Sense of Place

"Sense of Place" is a technical term in landscape design.

It means a garden with a distinct personality that is well-suited to both the land and the client.  When you're in a garden with a sense of place, you enjoy its unique style and feel that it belongs there and is just right for the land and the owner.

To create a sense of place requires sensitivity to the needs of the client, views, soil, slope, sun exposure, and many other factors.  It requires knowledge of architecture, landscape design principles, style, local plants, stone and other building materials, and garden accessories like fountains, planters, and lights.

Depending on the client, a garden with a sense of place can be artistically adventuresome.  It could feature dramatic sculpture, blue stucco walls, an arbor with zany angles, a curving walk with embedded strands of fiber optic lights, or five different wall fountains spilling into the same long narrow pool.

A garden with a sense of place can also be one that is friendly to the environment, using native plants and recycled and local materials where possible.  A garden that adapts itself to its environment rather than fighting it tends to be long-lived because it is practical.  And visually, it conveys stability because of its harmony with the surrounding terrain.

For a garden to have a sense of place, it must be compatible with the style of the home and be personally satisfying to the owner.  It must meet the basic utilitarian needs of the household.  It must be comfortable and draw family members out into it, where they can relax, have fun, and reconnect with the natural world.

Fran's professional goal is to create gardens with a sense of place.