How to Design Your Landscape Plan

Every successful landscaping project starts with a detailed plan.

The No. 1 mistake in landscaping is not having a plan. Only you know what you like best and what will fit in your lifestyle. Even a simple sketch will save you from making costly mistakes. A plan will also allow you to do work over time and still have everything come together right. Once you have your plan, you can avoid the nightmare of having to rip up your installed landscape later because you didn't think things through sufficiently, delegated the design to an installer who didn't know what you truly wanted, or forgot something really important. Even if you hire a designer to do all the designing for you, the expense is likely to save you money in the end. Just make sure any designer you use takes the time to really listen to what you want.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencils
• Your thoughtful attention

Instructions

1. Consider what landscape features you like and the one's you don't. Take a look at landscapes in your neighborhood and flip though pictures in books, magazines and the Internet. Keep in mind, however, that photographs present the landscape design in the best light, and no landscape looks wonderful all the time. Also, you have to maintain what you choose to design, so be realistic about your time, enthusiasm and budget.

2. Make a list of the "musts," "would-likes" and "wouldn't-it-be-wonderfuls" separately. When you sketch out your design, include these features in order of priority. You can even sketch them in different colors. This way you will know what to eliminate or postpone for a future date when you figure out the budget you have to work with.

3. Sketch out the property lines or the boundaries of the space you want to design. You can measure roughly by the approximate foot or be more exacting. Place the house and all permanent features on your drawing. That would include any other existing structures, trees and features that are remaining.

4. Add drainage and utility lines. These may not be the most fun part, but they are important. You must think about how heavy rain water will be funneled out of your landscape or it could seriously damage not only your landscape, but your home. Also, you don't want to have to dig up your lovely garden later because you didn't make provisions for electric and gas lines.

5. Add all the basic areas and hardscape (permanent features) to your plan.

6. Go over your plans and lay out what plants you want to grow and where they'd look best. You can also add in any garden decor like fountains, seating and the like. Use different colors and simple shapes to represent your plant palette

7. If you want to leave space for one of the "wouldn't-it-be-wonderfuls" on your original list that you can't afford right now, then design it into a copy of your plan and put in something you'd like to use in the meantime that can later be removed easily. An example would be to sketch in a children's garden where you'd like to have a swimming pool when you can afford it and the children are a little older.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind you will make changes when you actually install the design. All designs change. Your design plan, however, will help you control the overall landscape and make sure you get what you really want in the end.

References

• The Landscape Design Site; Do It Yourself Landscape Design; Steve Boulden