Summary: Planning where plants go comes after some other landscape considerations. Not that is time to decide where and what to plant in the landscape… what do we do?
We looked at making garden planning simple and also looked at some considerations to beware of in planning outdoor living spaces, now we move to planning the plants for the landscape garden
and planning of the remaining space. Cut pieces of green paper (planted areas) and gray or tan paper (walks) and try them on the paper plan. You will have to do a lot of snipping and changing, but when you have a basic design that pleases you and relates satisfactorily to the living area, paste all the pieces on the paper landscape plan; or, if you prefer, identify the different areas using colored pencil. Next, put trees and shrubs in position. At this stage, try to think of plants as shapes and heights.
You probably won’t want to go any farther than this with your model; you will have established the main outlines of your garden and the position of major objects, and these will not be affected by detail work.
The next thing is to estimate the dimensions of the areas you have laid out by measuring them on the model or the plan. If they seem unreasonable, work at the design some more. When the design and the measurements please you, mark the measurements on the plan or the model.
From the Plan to the Ground
You now have a “blueprint” of your landscape garden, ready for translation on the ground. This is done by staking out the different areas. You will need only a measuring tape and plenty of cord and pointed stakes. Locate every position on the ground by measuring from two base lines at right angles to each other, as explained in our garden planning article.
