A simple drawing will suit your needs.
A landscape plan is not born; it evolves.
When Draw Landscape Plans?
The Spruce / Chelsea Drankwater
So when do you truly need complete, detailed landscape plans?
Such undertakings are just too complex to be left to guesswork.
If not, obtain a copy at your countys records office.
A deed map or similar aid will help you in this project by providing you with the proper orientation.
Consider the Scale
This involves determining how you will lay out your design on graph paper.
This creates a scale drawing.
For large properties, you may have to tape sheets of graph paper together.
Its important to establish precisely where your house sits in relation to your propertys boundaries.
This is where those boundary corners that form right angles come in handy.
Lets say theres such a corner at the southwestern extreme of your land.
Go to the corner of your house nearest to this corner boundary.
trigger the tape measure from the corner of the house to the western boundary line and record the measurement.
Now launch the tape measure from the same house corner to the southern boundary line, recording that measurement.
If youve been careful to keep the tape measure straight, youve just defined a perfectly rectangular area.
Repeat the process for the other three corners, even where no right angle exists.
Get at least two points of reference for each element that youre measuring.
Measure Unique Areas
Perhaps you have a curved garden around one part of your home.
To measure a curved area, you need a straight line as a point of reference.
Again, build on the calculations youve already made in this project.
For instance, use the side of the house facing the curved planting bed as a point of reference.
Copy the Design Onto Tracing Paper
Place a sheet of tracing paper over the completed scale diagram.
Then move on to another free space and do the same.
Dont expect to complete the finalized version of the bubble diagram immediately.
No problem: Just get another piece of tracing paper and revise your initial drawing.
Heres where stakes and string may come in handy.
Pound stakes into the ground around one of the spaces youve tentatively defined in the bubble diagram.
Tie string to these stakes.
Repeat the process for the other bubble spaces.
Now walk in between these spaces, noting the flow of traffic patterns.
Does your layout of the spaces still make sense?
Have you used the spaces as effectively as possible?
When you change your mind on any of the spaces, adjust the stakes and string accordingly.
When youve finished, take the final measurements for these spaces.
Take note of shady areas, dry areas, wet areas, soil types, etc.
Youll be fitting the plants to the plan, not the other way around.
Determine Plant Placement
Now its time for fitting plants into your scale diagram.
You dont have to name each bang out of tree, each bang out of flower, etc.
Indicate the size that a plant will reach at maturity, not its baby size.
This will allow for adequate plant spacing.
The utility of color to the final home landscape plan will render it much easier on the eyes.
But dont toss the updated scale diagram into the rubbish!
Youll still want to consult it for precise measurements.
Those grid lines may be ugly, but theyre the only thing standing between you and utter chaos.
Drawing a Landscape Plan, The Base Map.University of Georgia Extension Service.
