How to Garden 101 – Focal Points

What is a focal point and why do I need one? Well, in a garden, a focal point gives the viewer a place to begin looking. This is a striking feature that will get someone to notice your hard work and perhaps linger a bit to take in the garden as a whole.

What are Focal Points and Where Can I Use Them?

Focal points can be used in any garden, whether it’s floral or vegetable, formal or casual, country or city. A good focal point doesn’t need to be a statue or bird bath, the only requirement is that a good focal point will garner the attention that a clump of flowers never would. A focal point could be as simple as a white flower in the midst of a field of red ones or as extravagant as a three tier fountain complete with a Cupid spitting water. The key is to keep it in scale with the rest of the garden, not outlandishly huge but also not so small as it loses any sense of importance.

Ideas for a Focal Point

• Unique Shrub – A red twig dogwood would be a good choice in a climate with snow. Its striking red branches would provide interest in the normally barren winter garden.
• Proven Perennial – A large perennial that can dominate the surrounding annuals such as a Cleopatra Canna or a small grouping of Torch Lilies would give a tropical feel as a focus.
• Dwarf Tree – A dwarf Weeping Cherry tree gives a cascading effect and brings the eye from its crest down to the plants at the tips of its low hanging branches.
• Gazing Ball – The trend to add a reflective surface to gardens has been well established as of late and a gazing ball will not only catch the sunlight and reflect your gorgeous flowers but add an element that no flower can duplicate.
• Statue – Here is an option that can be used to add theme to the garden. A statue can be anything from the typical Resin available at every home improvement store to a unique bird house or sculpture made in your own workshop.

Do I Need a Focal Point?

The simple answer is no, but since you are here you are at least thinking about one. Once you have decided on the need it is important to focus on the placement. It is imperative that you not place the focal point in the dead center of your garden (unless you are planning a formal Victorian garden). The best advice, taken from a graphic designer I know, is to map out your garden on a 3×3 square grid and place the focal point on one of the four corners of the center square. This will offset the focus from the center just enough to make it seem less contrived (which of course it is).

Seasonal Gardening

If you are going to have a seasonal garden the same rules for focal point apply. It is important to remember that as one season fades out if the new focal point is not already established the remnants of the previous season’s focal point will remain and that means that your beautiful Hyacinths that were the stars of your spring garden are now the yellowed corpses of your summer offering.

Multiple Focal Points

A large garden can consist of several focal points and if used correctly they can lead the observer from one area of the garden to the next. In a themed garden there could be a succession of statues based on Greek Gods and Goddesses or perhaps a color theme beginning with white and yellow flowers and moving through orange to red to blue and purple to deep black specimens.

Focal Points as a Design Tool

Focal points are a useful design tool but they are not the be all, end all of gardening. Like anything else they are only a tool in the pouch of a great artist!