A gardening landscape plan is critical to the success of a landscaping project. We live in a society that believes in sound bites and doing things as fast as possible. That philosophy makes it easy to ignore the need for careful planning. A gardening landscape plan should be prepared before a single plant is purchased. It also needs to cover the entire project from beginning to end. Saying, “Just get it done!” can result in an end product that does not meet your expectations.
So Many Decisions
A proper gardening landscape plan involves many decisions.
- Decide how much you can afford to spend and fit your plan to your budget
- Determine if you will hire a professional landscaper or do the work yourself or some combination
- Evaluate the purpose of the project. Is it primarily for privacy, entertainment, sunblocking, to add to the value of the property, or for viewing.
- Evaluate whether you can do the project all at once or will have to do it in phases. If it is to be completed in phases, make sure each stage takes into account the plans to be completed in the future. Don’t build a raised flowerbed this year in the spot where a fishpond will be installed next year.
- Decide each of the components of the project, such as fences, lighting, walkways, shrubs and so on
- Determine what you want to plant and the purpose of each planting – whether it be decorative or utilitarian
I Have a Proposition
A gardening landscape plan is a process that will require numerous revisions. It is necessary to draw your plan on paper, beginning with the dimensions and shape of the area to be landscaped. The plan should be drawn to scale. Normally, a landscaping gardening plan uses symbols to indicate what is to be included in the project. It is highly recommended you make plenty of copies of the original area drawing, because it will take several iterations to develop a plan you can afford and will work for the space. A gardening landscape plan can be drawn for any size project. No matter whether you are completely redoing your entire yard, or just creating a flower garden, a gardening landscape plan should be developed.
The Payoff
The payoff for a detailed gardening landscape plan is a final project that meets your expectations, and most likely stayed on budget. While developing the plan, do continuous research. There may be many things you did not know about which should be incorporated in your plan. For example, did you take into consideration water runoff from that slope in your back yard? Did you pick plants that suit your climate? Once your gardening landscape plan is complete, it is time to start digging!
