Grass is popular for yards because it provides a large swath of greenery that's both visually pleasing and
useful. You probably envision a traditional yard when you think about sod - a lawn, a couple trees, and a
few flower beds. However, many landscape designers are moving toward yards with a distinct style. Sod
can complement several of these landscaping styles.
English Garden
The English garden features several clear-cut characteristics. It's a loose, informal style inspired by
nature. Original English gardens were part of large estates, so they themselves were grand. However,
modern landscape designers now scale down the scope for residences. The goal of such a garden is to
encourage visitors to wander around and relax.
One of the classic elements of the English garden is a rolling lawn. The English countryside where nobles
built manors wasn't exactly hilly, but it did feature some undulation. So, if you want to replicate an
English garden, have at least one small mound created in your yard before having it sodded over.
Likewise, you want enough sod in your yard to get an expansive feel.
English gardens include other features that you can incorporate into your landscaping, at least in that
scaled down manner, for example manor gardens often featured lakes. Since that's too grand for most
modern day houses, consider a naturalistic pool. Tree groves are another element that you can work into
your landscaping on a small scale, say with a cluster of trees in the corner of your lawn.
Japanese Garden
The classic Japanese garden is another style that aims to encourage wandering, in this case for
meditation. Likewise, such gardens are informally formal, meaning they look naturalistic. However,
designers carefully cultivate the vista into reproductions of what you'd find in a perfect example of
nature. A well designed Japanese garden should be both elegant and complex.
Even though the Japanese garden tries to mimic nature, grass is a mainstay of the style. Landscape
designers use it in different ways, depending on the scope of the garden. If the yard is small, they might
use it as an accent to other elements. With larger gardens, you'll see an expanse of manicured lawn.
Incorporate a sod installation so you see a balance of green in your garden.
Additionally, Japanese gardens depend on two important hardscaping elements - a water feature and a
winding pathway. Your Japanese landscaping should incorporate a nature-inspired pool, ideally with a
bridge. Likewise, a winding pathway, preferably of stone, encourages that sense of meditation. Consider
devising the path around your water feature and through the lawn for visual interest.
French Garden
The French garden is probably the most formal style of landscaping. The foundation ambiance is a sense
of order over nature. So designers use natural elements, but they apply a sense of order and symmetry
to the design. Naturally, one of the most famous French gardens is the one at the Palace of Versailles.
A lawn is
de rigueur
for the French garden because it is the ideal form of plant life for imposing order.
Indeed, sod is especially useful because the contractors can lay it down in the precise manner required
by the style. You see either large lawns that accompany the hardscaping or mirrored lawns, like on
either side of a central statue or formal pathway, for example.
Another plant to incorporate into your French garden is the box hedge for the same reason as for sod.
Indeed, the two plants can work well together. You can have the contractors lay the sod in neat spaces
further defined by the box hedges.
Use sod as the foundation of your landscaping design, then add some of the other elements that adhere
to the principles of the target style. Contact
Wright Turf Farms
for the sod itself.
