Courtyard Landscaping

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Courtyard Landscaping

Courtyard is a an architectural feature which can be categorized into two basic types.

1) A space accommodated within a group of buildings
2) A space accommodated within different spaces within home building.

before we deal with courtyard landscaping let's try to understand first what a courtyard does in the first place.

1) A courtyard space accommodated within a group of buildings

Depending upon the type of architectural project, the size of this type of courtyard may differ greatly. for example in university campus such kind of courtyards can be commonly seen. A typical case would be a space developed by arranging various departments of a university.

Such kind of spaces may be open to sky with informal setting arrangement or most of the times a space to travel from one department to another using paved walkways.

Most of the times these walkways are great for giving visual directions to the entire space. landscaping in such spaces can be vary depending upon the amount of sunlight this space receives. But as a general suggestion a combination of shade loving and sunlight plants is a good option.

Such kind of courtyard can also be used as an informal meeting space by creating an amphitheatre or a small water feature such as rock garden.

Here is an example of such a courtyard which is open to sky. The courtyard landscaping is a simple grid of walkways with clear distinguishing between spaces using lawn and paving areas.

2) A courtyard space accommodated within different spaces within a home building.

In this type of courtyard the entire home plan revolves around the courtyard. Various spaces of the home are arranged along the periphery of the courtyard with light entering from top. In some cases such type of courtyards are covered with a glass or fiberglass skylight.

Because of such kind of arrangements while courtyard landscaping of this type shade loving plants must be given a preference. Very rarely walkways are present in such kind of courtyards. Walkways are planned along the periphery of the courtyard. A water feature can serve a good purpose in this type of courtyard. because rooms are arranged around the courtyard most of the times cross ventilation within the building takes place though the courtyard.

That's why planning a small water fountain can help the space remain cool. While landscaping such kind of courtyards it is 

extremely important to plan the landscaping drainage system very effectively. If the drainage system fails it can create unhygienic conditions inside the house. This is because an indoor courtyard will receive les amount of sunlight as compared to outside garden , so a very efficient drainage must be worked out to keep the garden healthy.

Image courtesy http://commons.wikimedia.org/