A Room with a View

Design garden scenes that look good from inside the house

The large window in my home office looks out onto a deep backyard , where weeping willow tree and regal sequoias in adjacent properties extend the view so that my back garden looks much large than its actual sizing . This vista , unfortunately , is the exception . Many of the windows in my other room — the kitchen , living room , and dining room — face up a interfering road .

It pass off quite often . Many of us are burdened with inauspicious views . Sometimes a windowpane in a oft used sept room reckon out on a service department next door , or a breakfast nook equal into the neighbour ’s family room . But with some purposeful planning , it ’s easygoing to translate a knit stitch , or even unsightly , view into a beautiful picture and contribute the garden into your home every day of the class .

A practical way to start planning is to expend time in front of a pet windowpane . Take your normal view , whether standing at the kitchen windowpane while rinse off beauty or sit down at the tabular array . What lies within your skeletal frame of view , and what else would you wish to see there ? What ’s most crucial at this location ? Would you wish your view to be nearby and detailed or a vista ? The amount of space you ’re working with will influence your choices of color and grain . A vista is like an impressionistic watercolor , paint with tolerant brushstrokes , while a close - up scene is more like a carefully drawn pen - and - ink sketch with fine definition .

Enjoy subtle elements up close

Close - up views benefit most from intriguing details like intricate foliage form and darker , more pure colors . I roll in the hay the approach pattern of the glossy leaflets of Mexican orange flower ( Choisya ternataand CV . , USDA Hardiness Zones 8–10 ) , which I can see aright outside the dining - room windowpane . Containers of annuals and small - flower flora just beneath my office windowpane are leisurely to appreciate from my desk , especially bloom maples ( Abutilonspp . and cvs . , zona 8–11 ) , which are just marvelous enough to give me a cheeseparing - up look of their red and yellowish lanterns . I ’ve trained a clematis ( Clematisspp . and cvs . , zone 4–11 ) across a pipe just outside the window so that I can look right on down onto its big reddish blue bloom . Outside my bread and butter - room window , I attend up from my indication chair into the pendent white bells of Japanese snowbell ( Styrax japonicusand cvs . , Zones 6–8 ) . If you were facing a savings bank , I ca n’t imagine anything lovely than a sweep of pendant hellebore ( Helleborusspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) . Dark flowers and leaves , fine - textured foliage , a small sculpture , or a water feature are also suited to nasty inspection .

you’re able to also tot up nigh - up sake to larger eyeshot . For example , the purview from my office window let in the all-inclusive trunk of a sweet gum Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , nearby island beds , a faraway grapevine bower , and a large - than - living - size ceramic sculpture in the distance . To make the near scene more interesting , I introduce decorative details in the foreground — a countrified chick feeder is nailed to the stout sweet gum luggage compartment , and a birdbath stands in the island seam cheeseparing to the windowpane . I now enjoy watching the snort feeding , bath , and pounce gracefully between these two terminus .

A distant view calls for masses and bright colors

When your space is deep and your vista is far away , bright prime and leafage send their light farthest and are invaluable for look at from a length . In my garden , superb roses in orangish , bright pink , and apricot show up well even 50 metrical foot away . The vary leaves of ‘ Hedgerows Gold ’ redtwig cornel ( Cornus sericea‘Hedgerows Au ’ , Zones 3–8 ) and ‘ Silver and Gold ’ yellow branchlet dogwood ( Cornus sericea‘Silver and Gold ’ , Zones 3–8 ) make aglow spotlights a hundred foot from my office windowpane . It ’s the same with ‘ Frosty Morn ’ sedum ( Sedum erythrostictum‘Frosty Morn ’ , Zones 6–9 ) , which border an island bed down my garden path . Its creamy diversification glow from afar . Silver , blue - green , and golden leaves all likewise emanate visible radiation .

One can also use masses of a individual plant to create bold brushstrokes for a landscape planting that is easy to recognize from a space . One of my island bed is fill with dahlia ( Dahliaspp . and cvs . , Zones 9–11 ) , whose large flowers make grownup splash of red-hot pink , sing , and creamy icteric that sate the distance in summer and fall . My 12 - foot - tall hedge of Florida grass ( Miscanthus giganteus , Zones 6–9 ) makes a dramatic curtain with a perpendicular drive that draws the eye down to the bottom of the garden . In October , it turns golden , becoming a compelling destination when it glows in the late - good afternoon light .

Plan for seasonal views

Most of us expend more time indoors in wintertime , especially in the dining room and kitchen . It ’s wise to emphasize seasonal pursuit in front of windows that you ’re likely to be frequenting then — say , in a sunroom or family room . On a cold or gray winter day , it ’s uplifting to catch a glance of flowering wintertime coast banksia ( Lonicera fragrantissima , Zones 4–8 ) , witch hazelnut tree ( Hamamelisspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , or ‘ February Gold ’ daffodils ( Narcissus‘February Au ’ , Zones 3–9 ) .

window see out onto a terrace or kitty that engender weighty summer use would naturally benefit from roses , hydrangeas , and other summer - bloom perennials and annual . And near window used yr - pear-shaped — a living room and home billet , for example — in force choice are broad - go out evergreen and conifers with foliage and chassis that remain attractive in all time of year .

Plant for privacy when it counts

Place shrubs , trees , fencing material , or trellises to screen a neighbor ’s window or decorate from your view . Where space is narrow , tall clopping bamboo ( Fargesiaspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) make a lacy pall that separates area . Or plant fastigiate yew ( Taxusspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–8 ) and columnar arborvitae ( Thujaspp . and cvs . , Zones 2–9 ) as hedge . Where there ’s more way for a spreading canopy , incense cedarwood ( Calocedrusspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–8 ) or pine ( Pinusspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–10 ) make good screens . I prefer broad - leave trees such as evergreen magnolia ( Magnoliaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) and eucalypt ( Eucalyptusspp . and cvs . , Zones 8–10 ) because they reflect more light , a valuable quality in the often overcast Pacific Northwest clime .

To inspissate privacy CRT screen , plant evergreen shrub to fill in between the trunks and in front of the trees . I ’m a big fan of Mexican Orange River blossom , especially the fine - textured ‘ Aztec Pearl ’ and golden - leave ‘ Sundance ’ . Using golden- , variegated- , or silver grey - leaved bush adds long - lasting color to the picture .

With consideration for the ways you face out from your home , you’re able to enjoy your garden from the inside almost as much as you do on the exterior .

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