A Garden View Through A Window
(Image credit: Elenathewise)

A good landscape design is a bit like a painting and is based on some of the same basic fundamentals of art. The garden view from the house is even more important than the view of the garden from the outside, especially when we spend the majority of our time indoors. Windows serve as frames if you will, allowing you to see your garden as a work of art incorporating the same principles. Read on to learn how to frame a window garden view. 

See your Garden as a Work of Art

The fundamentals or building blocks of art easily pertain to landscaping. These are color, composition, form and perspective. Design elements of color, line, shape and texture are easily translated to the fundamentals of art. 

In the case of a window garden view, again using the window as a frame, the goal is to integrate a focal point and then frame it using ornamental trees, arbors or trellises. The interior of the view of the garden is then filled in with plants of different shapes, colors and textures. 

Designing a Window Garden View

Before working on a garden view from your house, actually sit down, look through the window and contemplate. First, what do you see in your garden? Is there anything you want to highlight? What does this area look like at different times of the year? Is there anything that catches your eye? 

Once you've had a really good look at the garden through the window, you’re ready to do some thoughtful planning on a garden view from the house. 

  • If you lack a view, create an interior view with the use of fencing, gates, and arbors; structures that draw the eye forward, teasing an interior view of the garden. 
  • Keep an eye on where the sun hits the garden space at any particular time of the day. Use the lighting to draw attention to plants or architectural details. 
  • Keep mature plants pruned so they don’t overtake other garden elements making a hodgepodge mess. 

Best Garden View from House

The best garden view from your house will be the one you have created. Not everyone has a sweeping vista or significant acreage to appreciate. Some only have a view of the apartments across the alley, but even so it’s possible to spruce up the view from your window. In the latter case, a window box filled with aromatic herbs or annuals will go a long way to improving the view. 

For those lucky enough to have space to gaze upon, there’s no end to what can be achieved. Create a focal point, be it an architectural or water feature, a specimen plant or sculpture. Then fill in around it with paths or beds adorned with varied textures and colors of plants, or create a mass planting. 

The view of your garden is a reflection of you. Just like art, it is subjective. Most of the time it will be you who is gazing through the window pane and it will be you who loves or hates that view.

To find the right tree to perfect your garden view, click here.

Amy Grant
Writer

Amy Grant has been gardening for 30 years and writing for 15. A professional chef and caterer, Amy's area of expertise is culinary gardening.