What is the "Golden Ratio" and how does it apply to landscaping?

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Question What is the “Golden Ratio” and how does it apply to landscaping?

Answer Golden ratio is a term used to describe a mathematical way of proportioning.

Ancient mathematicians discovered a ratio that frequently appeared in geometry. The Greeks give credit of this discovery to Pythagoras. Ancient Greek architects may have used this proportioning of numbers to construct buildings like the Parthenon.

In 1180, an Italian mathematician named Leonardo Fibonacci discovered a strange sequence of numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, etc… Each number is the sum of the previous two. It turns out that the ratio of any adjacent numbers approximates (1 + 5(½))/2 = 1.618. This number became known as the golden ratio. This ratio also gave rise to the golden triangle, golden rectangle and golden spiral.

During the early 1500s, a Franciscan friar named Luca Pacioli published a book called De Devina Proportione. This book was illustrated by Leonardo Da Vinci and discusses the appearance of the golden ratio in art. Many generations of artists, musicians and architects have been influenced by this book.

Da Vinci believed the human body had proportions that approximate the golden ratio. He thought people would find objects more comfortable if these objects incorporated relative dimensions which are close to human body proportions. This belief has inspired designers to incorporate these mathematical proportions in manmade structures (stairs, doors, landscapes, etc…). The golden ratio philosophy basically says a design is more pleasing to the human eye if it maintains a ratio of small elements to larger elements that is the same as the ratio of larger elements to the whole.

This ratio can also be found in nature. Many plants have this pattern in their arrangement of flower petals, leaves and seeds. Good examples include pinecone bracts, pineapple leaves and sunflower seeds. This layout of plant parts maximizes space and exposure to sunlight without shading or crowding.

Landscape design is no different from interior design, architectural design or any other design. They all utilize form and function in order to be successful. Implementing the golden ratio philosophy is one method to produce a good design.

Another way to figure the Fibonacci numbers is with rabbits. How many pairs of rabbits will be produced in a year, beginning with a single pair, if each pair bears a new pair every month and each new pair becomes productive from the second month on? If there are no hawks, foxes, coyotes or stray cats around, then the rabbits will be golden.

Gary L. Pierce

Horticulture Extension Agent

Harnett County