should be high on the priority list of any HOA or management company, the various elements of a landscape's design do have a great effect on a community. From safety and functionality to morale and resale value, the layout, materials, and upkeep of a community's landscape affect residents in many ways.

The Impact of Good Design

Community: Site planning can foster community in common spaces.  Benches and paths can help make a place where people can congregate.  Allowing residents to have a say in the use and arrangement of their community spaces goes a long way toward encouraging neighborly interaction.

Safety:  In terms of safety, in a public situation, you always want to be careful of creating places where people can hide.  You don't want to have large shrubs near sidewalks, where people can hide and basically jump out on someone.  You want to make sure there are no tall bushes where people may need a few minutes to get a key in the lock, to access the building.

There is a practice of crime prevention through environmental design.  If a place is not maintained well, if something is broken or vandalized, it is better to remove it right away from the site because it will encourage further vandalism if it is left there.

Functionality: Sustainability is a major part of today's landscaping business and design elements. Good design choices can greatly affect the environment and the use of energy.  If you plant the right material you can allow more water from the rooftops to recharge into the soil and water systems.   Green roofs and ground plantings can reduce energy consumption. Evergreens can be planted to block northwest winds and planting deciduous material can create shade to ease cooling costs.

Morale: Harmonious landscape design also has a positive effect on how people feel about where they live. Landscapes that have been revamped and updated have an emotional effect on residents.   You don't want new landscaping  to look cookie-cutter, with the identical hedges like they used to put in everywhere.

Resale: A unit is probably going to sell faster in a pleasant environment.  Landscping is going to be able to help you maximize the outdoor space and what it looks like, and hopefully help you minimize expense to get it to look that way.  It's obvious that good landscaping can affect the value of any property- condo, co-op or otherwise.  The front-end initial impression is extremely important.

In the past people have not paid as much attention to the outdoor space, but in a condo or co-op where space is limited, having an outdoor space really adds to the value of a property.  Increases can range from 10 to 40 percent of the property value for a professionally designed landscape.

Principles of Good Design

The principles of good landscape design are much like those of any art form and follow some basic tenets. Adherence to these guidelines can help a garden, community space, recreational area or other outdoor space achieve a sense of appropriateness and harmony.   The following are the basic fundamental elements of good design:

Unity: One of the most important elements, unity can be achieved by employing its smaller cousins: consistency and repetition.

Consistency refers to the way in which various elements of the landscape fit together as a whole—in terms of height, texture, color scheme, size and so on. Repeating garden elements like plants, plant groups or décor can put your eyes at ease as they survey the space, allowing them to instinctively recognize the repeating elements.

A simple way to create unity in your landscape is by creating themes. Garden décor can help identify a poets' walk at a college campus, or a bird lover's retreat at the corner of a condominium landscape, for example.

Simplicity: One of the most common mistakes made by do-it-yourselfers is the idea that more is better. Keeping landscape elements within a theme or using colors or materials go a long way toward achieving harmony.   The trend now in suburban homes and townhouses is to plant one of everything and you have twenty different types of plants and the eye has nothing to focus on. It's always better to plant materials in masses and create spaces, and then if you have an unusual plant you can use it as an accent.

Balance: Achieving a sense of equality can take two different paths. Symmetrical balance seeks to create mirror images on either side of a garden or outdoor space. Both halves of the landscape share shapes, forms, heights and colors. Asymmetrical balance employs a more random free-form approach but uses some of the same elements within the landscape to give each side equal weight and attraction.   Contrasting straight lines with curved lines, for example, can create interest while still preserving a sense of balance.

Color: In addition to the eye-catching qualities of bright, vivid flowers, color can be used to move the eye over a landscape in a purposeful way. Warm colors, such as oranges and reds, make objects feel closer to you, while cool colors, such as greens and blues, make objects appear to recede. Neutral colors, such as white, black, and grey, are more effective in the background with bright colors in the foreground, serving as the focal point for the eye.

Natural Transition: Gradual changes in a landscape help give it a natural feel. The transitions to and from similar heights, colors, shapes, textures of leaves, foliage shapes, forms and sizes make for good design. As in painting, optical illusions can be created using transition. Using shorter plants in relation to taller plants can frame a focal point, or vice-versa, make a landscape appear larger than it is.

Line: Flow is an important part of any landscape or garden. Entry, exit and passage through can make an outdoor space seem extremely inviting or slightly hostile. The way that plant beds, walkways, and entryways move and flow through a particular space has a direct relationship with the appeal of a design. Straight lines have a forceful and direct effect, while curvy lines tend to feel more natural, gentle, and flowing.

Proportion: The size of various elements of a landscape should be in appropriate relationship to each other. A 10-foot statue in the center of a small courtyard appears out of place and cramped while a three-foot waterfall in the center of a vast campus lawn seems trivial. Small features can be scaled to fit various rooms within a landscape and the elements can be manipulated to incorporate them within the whole.

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