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2. Stroll and mind journeys. A journey isn't limited to our feet. Be more mindful of your garden, says Messervy. Consider the garden path. "Is it a meandering path or a straight path? Is it a single file squirrel trail (do you want people to experience the garden alone) or a path wide enough for two people to walk abreast?"

FRAMES: LINK THE INSIDE WITH THE OUT

1. Framed openings. Framed openings, such as the view from a doorway or window, link the indoors to out. To determine the height of window, consider the activity that predominantly takes place in the room where the windows are situated. Lower sills in rooms where there may be seating next to a window. Consider taller windows in areas where the view may be partially obstructed.

"You use frames to knit nature and building into one. You can do this with the vertical frame: windows, doors and gateways. You don't have to change detailing on your windows, but utilize them as a picture frame for looking at the garden," says Messervy. "Landscape is very malleable architecture. You can move rocks and prune trees.

"Then there is the other frame, the horizontal one (fences, screens or hedges), like a belt around the property. The horizontal and vertical frames tell viewers that this is what is interesting."

2. Indoor and outdoor places. Porches, trellised arbors, hedges, trees and fences at varying heights are all tools you can use to frame-in outdoor rooms with varying degrees of privacy. When designing a garden, consider the light in these outdoor rooms. Just as with the interior of a home, people are naturally drawn from dark places toward areas of light.

"Use transitional architecture, like a porch, to extend the vertical frame of the house out into the garden. Think about a fence the way you treat the walls of your house. You want to design it. It's surrounding this valuable thing called land that you possess."

3. Underlying geometry. From inside to out, an underlying geometrical order, such as a grid or a pattern of lines, squares or circles, can create a unifying design theme.

Messervy: "Most houses are boxes. You can create more boxes out in the landscape, by using hedging to create rooms. Or use a new geometry, like a circle, and play with that." (A birdbath, circular cutouts in a fence or wall and terracotta orbs or gazing glasses in the landscape could be used to emphasize a circular geometry.)

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