In fact, the idea of "nature" was established as a value in society. People did things in a particular way because it was more "natural". In comparison to existing formal gardens, the new style was informal and asymmetrical. It included serpentine lakes, winding drives, and clumps of trees in lawns that reached from the wooded distance right to the house. Animals were even brought into the landscape to make it appear more natural.

As the garden composition extended into the surrounding landscape, a new emphasis was placed on views. As a result, house and countryside become part of the same design. The haha wall was a popular device to solve the practical problem of keeping animals away from the house and yet to retain an uninterrupted visual relationship between the house and its park.

The development of the English landscape garden style coincided with the process of enclosure. Land became valued not only because it conferred prestige upon the owner, but also because it offered new economic rewards. As a result, land acquired new social and political value. Rural improvement came to be associated with and to exemplify the English character. There was no better way to display success and to preserve family fortune than to improve the country with a noble residence and to cultivate the land.