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How does landscape architecture include garden design, site planning, and environmental planning?
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Keukenhof Gardens, near Lisse, Netherlands.
Landscape architecture is defined as the art of arranging land and its features for human use and enjoyment. Within this profession, garden and landscape design serves as the final, precise implementation of a broader, sequential planning process.1
- Environmental Planning: This phase analyzes natural or urbanized regions to determine the impact of development on natural systems. It establishes critical constraints regarding the capacity of the land to sustain development, as well as requirements for conservation and preservation, which guide all subsequent planning stages.1
- Site Planning: This involves creating detailed arrangements for specific developments. It integrates buildings, roadways, utilities, topography, water features, and vegetation into a cohesive plan.1
- Garden Design: Representing the most intensive and detailed level of the process, garden design focuses on the treatment of land areas—often those not covered by buildings—that are significant to the visual experience. It utilizes a wide range of natural and processed materials, such as plants, rock, water, and construction elements, to refine the environment.1
Ideally, these phases function as a continuous, integrated process, ensuring that large-scale environmental and site considerations inform the final, detailed design of the garden.1