Cutting-Edge Designs
Grass patterns are a fairly easy way to liven up large expanses of lawn.

By Mark Flannery, ASLA

© David Mellor

As an avid Red Sox fan, landscape architect, and professional aerial photographer in the Boston area, I was delighted that all three of my interests intersected on a recent aerial assignment in which I photographed the Boston Fens and the Emerald Necklace. While I was in the air, I saw another one of Boston’s great parks—Fenway—and was struck by the cross-diamond pattern of the grass in the playing field. It occurred to me that landscape architects could create such patterns on large signature green parcels such as residential estates, multiuse sports fields, college campuses, and corporate headquarters.

I later discovered that these patterns are used to move the eye from one point to another or toward a focal point of interest such as a sculpture or a major architectural element. Curves and wave patterns create a 3-D feeling of motion, as do diamond and checkerboard patterns. Straight lines can be used for perspective control and spatial illusions.

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