Garden Design Basics

Designing your garden can be an opportunity to express yourself. The hardest part is trusting your intuition and allowing yourself to experiment as you create your own unique design. Since the key to success is preparation, here are some ideas to get started.

The site plan
One of the most valuable garden design tools is a site plan, or bird's-eye view of your yard. Putting your garden on paper makes it easier to see underlying design elements such as traffic patterns and dimensions of the spaces. You can hire a professional garden designer to create a site plan, but your own rough sketch or plot plan should work just fine for all but the most complex landscapes.

Once you have a plan to work from, sketch in the positive and negative features (trees, shrubs, fences, outbuildings, pathways) of your yard and natural environmental factors such as light conditions and soil or drainage problems. Pathways and garden areas can be drawn right on the plan. You'll be surprised at how quickly you'll identify problem areas. In many cases, just creating a site plan will be the push you need to remove that overgrown yew hedge or re-route a pathway.

Getting inspired
Examining other gardens is a wonderful way to get a sense of the plants and garden features that appeal to you. Glossy picture books and garden magazines also are good places to find design inspiration. Comparing and contrasting different types of gardens can be useful in helping you find the right look. Remember, combining ideas into your own unique expression is what it's all about.

Visit www.theinnovativegardener.com for more gardening tips.

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