Design by Scale

Tip 1: Before designing any garden, be sure to look at the lines of communication between the house and the lawn.

"One of our first moves was to see the relationship of the door to the tree behind the sculpture in the garden," Gordon said. "That gave us a strong north-south line to work off of, which gave us perpendicular lines as well."

The garden looks more expansive because of the lines and focal points within the space. These lines draw the eye and make the property seem bigger. Gordon's whole garden has been based on that same north-south line. Even the entrance to the garden path aligns; annuals and pots dress up the entrance and accentuate that line.

Tip 2: Set up the lines of the garden before adding perennials and other details.

This will help to keep the garden interesting year-round. In the summer, Gordon suggests placing pots overflowing with annuals to add color and interest and to draw people down into an area. "I've always found that one of the most helpful things in a design is to decide how people move through the garden," he explains. "It's itinerary."

Tip 3: Keep the historical integrity of the garden by using artifacts to create a sense of place.

The red bricks that create a path through his garden were discovered on the property as part of an old brick sugar house. Gordon unearthed the bricks and used them to create a sense of permanence. In the garden, he uses several antique granite fence posts--also found on the property--to direct people through the space. "I'm using a pair of them as an entrance to show people how they come out of the brick-walk garden and into the apple orchard," he said.

Tip 4: Try framing your garden space.

If properly pruned, clusters of trees can clear the view and create visual interest. They can also frame a particularly beautiful scene, as they do in Gordon's garden. "Create a sense of place by framing things out in the distance," Gordon said. "For instance, I high-pruned the maples and black cherry in order to frame a view of the meadow; then, I mowed out about 40 feet as a way to capture and tame a bit of meadow, so it feels a bit like lawn."

Gordon transformed a boring lawn patch by arching several pieces of 18-foot-long, 3/4-inch-thick rebar, then planting and training purple-leaf beech trees to grow around it. This creates a tunnel, and indicates a transition from one area of the garden to another. In another part of the garden, a pair of perennial borders with a central lawn path were inspired by Gordon's wife's English background, giving the space a sense of history.

Tip 6: Consider creating a seating area.

Benches and other seating can create a destination within the garden so that people can sit among the plants. "Enable people to sit in a perennial border, rather than just walk by it," Gordon said. "Such seating allows you to embrace the garden."

Tip 7: Keep the garden in scale with any buildings or landmarks within it.

A 150-year-old tobacco leaf drying shed was incorporated into Gordon's garden. "The grape arbor is just as high as the building, and it's just as long as the building," he said. "The path is the same width as the door, and the height is the same height as the arbor.

Tip 8: Exercise continuity in design strategy.

"The point is that the fall garden and the winter garden are really the garden without the perennials, without the details," he says. "If that is where people begin the design of their garden, then they will have a good-looking garden all year long."