.....I believe that every element in the landscape, whether a building, focal point, plant, pot, path, or view, holds and expresses energy.  It is not enough simply to put all the various energies in a landscape together, you must also balance them.  Getting the energies right is important because people feel more comfortable and settled in gardens and homes in which the energies are in balance.  In a way, it is like feng shui without the mysticism.

As with most design theories, there are general guidelines to follow when addressing an object's energy.  Think about houses and their different energy levels.  A formal, brick Georgian house, symmetrical on all sides, sits complete an balanced on a site.  Gardens around it tend to be similarly formal and balanced in their layouts:  A clipped boxwood-edges front walk, squared off borders, geometrical herb gardens and matching planters and pottery all look good against such architecture.

In contrast, many low-slung contemporary houses are designed with a different energy: front door off to one side, wings jutting out this way and that, the house eased into natural settings where the disparate energies can dissipate into the landscape.

But balancing energies is often done by intuition as much as by analysis.  While you may not be able to "see" the energy that resides in a particular tree, island bed, statue, or pathway, you can, after some practice, come to feel it.

My approach is to scan a site, see what features jump out at me, and notice what happens to the energy generated by each item.  If something feels out of whack, I work to figure out how to compose the energies so that they feel right again.  Usually this means concentrating or enhancing the energies, or dispersing them.  Often I will do both within a landscape, depending on the elements involved and the relationships I am seeking to create among them.  Juliemoirmesservy.com