Plotting your Garden Landscape

You have successfully gathered resources, including oodles of pictures for your design, and have weeded out or made an attempt to weed out the top 2 designs you like. Don't worry if you can't do it, this process will help you put it all together. Grab a moment and really study them. What do you think drew you to that picture? Was the plants, the colors, a stone path, a large pot, or a unique tree? These are the things that we can replicate or adapt to fit in your personal landscape. It's time to plan your individual version of these designs. Making a basic map of desired essentials will be crucial for your design to be successful. Developing a concrete plan can help us visualize the size of your space, logically adjusting facets of your preferred designs to scale. In other words you can't fit into a size 8 dress if you are a size 16, (although we have seen with tragic results that some poor souls do try). No matter how cute you think it is on the hanger, it just won't be visually appealing. The same concept applies to your landscape.

Deciding what you have to work with will eliminate future problems. For instance, you take a trip to your favorite local nursery and fall in love with a peach tree, and because it is small you are sure you it will be adorable in the small nook next to your house. You take it home, and plant it next to your house, and it looks really cute in your little yard. In fact it looks so dang good you think you should get some city beautification certificate for your enlightened vision. Accept for one thing we didn't take into consideration that trees and shrubs are like the sweet little puppies you buy at the pet shop. They are loveable and small until you bring them to your studio apartment and they grow up to be 4' tall and eat gargantuan holes in your sofa. Now, just like Fido, your tiny peach tree grew to be 15' tall and 30' wide and you have busted pipes from the tangle of roots competing for the valuable space they need to grow and a thousand or so dollar roof bill because it grew up into your shingles.

This is where we draw a graph map. You can make one by drawing a line graph of 1" X 1" squares, or run to your office supply store and buy a tablet of graph paper. This is handy so you can rework it a few times. After all what are a few bucks and a couple of hours compared to the headache and the price of a roofer and plumber? Each square is going to represent one square foot of actual land you will be landscaping. Take a trip with your handy dandy tape measure to the area you are planning to install your garden design. If you don't have someone to help you measure your yard with a measuring tape, than you can get a rough estimate by walking the outer perimeters of the property putting one foot behind the other. My foot is exactly 12 inches, but not everyone's is. Generally, a couple of inches won't make a large enough to impact much, but if you are compulsive and can't stand that you may be off a few inches, wait to find someone to help you with the measuring tape. Walk or measure the entire perimeter, making notes of the distance around corners, and other odd "spaces" you may have. Also, if you are keeping preexisting large elements such as a tree or shrub, make sure you make note of where it falls in your measurements a well as it's size at full height and length. Once you have your notes, draw a perimeter on your graph, based on the 1' square foot measurement you took outside and adjusting it to match the 1" squares.

More than likely much of the plant examples you have collected are of ones from the northern part of the country with cold winters, cooler summers, and triple the rainfall of the low desert. This initially doesn't matter for this part of the exercise. We are going to plot our inorganic elements onto our map. Notice the walls, stone paths, arbors, barbeques and other "hard structures" that doesn't require watering or sunshine. These elements in a landscape are often referred to as hardscape. No matter where you live, you will more than likely be able to duplicate these structures, because they don't have to be adjusted to the proper zone and care requirements as plant material. Now you have your plot map, you can also know exactly what size and how many of these hardscape features you need when you begin to shop for them. If there are items you already have in mind, and when realistic, strap your tape measure to your belt and head to the store to measure it. Copy those measurements to your map. Now sketch them onto your map, asking yourself if you are planning these to be accents to your design, or are they focal points. Accent pieces tend to be smaller, and less dominate, while focal architectural details tend to be large. For instance, a wooden bridge, or bench will be focus pieces, because they tend to be larger, and a person will be the first thing they notice when they notice your garden. A birdhouse, or a small planting pot, can act as accent pieces and will be the tucked in items that will add interest and personality to your garden. Now, with that in mind, draw these accents on your map, placing them in the nooks and crannies that will compliment your focal points.

Now, it is time to think about trees and shrubs. These can be large or small depending on the scale of your garden and the parts you want them to play. You do not want to have more then one or two focal points, because more than that will add confusion to your garden and disrupt the visual flow. Be wise in your choices and keep in mind this important factor in your design. The next article will deal with the types of shrubs and trees best adapted to the desert, but this exercise is just to determine the size to make the next step easier. Plot them on your map and make notes on the side to distinguish them. Example B is some of the symbols used for different landscape plans that may prove useful in designing your map.

Plotting the flower beds, and complimentary elements will give your garden the professional touch. These will add interest to your focal point creating depth to your design do. They are not the star, but will receive admiration from your garden fan and draw further examination. Remember don't worry about what your plant selection will be at this point, only whether you plan to have flowers, vegetables, or herbs in that particular area of your garden patch.

Finally, assess the flow of your garden, and study the elements you have drawn. Does your design look clean and organized? Elements should be arranged that pleases the viewer. Do you have a focal point to draw attention to your garden, or do you have too many things competing for attention? To catch the attention span of most people is difficult and requires a dramatic element to act as your focal point, without creating visual confusion. It is a common mistake for beginners to give the same attention to the weight of complimentary elements to their accessories as they do their focal points, causing visual disorder and lack of interest on the part of the garden spectator. Does your vision flow smoothly in a direct eye path from your focal point, then to secondary elements? Focal points can create visual flow by the use of pathways, water, and anything that appeals to the five senses. Keep this in mind when deciding what you want your main point of interest to be.

Use your map as a working example for your garden design. It is an important tool for finding mistakes in weight division and discovering design flaws. This is the time to make those adjustments, because pencil is erasable and much easier to correct, then digging out a plant or tree after they have been planted. Take your time complete this exercise, and compare it to the designs you have chosen. Is it looking close to what you expected, or do you need to rethink some of the elements that your design? Asking the following questions will help you know when your plan is complete.

• Is the design appealing to you?
• Are the elements realistic for your space?
• Do I have a focal point or main element that will draw initial interest to my garden?
• Do your design elements seem organized and easily flow visually?

Now you are on your way to selecting and shopping for the items and plants for your own piece of outdoor heaven.