12 Steps to Bringing Your Landscape Ideas to Life!
What was a barren hill to start.
You are dreaming of a new landscape for your property. You want a water feature, shade trees, perennial beds, fencing, flowering shrubs, ornamental trees, space for annuals, fish, stonewalls and maybe a waterfall too. How do you go about fitting everything into your landscape ideas? You don’t at first. You need to take your ideas and integrate them into smaller segments on your property. The segments may be part of a larger plan, but you won’t be overwhelmed if you just follow these simple guidelines.
- Go for it. Take your ideas and formulate a plan for the entire property. Make that list. It’s ok, but you’re going to need to break it into smaller segments or themes then integrate them into your Master Plan.
- Measure the area you wish to landscape. If you are starting with a naked property then measure the entire property and then break it into sections.
- Take a section of your landscape and conceptualize a theme for this space, then start listing ideas to fill the space. Note any existing trees, shrubs, etc., contours in the land, placement of your house and any other existing features that will affect your new design.
- Research components you might wish to incorporate into your design including plants, decks, patios, water features, statuary, recreational usage, play areas, entertaining and more.
- Keep in mind the zone you live in, weather patterns and the track of the sun.
- Sketch your ideas onto paper using your research as a guideline.
- If you do not have a design program for a computer, it’s a good idea to create a “Space Concept Board” and to make cardboard cutouts of each design element to a 1/4″ to 1′ scale. Use any scale you wish, but this works nicely. To the right is a link to purchase a computer design program if you so desire.
- Make sure your plant elements include sizes at full maturity. This is a huge mistake people make when designing their own landscapes. You do not want to over plant.
- Take the elements of the design and move them around on your Space Concept Board. (This can be graph paper, sketch paper or a cardboard cutout of the space you wish to landscape.)
- Design the space according to how you’d like to use the space. Incorporate the elements of your theme.
- If you are designing several segments keep in mind how you are going to connect the elements whether it be pathways, gates, arches (natural or man-made).
- Finally… do not make hasty decisions. Look at your ideas, change your ideas, stand in the area you are going to landscape and try to visualize every element of your design. Bring it to life in your mind before you implement your ideas.
If you have any questions we’d love to help you out. Be specific in your questions. May all your landscaping dreams come true!
