YardBusters! Featured Yard: Arnold Design

July 28th, 2011 by
One of the great things about being a YardShare member is that you get to see examples of model yards created by professional yard designers. It is fun working with graph paper and a mechanical pencil to draw up a layout the old fashioned way; but the 3D imaging software the pros use is pretty cool! One Client’s Dream Yard Here’s a bird’s eye view of a landscape designed by David at 3D Exterior Designs. He described this client’s yard as being “without boundaries”. On the one hand, that’s a good thing since it gives him a lot of leeway to play around with ideas. On the other hand, it presents special challenges. David’s objective was to give form to the formless – a goal of mythic proportions.

3D Landscape Design

As you can see, the central area is highly structured. It’s all about right angles. Even the water feature, which is often an area designers like to leave looking “wild” and natural, is symmetrical and squared. The outer boundaries are defined by curving hedges to hug the yard and keep it contained while still leaving a large space undeveloped for picnicking, croquet, sports, and romping with family pets. The juxtaposition of shapes actually makes the yard appear larger since it creates two distinct spaces instead of an undifferentiated mass. Adding Height Another way to add character to a large space is by installing vertical or raised elements. You can see them in this outdoor living area in the following features: - Lamp post - Urns at different levels - Stone backdrop - Trees (probably already part of the existing landscape given their size) - Gate arbor - Foot bridge

3D Landscape Design Patio Area

Having the lower elements in the center of the outdoor living space and the taller elements around the edges makes the space seem more intimate. If you could play around with this design software to add or subtract features, what would they be? Let us know in the comments.