A well-designed garden can provide a beautiful and functional outside space that you can enjoy spending time in. But, how do you go about designing your garden to be calming and not one that seems chaotic or overcrowded?
Along with other design principles, using both positive and negative spaces can significantly impact both how your garden looks and makes you feel. Whether you are updating a small area of your yard or undertaking a complete garden redesign, it can be hard to know where to start.
The use of negative space in garden design
So what do garden designers mean exactly when discussing positive and negative spaces?
Positive space often refers to the garden's plants, trees, focal points and other elements such as seating areas and fire pits.
Negative spaces, on the other hand, are the voids and open areas, such as lawns and patios, and the spaces around plants.
Or, as Militca Denee, Horticulturalist at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, says, ‘negative space is where big and grand things are not happening between the showpieces or the larger, more colorful elements.’
Militca Denee is a horticulturist and garden designer at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Horticulture and a Minor in Environmental Studies from Kent State University.
Why negative space in garden design is important
Having defined what negative space is, one can begin to understand why it is necessary in a garden. For example, in a border, negative space around plants is essential for them to be displayed as they should, giving them the breathing room to be appreciated and for the planting overall not to feel overly full.
When looking at the garden as a whole, if it consisted solely of positive elements, it could feel cluttered and less than serene. However, when negative spaces are used well within a garden, the planting can stand out and the empty voids help create balance and harmony, leading to the garden being a restful space.
When asked about negative space and what it adds to a garden, Laura Butera, Lead Designer at Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, explained, ‘Negative space is the intentional breathing room between plants, masses, and forms. It’s those moments where nothing is planted, so the planted areas can speak more clearly.
'At a larger scale, negative space can be a clearing, a simple ground plane, or an unplanted court. Negative spaces are places for people to pause, orient, and take in the surrounding planting, creating strong focal points and making the whole garden feel grounded, legible, and inviting.'
So even though it can be tempting to include as many positive elements in your backyard as possible, allowing for negative spaces as well, is key to the overall design and your garden being a pleasant place to spend time in.
Laura Butera is the Lead Designer for the Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, where she shapes horticultural experiences that connect people, plants, and place. A Philadelphia native, she grew up attending, and competing in, the Flower Show, a tradition that continues to inspire her work today.
Geometric vs organic forms of negative space
Shape is a fundamental element of garden design and it has a strong influence on the garden’s style and feeling. Formal and modern gardens tend to use uniform shapes such as rectangles, squares and circles, which help portray order, symmetry and are generally easy to maintain.
On the other hand, cottage gardens tend to be based on organic and less-linear shapes, which provide a more relaxed and informal feel to the space.
Laura notes that, ‘geometric negative spaces such as clean rectangles, circles, or linear paths bring clarity and structure to a garden. Their precision can make even the most expressive, naturalistic planting feel composed.
Organic negative spaces, by contrast, echo the irregular forms we find in nature: soft openings, meandering curves, and asymmetrical clearings that invite a slower pace and a more instinctive sense of calm.’
How to use negative space when creating a garden
When designing a garden, it is also helpful to know that negative space can help with other garden design aspects, including improving flow, creating calm, highlighting focal points and framing positive spaces.
Described as how you interact and move through the space, flow is an important element of garden design and can be created by the use of negative spaces. To improve a sense of flow in a garden, Militca suggests using ‘a small bit of lawn or a tasteful rock path to break apart garden beds or having high elements separated by lower growing, 'quieter' elements'.
Many of us use our garden to relax, find peace and be more mindful, which a sense of calm can contribute towards.
When asked how voids or open spaces can help provide tranquillity in an outdoor space, Laura responded, ‘To create calm, negative space gives the garden a moment to breathe. Open areas or simpler plantings act like a visual exhale: the place where your eye can rest, and your body naturally slows down. These quieter moments help balance the richer, more detailed planting around them, making the whole space feel soothing and grounded.’
Focal points are another vital part of garden design as they draw our attention and can lead us on a visual journey through the space. Whether a water feature, like this Crescent Garden Large Outdoor Planter Bowl available from Amazon, a seating area, or a specimen tree, focal points can also draw attention away from perhaps more unsightly areas of a garden.
Focal points deserve our consideration, but how can you highlight them so they receive the interest they deserve? Laura says that one such way is to allow ‘negative space to become the frame. By simplifying the surrounding area, you give a feature plant, sculpture, or view the breathing room it needs to stand out with clarity and intention.’
Framing can also be beneficial when it comes to beds and borders. Soft planting or billowing perennials, such as this Gambit Gaura Plant available from Burpee, which is suitable for zone 5 and above, can provide a naturalistic and romantic feel to a garden, but need adjacent negative space and framing to highlight their appearance.
One method is to use hard edges, as Laura states, they ‘help define and elevate soft planting by giving it a clean, intentional frame. Materials like steel, stone, or even a crisp cut of lawn create a contrast that makes grasses and perennials look even more fluid and expressive.’ You can purchase Sunnydaze Decor Brown Steel Landscape edging from Lowes.
Creating a garden can be daunting even for the most experienced of gardeners. With factors affecting the design, such as the garden's function and style you would like to emulate, it can be hard to know where to start.
Our specialist article on ‘how to plan a garden’ is a great place to start and will walk you through planning the layout to deciding which plants to use.
