Centre Of Attention

Drawing the eye with focal points is a good way to get your garden noticed, says Adrienne Wild

- Adrienne Wild

You might have a colourful and interesting garden, but without a focal point to draw and direct the eye, your creativity can be lost in a mass of confusion and clutter. This technique is also helpful to camouflage those more unsightly areas.

If you’re creating a garden from scratch, now is a good time to design an area of it on the axis or a sight line from the house window or door. This idea works especially well with a more geometric layout that has square and rectangular borders.

A classic garden style, it looks stunning when viewed from overhead, so consider this when marking out the design on the ground. And before you do any planting, check that the layout works when viewed from the upstairs windows and use a helper to make any necessary adjustments on the ground.

These formal borders cry out to be framed with low, clipped box or maybe less formal lavender hedges criss-crossed with paths. Adding a focal feature in the centre – which can be a fountain, birdbath, giant urn or potted tree – will give your eye a place to rest. Whichever object you choose to highlight, it should blend with the scale of the garden.