Draft Your Design

Once you are satisfied with the rough location of site features and basic site circulation, it’s time to translate those concepts into an actual design. Drawing your design to scale– like you did with your basemap– will help you gauge proportions and ensure everything you want to include will actually fit in the landscape. Being more detailed now can make later stages easier, but keep in mind that some fine-tuning will always happen on-site. You can work through as many drafts as you need. 

Tips

• Work intentionally, but don’t aim for perfection.
• Make multiple drafts of your design.
• Use a tape measure, garden hose, string, or whatever else you have on hand to mark out potential sizes and placements in your actual landscape to get a real-world feel for the layout.
• Main pathways are typically around 3 feet wide, which accommodates wheelbarrows, wheelchairs, or two people walking side-by-side. Lesser paths can be as narrow as 1 foot wide, depending on how you intend to use them.
• Conventional wisdom suggests leaving 2-3 feet of space around dining furniture.

1. From Bubble Diagram to Master Layout

To translate the bubble diagram into a design, use defined, to-scale shapes. Use a ruler for measurements and straight lines, and label features as you go.

• Tape a fresh piece of tracing paper over your basemap to help you situate features accurately. Have your favorite bubble diagram on hand to reference the placement of features.
• Start with laying out your main paths and paved areas– sketching these to-scale will help you get other placements closer to the right position.
• Next, fill in the largest features, such as trees, new structures or large garden beds.
  • When adding plants– especially trees– to your design, make sure you represent their size at maturity.
  • Keep planted features general for now, such as “shade tree” or “mixed perennial bed.” At this point, you’re establishing the general layout of the landscape.
• Continue to fill in details until you have all your elements placed.

2. Review Scale and Proportions

Once you have your basic layout sketched, review it to ensure:

• All of your features fit within your actual site dimensions
• Proportions feel balanced and natural (consider crowding, odd angles and abutments, etc.)
• Dimensions of key landscape features are noted
• Arrangements allow for comfortable, realistic movement and use

3. Goals and Site Analysis Fit

Check your design for continuity with your goals and site analysis:

• Does the arrangement of features take into account the conditions noted in your site analysis? For example, does your placement account for things like sun exposure, drainage, views, privacy, or other details from your site analysis?
• Does the design support your initial landscape and lifestyle goals? For example, does your design set you up to achieve goals like providing wildlife habitat, producing food, or creating opportunities for social gatherings?
• It’s okay if your goals have changed based on your site analysis or bubble diagramming, but make sure that no non-negotiables fall to the wayside by accident.

4. Select Your Plant Palette

Selecting your plants is an essential step in creating your landscape design– they define both the aesthetic and function of your landscape. With your layout mapped, you now know the spatial constraints that will guide your selections.

Don’t worry if your choices change during purchasing due to availability– having a plan now gives you a solid baseline for finding appropriate substitutes.

• Identify planting zones by growing conditions (full sun vs. shade vs. part-sun, wet vs. dry, soil type, etc.). Identifying these zones will make it easy to select plants that will succeed in each spot in your landscape.
  • You may want to mark these zones on your design draft or on a fresh overlay.
• Choose plants that match both conditions and function of their location in the landscape. What are the growing conditions of each spot (should be indicate don your site analysis)? Sunny, shady, moist, sandy soil? What job does the planting area need to do? Provide wildlife habitat, privacy screening, edible production, or visual focal point?
• Layer your plantings. In most garden beds, aim for a mix of structural (woody), herbaceous, and groundcover plants. You can even think of it as tall, medium, and short plants.
  • This layering creates habitat, visual interest, and year-round interest.
• Create rhythm and repetition throughout your design. Even with different conditions and functions throughout your landscape, you can use patterns in your plantings that tie multiple areas together.
  • For example: the same ornamental grass shows up in three different beds; the same groundcover is woven throughout multiple planting areas; or the same color is used throughout different areas of your landscape.
• Consider seasonal interest. Think about how your plant selections support your vision through all seasons: springtime blooms, winter structure, fall color, etc.
• Match your plants to your aesthetic vision and color palette.
  • Contemporary or modern-style landscapes benefit from clean lines, geometric arrangements, mass plantings and high contrast between a limited plant palette.
  • Naturalistic landscapes benefit from irregular, organic groupings, gentle transitions between zones, and a wide variety of species.

5. Vision and Style Preferences Fit

Pull out your mood board and vision statement. Now is the time to figure out how to make functional elements of your landscape reflect the overall aesthetic you want. You don’t have to sacrifice functionality or style in your design– it may just take some brainpower to find the perfect balance.

• Do the general shapes of your layout and features support your vision?
  • For example, have you used curved lines and organic arrangements to produce a naturalistic, informal feel? Have you used straight lines, clean angles, and elements of symmetry to create a more contemporary, formal space?
• If you established a color palette with your mood board or vision, what elements in your design reflect that palette? Consider using colored pencils to represent how the color palette will show up in your landscape.