show-and-grow features to help you visualize what your yard will look like next year, five years from now, and so on.
To use one of these programs, you need
Time and patience: You have to study and decipher these programs to understand what they can do, especially if you have no landscaping training. The journey should be as intriguing to you as the destination, or else you’ll get frustrated.
Money: These programs vary a great deal in their cost. The ones designed for amateurs aren’t that expensive and have many of the features you need. If you want a full-blown design program like the professionals use, you’re talking about a sizable chunk of change, but they’re still cheaper than hiring someone.
Good equipment: An old Mac or PC will choke on today’s gardening software; you need a powerful machine with plenty of available memory and speed. If the computer runs your kids’ video games well (or yours, for that matter), it’ll do a decent job with most design programs.You don’t need a fancy large-format or color printer, though — just burn a disc of your plan, take it down to a good copy shop, and have someone else whip up the visuals.
To find software that suits your skill level and needs, do an Internet search, examine advertisements, order brochures, and of course, talk with anyone you know who’s used one. Some community colleges, Cooperative Extension Services, and adult-education programs offer classes in using this software — they’re worth looking into!
Sketching out the yard you have now
You don’t need to be a drafting whiz or have a software program to make your garden plans. Good old-fashioned pencil, paper, and a few simple and inexpensive tools work just fine. And there is no learning curve. Using graph paper and the tools necessary to draft out your garden (as Figure 2-4 shows an example plan). Draw your plan of your site to scale, say ¼” for each foot. Plot every feature you find on your site, both natural and those you or your predecessors have put in place. Use a measuring tape to get at least approximate measurements. You may want to indicate areas of sun and shade.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FIGURE 2-4: You can draft your garden plan, but here are some tools that can help.
If you want, you can also use photography to help sketch out your plans, Photograph panoramic sequences of every part of your property, as well as external features (such as views) you may want to enhance or hide.
Making your drawing match your dream
After completing the initial drawing of your yard or garden plot to your satisfaction, you can move forward and add the elements for your garden plan. Here are some recommendations:
1 Gather any pictures you’re using for inspiration, and prepare a list of your main goals, assets, and limitations.Go to the earlier section in this chapter, “Evaluating What You Already Have,” for advice on looking at your yard’s challenges and advantages. The earlier section, “Getting Ideas for Your Garden Space,” can help you focus on your gardening goals.
2 Study your current plan carefully.Decide which features you want to incorporate into your final plan, which ones you want to highlight, and which ones you want to downplay or remove.
3 Place a piece of tracing paper over your plan.
4 Use a pencil and sketch in or leave out various features and designs.Try hard to stick to your theme or overall vision and attempt to be organized (see the section, “Zeroing In on Your Ideal Garden Style,” earlier in this chapter for details on themes). When designing your garden plan, you don’t have to get bogged down in details, listing every plant by name. Instead, “sun-loving perennials,” “blue and yellow bed,” or “pots of annuals” may suffice.
After all the elements you’ve planned for are in place, take a good look at them to make sure the overall drawing matches the initial image of the dream garden you had in your head. If something looks awkward or looks like it needs to be moved or changed in any way, do so! Keep changing that drawing (and redrawing it if necessary) until you have a final plan that satisfies you. Only when your final plan is in your hands should you prepare yourself to move on to the next step.
Defining key areas to start
With your sketched yard in hand, your next step is to decide which area you want to start with and to roll up your sleeves. As I repeatedly advise, tackling everything at once isn’t easy and often isn’t realistic or affordable. Break big projects down into manageable pieces, and do them one at a time.
Like rooms in a house, a garden area has four major elements. And as in building a house, going from the ground up is best. Tackle the four major elements in this order:
1 FloorLawn grass, a groundcover, paving materials, or good, plantable soil
2 WallsSupplied literally by a wall of your house; by a fence, hedge, or trellis; or by backdrop of evergreens or shrubs of some kind
3 CeilingCan certainly be open sky but may also involve an umbrella, awnings, overarching tree or large-shrub branches, or a pergola with or without a cloak of plants
4 FurnitureLiterally tables and chairs and benches and the like, but also major containers or garden ornaments and decor Don’t go overboard with garden gnomes and pink flamingos. Limit yourself to one or two ornaments and keep the focus on the sense of space and the living parts of your garden.
Getting Professional Help
Getting a garden plot ready, especially a large one, isn’t easy, and I don’t pretend that it is (I have better uses for my creative energy, such as pretending I’m in Hawaii). If starting the process makes your head reel, or if you don’t have confidence in your design sense, don’t worry. Others can do it for you. They can do everything, in fact, from planning on paper to purchasing to digging the holes and planting the plants. You can confer with or hover over them, or wind them up and let them go. You can even stop them at the point where you want to take over.
Also, be honest with yourself when a project is beyond your ability, unsafe for you, or too time-consuming to undertake on your own. Under such circumstances, go ahead and hire a contractor. The following sections examine four options you may consider when hiring a professional. I also include important tasks you can do when hiring a pro.
Considering different professionals
Here are four choices for hiring a professional:
Landscape architects, landscape designers, and garden designers: Landscape architects, landscape designers, and garden designers are all professionals, trained in every facet of planning and realizing an outdoor plan. Their scope goes beyond regular backyard gardens or even the landscaping of an estate; many