Landscape design
Landscape design plans and arranges outdoor spaces through landform, plants, structures, and other features to meet aesthetic and practical goals.
Landform: The shape and physical features of the ground, including slopes, ridges, and depressions. Grading and existing terrain establish spatial structure, drainage, and views.
Landscape architecture: The design and planning of outdoor environments, from gardens to regional landscapes. This broader profession includes landscape design alongside planning and technical practice.
Garden design: The planning and arrangement of plants and features in a garden. Gardens are a focused setting for planting composition and outdoor experience.
Xeriscaping: Landscape design that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental irrigation. It prioritizes water conservation, especially in dry climates.
Frederick Law Olmsted: An American landscape architect known for designing Central Park and shaping public parks in the United States. His park designs linked scenery, public health, and democratic civic space.
Planting design: The planned selection and arrangement of plants in a designed landscape. Plant choices create seasonal change, habitat, shade, and visual structure.
Grading: The reshaping of land surfaces to establish elevations, slopes, and drainage patterns. Grading controls circulation, accessibility, views, and the movement of water.
Urban park: A public green space within a town or city, designed for recreation and civic use. Parks combine public access, recreation, ecology, and shared urban space.
Permaculture: A design approach that models agriculture and settlement on relationships found in natural ecosystems. It emphasizes regenerative systems and resource cycling over conventional ornamental priorities.
Capability Brown: An English landscape architect who reshaped estates into expansive, naturalistic parklands in the eighteenth century. His work helped define the English landscape garden's pastoral style.