Here’s a cheeky (quite literally!) ‘Teaser’ for you…
There’s a small design faux pas with this beautiful pond – can you spot what it is?
If you can spot what the issue is, then you’ve definitely got the ‘designer eye’. It’s a subtle but important thing…
And if you do have that ‘designer eye’ it might bug you when you spot it…
If you’ve not seen it yet, it’s easiest to see in the second & third images…
The winner of the prize draw for – the Garden Design Workshop Series. is… Geraldine! Her name was pulled out the virtual hat!
The video below shows you what’s in the Garden Design Workshop Series…
Lots of brilliant answers in the comments below, most of you got what had irked me so much – the pond focal point didn’t like up withe path and trying to compensate with pots didn’t really help.
37 replies to "HAPPY NEW YEAR & GARDEN!"
Nothing is central, it’s all offset. The statue photo may just be the angle in the first photo, but the benches are not located evenly either side of the water feature; the pot is not central between the gap in the hedge. Alternatively, have a pot either side of the hedge in the last photo for visual symmetry.
Things don’t have to be symmetrical, but it jars if it obviously isn’t in a more formal setting.
The landscaped pool with lily pads, lily pad fountain, statue at end, ornate pots plus ornate trees might have a clean view from the end opposite the lady, but in these 3 photos there seems to be too many things to look at rather than all design elements pulling me to the main star of the show. Statue thinks its her, but the fountain in the middle is quite snazzy too.
The focal point in the pond doesn’t align with the incoming path.
Hi Geraldine,
Not only are you correct, but you’re also the prize draw winner of the Garden Design Workshop! Please email support@successfulgardendesigncourses.com and I’ll get you set up with the login – or you can send it to someone as a gift – just email their details.
Rachel
If she going to dive she won’t reach the water
And the pots are all wrong
There is no alignment in the design.
You shouldn’t place a pond near or underneath trees
The pots are too close to the edge of the pool
Happy New Year! 🙂
Hi Rachel
The design is out of balance because the view line is not straight. Your eye hits a wall with the hedge, the statue is off to the right, and the pots are not in line with the path central line.
The terracotta pots aren’t in the middle of the paths, the statue at the end isn’t in line, it’s slightly off to one side and there’s something odd about the positioning of the central sculpture in the pond.
Hi Rachel,
The use of terracotta: terracotta conjures up hot and dry which is out of kilter with the relaxing and cooling effect of lush green planting, hedges and white statue. This is exacerbated by their placement in a row beside the water feature.
Hi Rachel and a Happy New Year
For me the planting in the pots is a tad insignificant for the size of the pots and the setting.
The garden is too confusing, pots that interrupt the sidewalk plane – water, objects outside axes of symmetry.
The feature in the pond is not lined up with path.
Hi Rachel, to my eye there is a disconnect between the naturalistic background of the garden, the crisp geometric shapes of the pool and the clipped box, and the curved arching shapes of the statue and the water feature. It is all lovely, but doesn’t seem to fit together as a harmonious design.
For me there is not enough variation in the shades of green of the shrubs and plants. Very mono-tonal.
the lady wearing no knickers is nowhere near the water.
Rachel I see several design faults – The sculpture in the pond is certainly not in the correct spot relative to the garden BUT we cannot tell if its actually in the centre of the pond and the garden is off centre – which came first the pond and sculpture or “new” garden 🙂 – plus I would never have put those conical trees where they are planted; those flower pots should definitely not be there and I would not have put that statue there either among those shrubs as they look like they’ll eventually hide it …prefer to see it between the two benches (in what looks like a gap) facing the pool sculpture -picture 2 but then I’d have to move the shrubs there to make it central to the pond sculpture….
The Terracotta pots are much too small – and something more modern and larger would look better I feel.
The terracotta pots do not match at all the style of the sculpture in the pond.
The feature pieces (statue, pond structure) are not in alignment with the rest of the garden design, throwing everything slightly off kilter and making it feel unbalanced.
The eye is drawn off centre by the various significant statues/fountains-pots
The central sculpture in the fountain does not line up with the path nor the lone bench, both of which either arrive or look at …..nothing.
This is a garden that seems to want symmetry yet the alternating pots have plantings that lack equal weight. There is a surfeit of conical imbalanced evergreens requiring excessive and unappreciated effort to maintain.
The exuberant statue is placed so far out of the visual field of anyone around the pool, she seems to be calling vainly for attention.
So close, yet unsettlingly far.
The sculpture in the pond doesn’t line up with the gap/path approaching the pond. Also the terracotta pots are too small in scale in relation to the surrounding planting and area and are totally unnecessary and a potential hazard.
I feel like there’s a number of things that are a little less than ideal, but it all boils down to a feeling of a mish mash. Individual elements are fine but not put together in a way that lets them have maximum impact.
I feel the temptation to get in there and give the strong topiary shapes some space; control the larger plants surrounding them and take away those pots. Have some ‘effervescent’ planting but contained a bit better, say within the little hedges and in the background, not towering over the more sculptural plantings.
Tree overhanging pond
Hi Rachel,
I would say assuming the central focal point of the pond is a fountain with flowing water it’s causing damage to the water lilies which are in close proximity.
The garden is too busy. There’s no focus and no journey for the eye to provide interest.
Symmetry is key to beauty and there are simply too many elements that are not symmetrical. This creates disharmony in the design. Yes, it’s subtle, but it leaves the viewer with that niggling feeling that something just isn’t right.
It’s a formal garden without the symmetry, completely jarring on the eye. I’d be moving stuff around within minutes !
The focal points don’t line up with the gaps in the hedging or the viewing area (the seats). It makes it all a bit messy looking with no real focus. For me personally too, the pond would need ledging and ramps for wildlife to get in and out – they may be present but hard to tell from photos. I would make do if I had this garden though lol
The pots are too small
The lily sculpture in the pond, the pot with flowers and the path in the foreground are not aligned.
The positioning of the statue and pots is wrong. The trees and bushes are so thick and heavy they feel oppressive. I can imagine feeling hemmed in.
Too many pots, and the smaller ones aren’t in keeping with the scale of garden. Would look better with three larger ones. Also, in the third image there is only one pot just off the center of the entrance, which doesn’t give a nice symmetrical look. And it is clashing with the view of the low lying water sculpture.
The fountain/sculpture in the pond doesn’t match up /not level with the gap in the evergreen hedge, and the pots aren’t even placed centrally when looking side on. There is no central focus/flow to draw your eye down in any direction, it’s all wonky. It would really annoy me!
There are conflicting focal points and the symmetry is poor for what is a formal design. It looks as if the owner started off with good intentions, but then fell for adding extra features piecemeal without considering the overall design effect.