Landscape Plans: An Essential Element

By:Andrew Green

Landscape plans are essential to persons planning to landscape their gardens on their own. One of the common mistakes is not properly planning out all the activities in redesigning a landscape. This can often lead to the feeling that what started as a simple project is now just too much work.

One of the first steps necessary to landscape plans is determining the size of the area available to work within. This information can be obtained in two ways. The first is from another source such as local county records or the developer and the second is the do it yourself approach. Both approaches require measurements of your plot to be carried out. The first method only requires the confirmation that the plan is accurate and can then be used as the base of your design. The second requires more work.

The “do it yourself” method is actually very simple. Using a sheet of graph paper you can plot your own base plan. The first thing to do is determine the size of your plot of land. Find a suitable scale and ensure that the area measured can be plotted on one single sheet of graph paper. It is then important to measure the area on the plot that is occupied by structures such as houses and pools. The measurement of the house can be determined by simple measurements to the boundaries of the plot. It is important to make some copies of your base plan as mistakes do happen.

In the design phase of landscape planning it is important to put some effort into researching what options are available. Some great designs can be sourced from neighbors, libraries and on the internet. There are many styles or themes that can be followed dependent on the design of your home and the area available.

The next stage is using your base landscape plans to start putting in a loose sketch of the activity areas that you envision. This will include the decisions made in the research portion of the landscape plans. It should also take into consideration the movements that have to be made to walk around your yard as this will provide information on the design of pathways. At this stage the general placement and size of plants required should be included. It is also necessary to include necessities at this stage such as drainage, slope or gradient changes or other alterations such as stairs. Other details such as ponds and decks can be included at this stage.

In your final landscape plans you will then include all the details in a “to scale” blueprint that can be plotted on your base plan. All the materials needed as well as the particulars of the types of plants can be decided at this stage.

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