What does one normally do when starting our first garden? Well, plant of course. That is exactly what I did many years ago when I moved into my first house and started my own garden. After a few seasons of serious gardening my flower beds just grew and grew and looked overgrown in no time! This was because I would put in flowers and plants and even flowering shrubs to give my garden that well-established look without giving them space to grow into. I threw caution to the wind and did not bother with flower bed borders as there was no inclination to make use of landscape edging at that point in time and I did not want to curb myself. However, instead of ending up with a zen garden, all I achieved was disorganized chaos. I suppose with hindsight I can now say it was a matter of learning by actually doing gardening and I am grateful that I did not allow the chaos to distract me from the benefits and pleasures of gardening, but it did allude me to the importance of proper planning.
My first garden was a nightmare. After a couple of seasons and after moving too many plants around, my garden had no identity. This just goes to show that without a proper landscape design plan, your landscaping and garden can be more work than it has to be and can actually take away from the beauty of your home and property, and can make gardening more of a chore than a pleasure. Then I learnt the value of advance planning and realized that it's the only way to a better designed garden landscape. Landscaping, and especially the planning and design aspects of it, is the most important task in establishing a good garden. You should give it ample attention when you plan on establishing a garden. The aim with this website is thus to offer all novice gardeners and amateur landscapers the guidance that was seriously lacking when I attempted my first ever garden. Our ultimate aim is to have a guide to landscaping and gardening for beginners – as this web site grows, so will our gardens.
It is not only new gardens that require good planning as you will often find that an already established garden can be overgrown and neglected. In both cases planning would be paramount. You need to take into account factors such as personal preference, age, type of lifestyle, and other requirements. Allow me to elaborate why I state that you need to take these into account as it can be a determining factor in your front yard landscape and backyard landscape design planning.
A good front yard landscape and backyard landscape design plan offers a way to avoid the classic dilemma: wandering around your garden with the plants you've just bought and wondering where the heck to put them! When planning your garden you also require accurate measurements of your plot so that you know exactly where you want your plants. The plan should also be drawn to scale so that everything will be proportional. In my personal experience I want to state the simplicity principle reign supreme in my garden – simple patterns with a distinct personal style of course. In fact backyard landscape ideas should not be too complicated. Complicated backyard landscape ideas and landscape designs might be cost intensive and labor intensive. After all we want to enjoy and relax in the garden as well.
The first step in the landscape design phase would be to get your platmap. This can be quite intimidating but it can easily be overcome. The platmap will be used in the design of your landscape garden. From this platmap you will be able to see the "actual" shape of your plot, and you will also be able to locate all the utilities and services as well as the property lines. (Tip: Get a site survey from either your builder or the local municipal records office.)
Many landscape architects and almost every landscape designer will stress the importance of the correct information on the base landscape plans. So, when you do have the platmap in your hands, it is important to make absolutely sure that the house is where it's supposed to be as indicated on the plan. Check the distance from the house to the street. And make sure that the north arrow is pointing north and all other measurements are correct. Also make sure that the utilities and services are accurately represented on the plan; you don't want to be digging through cables and pipes. If the information on your platmaps are in order, then you already have base landscape plans to work with. Keep them handy for accuracy and future reference.
But what if the platmap is not available? Do not fret; you can also do your front yard landscape and backyard landscape design on graph paper. (Tip: Purchase a couple of sheets of graph paper, just in case.) You would need to measure your front yard, your backyard, your house and your utilities and services; and then represent them as accurately as possible on your graph paper. If you need more guidance, our section on a practical start to landscape design will have more detail on making your own platmap.
