Church outlined four principles for his design process in his 1955 book Gardens Are For People."[7] They are:
Unity — the consideration of the design as a whole, integrating the house and its gardens with a free flow between them.
Function — the relation of the outdoor recreational and social areas to their interior counterparts, and of the outdoor service areas to the household's needs, to please and serve the people who live in them.
Simplicity — upon which rests the aesthetic and economic success of the design.
Scale — relating the different design parts, features, and areas to one another, to create a whole an integrated landscape design.