Summary: Some homeowners make garden planning much more complicated than it needs to be. To create the best garden design plans for your landscape it should be drawn to scale. No need to use fancy computer programs when paper and pencil will do.
Question: We bought a new home and want to start planning our garden landscaping. My husband wants to start in the front yard and put in plants and then start on the backyard. I want to put together a garden design plan to work from but my husband says it is just to complicated, takes too much time and we would need design software. Can’t we just draw it out on paper? Do we need special landscape software to design and pick plants? Shanna, Plainfield, Indiana
Answer: Shanna, the whole idea of a plan is alarming to some, but the technique need not be complicated, especially on small yards and properties you are talking about. One way and the easiest is to draw your garden plans on paper; another is to make a simple model and then there is landscape design software. The advantage of a model is that it shows vertical objects in the third dimension; it is not always easy to visualize these on a flat drawing. Landscape design software is great in the hands of a regular user, but for the average homeowner, the learning curve and price of the software can be prohibitive.
Measuring and Scale
Whichever method is chosen you chose, the first step is to measure the property and decide on a scale.
Measuring may be done with a 25, 50, or 100 foot. tape. One person alone can do the measuring, by anchoring one end of the tape with a stone, or a peg driven through the loop at the end of the tape, but it is much quicker and easier if two people work together.
The scale is the number of feet represented on the plan by an inch. For instance, the plan of a piece of land measuring 30 ft. x 50 ft. will measure 7 1/2 in. x 12 1/2 in. if drawn at a scale of 1/4 inch to a foot. The scale to choose depends on the size of the property; the smaller the property, the larger the scale. A scale of 1/4 to 1/2 inch to a foot is usually a convenient one for a small garden.
Garden Planning On Paper
The plan may be made on ruled graph paper, or on plain paper using an architect’s scale. An architect’s scale is simply a special kind of ruler, marked in such a way that it is easy to use fractions of an inch to represent a foot. It can be bought at any art supply store.
It is often easier to see big relationships in a design at a very small scale. After a preliminary, small-scale sketch, the plan can be worked out carefully at a larger scale.
Simple Plans With No Planting
Measuring for a new garden, where there is no planting, is very simple. Mark all measurements as you take them on a rough freehand plan. Locate the house on the lot, as shown in the diagram (Figure I). Locate doors, windows, porch, etc. If there is an outcrop of rock or a tree or other permanent object on the property, locate its position by measuring from two lines, such as boundary lines, at right angles to each other. If there is a sharp drop in level, show where this occurs. Make a note of features outside the property line that will affect the plan. Show the direction of north and south.
When you have all the data you need, draw the plan carefully to scale. Work out the design on tracing paper placed over the plan. Be prepared to make several drawings before you are satisfied. When you have found the design you want, transfer it to the scaled plan.
Garden Planning With A Model
Not many people would go to the trouble building a model of their landscape – it is just too much work compared to paper. To make a simple model, choose as large a scale as the size of the property permits. Cut a piece of cardboard to the correct dimensions of the lot, and glue it to a board large enough to allow space all round the cardboard. A piece of thin plywood makes a suitable board. Locate the house by drawing it in thick pencil.
To represent paving and all walk areas, get gray or tan paper. Get green paper for the planting areas, and have a piece of blue paper on hand for a possible pool. For structural features use the simplest material and merely indicate positions; or you may find yourself enjoying the project so much that you want to go to quite a lot of trouble to devise fairly realistic symbols.
For trees and shrubs, the medium may be a simple material like a colored sponge attached to sticks. For large commercial projects landscape architects make models and go to a great deal of trouble to simulate the objects depicted.
Having attached the “lot” to the board and assembled the other materials, the next thing is to indicate existing trees and structures, and to show features of the property that are important to the scheme of the garden. These may be the wall of an adjoining house, or a structure or tree in a nearby property that you want to shut out or bring into your design. You have now done with the existing situation and are ready for your own creative effort.
Garden Planning With A Software
In the hands of a professional landscape software and we a wonderful tool, but for the homeowner the time, effort and learning curve can dampen the enthusiasm quickly. It can be done, but be prepared to send some time just learning how the software functions, before moving on to the real design phrase.
For me, using a simple piece of paper and pencil works best.
