An aesthetic and functional landscape starts with a plan the same as a building starts with a blueprint. Filling in the blank canvas begins with an outline of the area to be landscaped plus all of the existing features including building footprints (available in county property tax public records), pavement, and any plants. The rest of the design depends on specific needs and desires within the limits of constraints such as soil, shade, and climate. A few of the things to consider are the views from each room, seasonal appeal, the fourth dimension (time) where allowing space for things to grow to maturity, maintenance needs and the location of utilities (except maybe for the cable line if you plan on taunting fans of the losing team during the big game, which accidentally happened anyway, or so I was told, if you can believe electricians and/or plumbers as I recall, then again imagine how much worse it would have been if it was intentional like an episode of The Three Stooges).
There are lots of boring details about style, but they only deal with formal and informal while usually leaving out (unless lumped under the later) everything from whimsical or eccentric to gaudy and tacky. Landscape design however it is done should literally be outside the box since that is where it goes, except for those things called tree coffins along sidewalks in some city landscapes.
Here is a short lesson in some landscape design elements: lead, focus, repeat;... lead, focus, repeat;... lead, well you get the idea. Leading/drawing the eye to focal points as well as using repetitive patterns. One of the more obscure ways to do this is to use texture rather than perspective to create an illusion and/or balance whether it be asymmetrical or not.
The most neglected variable in landscape design is the forth dimension, time, where the eventual size of the plants are not considered because of a desire for a new landscape to look full. This soon results in excessive maintenance due to plants becoming overcrowded and can cause other problems that may eventually require removal of the landscape. This is so ingrained in the industry that the lifespan of a typical landscape is considered to be only 15 years.
