How-to begin planning a garden with plant favorites and landscape needs; some important issues that you should consider in planning your garden design.


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  • Topic: Garden Design
  • Author: Mary Ann Walz
  • Keywords: planning, landscape, erosion control, water catchment, Garden Design, gardens
  • Date: December 2003

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This is the second article in a series. To re-read the first article, please see Part 1—Site Analysis.

You’ve done a thorough site analysis of your property (or at least thought about it) and now you’re ready to begin the initial steps in formulating a landscape design. Following are some important issues that you should consider in planning your design.

Attention Areas

It’s often easier to landscape if you establish which areas you pass everyday will get the most attention. For instance, this might be the path from a door to your car. Decide which areas of the landscape are most important to you and concentrate on those areas first. Keep higher maintenance areas close to the house, and areas requiring periodic or seasonal maintenance can be located further away. This might include fruit trees or a wildflower meadow.

What Do You Like?

Before designing your landscape it is really important to decide what you like. Be realistic, however, because it would be very difficult to recreate a woodland garden in an arid Southwest climate or the reverse-a garden of succulents and cacti in a very rainy area.

What Are Your Needs in the Landscape?

Determine how you will use the landscape. Do you need an outdoor dining area, children’s play area, space for the dog, vegetable garden, compost pile, storage area for large items like a camper or boat? Do you need trees for shade or privacy? Make a rough sketch of your property and indicate possible areas where these activities might be accommodated. This is the actual beginning of your landscape design.

Time Commitment

How much time do you have to devote to gardening? Landscapes cannot be installed and forgotten. They require at least weekly maintenance, sometimes more often. Decide how much available time you have or how much you are willing to spend to hire a gardener.

Hardscape

Permanent elements are typically installed prior to planting. This includes rock features, retaining walls, raised beds, sidewalks or pathways. Hardscape elements need to be carefully placed because they are difficult and costly to move. Consider areas where you might need vehicle access and plan accordingly. For instance, a propane delivery truck has a limited amount of hose. Make sure your drive is close enough to the tank so the truck won’t have to drive over a lawn.

Erosion Control

If you have determined there may be problems with runoff, you need to take some measures to control erosion, ranging from small soil or rock dams to a system of swales and berms, which are shallow ditches placed along the contour of a slope. The excavated earth is placed on the downhill side to create a small mound or berm.

Water Catchment

During rain, you will have lots of runoff water from hard surfaces (roof, paved areas) and slopes that you should direct to advantageous use in your planting areas. You might opt to have a cistern to store rainwater for later use. At a minimum, the roof water should be directed into your flowerbeds or to a small orchard.

Irrigation

Decide if you will install an irrigation system or if you will depend on hand watering. Irrigation systems can be a do-it-yourself project but be sure you know what you’re doing, especially with regard to back flow prevention. Drip irrigation systems are very effective but do require annual maintenance. Unless you are very handy at do-it-yourself projects, this may be a project for professionals.

Budget

Determine how much you can spend. Landscapes can be a major expense item and often can be spread over the period of several years. You might want to concentrate on important areas first or plant trees because they take longer to mature. It’s best to develop a drawing that is to scale using either graph paper or an architect’s scale ruler. On this drawing, show the property boundaries, the house and any other permanent features such as the driveway, outbuildings, sidewalks, and trees that you wish to keep. You might want to do this drawing on nice paper such as velum and then place tissue paper on top for sketching preliminary landscape ideas.

If all this sounds a little daunting, go to the library or bookstore and look at some books on landscape design. The drawing techniques in particular will become much clearer. If you are still overwhelmed, consider hiring a professional. The design issues you have already considered will be a tremendous asset to both you and the landscape architect or designer when discussing your project.