Part 1: Garden design techniques
8. Framing or symmetry
If you have three or more objects in a row you create rhythm and your eye travels along the line, but if you have just two objects your eye settles on the space between them that they frame and you are drawn to the space in the middle. This effect is strongest if the two features are symmetrical.
Visit a public garden, park or other large garden.
Choose a random location, turn on the spot and see which direction feels desirable to walk in. Think about why you want to go that way. Is it a path leading you along? A rhythm of a line of trees? Is there a focal point to move towards or an arch to go through? Make a note of the elements that attract you in that direction. Also, why is it less desirable to move in the other directions? If you were designing this space, what would you do to make those directions more desirable?