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Principles of Design - Proportion - Page 2

© Kirk Johnson

The design was intended to create a single arrangement using three containers. I was somewhat successful at doing that, but the arrangement in the smallest container is out of proportion with the other two. This is not because the flowers in that container were shorter, but because that container needed more cocosmia foliage. The other two were filled with that foliage but the third one wasn't. I should have used the same proportion of foliage of foliage to flowers in that container - just on a smaller scale than the other containers. This would have tied together the three containers into a unified arrangement.

It was difficult to analyze the proportions of this arrangement and it is much more difficult to analyze proportions in our gardens. Most gardens are composed out of many more elements than a floral arrangement and most arrangements are only expected to last a few days so it is relatively easy to control the proportions of color. In our gardens, something will stop blooming while the plant next to it is just beginning to bloom. Gardens have to be planned many months and even years before the intended floral display can be seen.

Most houses in the United States have 8 foot ceilings. The library where I displayed the arrangement of crocosmia had a high ceiling - maybe 12 feet. Outdoors, proportions are often defined by 60 foot tall trees. Crocosmia 'Lucifer' is tall in relation to most humans, but it is short in comparison with most trees. When you consider that trees are short in comparison with clouds that are floating by 10,000 feet overhead, dealing with scale in a garden can be quite daunting. The main thing to remember is that gardens are created by and for humans, so everything is on a human scale. Trees tower over us, so the trees are large, we don't really need to see the garden from a tree's point of view. Everything in our gardens should be designed in relationship to our bodies.

Many people make the mistake of making garden walks too narrow. Three feet is wide enough for a hallway in a house, so they are surprised by how narrow a three foot wide walkway seems in a garden. This is partially because we are experiencing the walk in relation to trees which tower over us, but it is also because walks are often encroached upon by plantings and because we expect to have more room to move about when outdoors. The principle walks in a garden should be wide enough for two adults to walk side by side. This means that the minimum width for a walk crossing a lawn is 4 1/2 feet. If you are going to have flowers spilling over the edges of a walkway, 6 or even 8 feet is better. If a garden's walks feel comfortable in relation to your body, you are likely to feel comfortable with the gardens proportions. Plants can tower over you or cause you to kneel down for a closer inspection, but you will be experiencing both of them from the walkway. My advice is to focus on the proportions of your walks and only fuss about the proportions of your plantings when you see obvious design problems. A plant that is too small today may be overgrown in 10 years. Just try to see your garden with fresh eyes every day.

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