Landscape Focal Point

                                              Focal Point
So many yards have landscape installed with no concept of creating a focal point. Large yards, especially the one and five acre lots are flat and boring with no character.

A yard that has too many themes or character items becomes confusing and messy feeling.

A Focal Point is taking a theme or item that you want your guest to be drawn to creating a feeling or atmosphere.

This starts with finding the most common spot a person stands or visits, then looking out from that viewpoint and finding a location you would want to draw their attention to.

If it's a small yard, it might be to the farthest point in the yard so the area feels larger.

If it's a open space, you would want to create a area to draw their attention to that would be interesting then create that environment in that area.

Pathways can lead a person to the point. The photo on the right invites you into this bungalow and makes you feel the environment without even going into the actual structure.

If you wanted to make if feel farther away, you would make the stepping stones smaller and smaller as they approached the building.

This is a very plain yard, but the focal point makes it feel like something special.

Often we use smaller furniture such as a little tea table and chairs that are small so the focal point looks farther away.

It's not an item necessarily to be used but a feeling or environment you want to convey.

Here is an excellent example of a Focal Point crating a feeling or environment.

A bit mysterious it makes the yard feel much larger and very unique.

But when we dissect what is really creating the "feel", we have some pavers, a small rock arch for hardscape, a couple of shrubs and low maintenance English beds on the sides ending with a back drop plain tree. Really not that expensive but what an affect.

Go through google images and type in Landscape Focal Point ideas until you get something that draws your eye.

It may be a simple self contained water feature you see at D&B, now take that item and put it in a area off the back patio or as your drive into the yard. There is your focal point. Now how do you draw a persons eye to it. You can frame it and put in a dry river bed look winding toward the driveway. The eye will follow that to the feature. Maybe a $1,600 investment that completely changes  your yard.