Elements Of Informal Garden – Informal gardens do not have the straight walks and avenues that create obvious places for focal points. Their curves and hidden spaces should reveal eye-catching surprises at the last minute. As you round a corner, you should be confronted by something to please, astonish or amuse.
Sculptures should have a sense of movement; this is why animal sculptures often work well. How you place these eye-catchers is all-important because, as they will probably be approached from many different directions, they must look good from all angles. Sculptures will enhance wherever they are situated: they can be hidden behind foliage, hung from the branch of a tree or placed beside a pool or pond.
A feeling of movement
You can control the way people move around your garden by the way you plan the spaces. Long, narrow paths will encourage people to walk fairly quickly. If you want people to linger and look, you must provide wide paths of firm, dry material and seats for them along the way. A path next to a summer border should be wide enough for two people to linger and admire together, whereas a path going to a compost heap can be narrow and hedged. Paths that are too long, narrow and enclosed will make people feel uncomfortable – the higher the sides, the narrower and longer a path will seem.
A feeling of balance
Balance in the formal garden is provided by symmetry. In an informal garden you have to create your own balance. A large, open space such as a lawn can be balanced by a strong upright tree or sculpture. A white seat, always a very prominent feature, can be balanced by a dark green background or by setting it in an arbor. A group of trees or shrubs can be balanced by an answering bulk of some kind, such as a table and chairs of a strong defined sculptural shape or a small building.
Water
Natural-looking ponds and pools are ideal water features in informal gardens. You will probably get a better shape by digging the hole and lining it with butyl rather than by buying a preformed liner. Planting should include water plants, as well as marginal and bog plants.
Other water features could include a small stream or a rocky cascade, which can quite easily he created with a collection of rocks, a small reservoir and a submersible pump. Cobble, millstone and wall fountains can all be useful when you want to provide the sight and sound of water without giving up space to a pond.
