Garden Planning and Design

When deciding to start a backyard garden, one of the most important parts is the garden planning and design that you should do prior to getting started. To be sure your garden is a success there are many things to keep in mind. We will go through 3 main tips here to make sure that your backyard garden is a huge success!

Location
Depending on what part of the country you are located in has a significant impact on your chances of having a successful and flourishing garden. This is probably the most important part of your garden planning and design, because choosing plants that are unable to survive in your specific climate could set you on a path to disaster. To find out the best plants to put in different climates, you can access books or the Internet for a state by state guide to what survives best in each climate. Although it may seem like a terrific idea to plant all of your favorite flowers, it is most important to plant things that have the opportunity to survive where you live.

Time Commitment
Depending on your level of time commitment, gardening can be quite difficult to plan. It is important to really be up front and honest with the amount of time that you are willing to dedicate to this task. If you want to have easy to care for gardens that don’t require much of your time, you will plant many different types of plants than a person who wants to pursue gardening as a hobby and spend several days a week working on the project.

For those individuals who don’t have as much time to commit to gardening, there are many types of shrubs and grasses that look beautiful for much of the year, that take up a good amount of space in your garden, that only need minimal maintenance. These gardeners may also choose to plant perennials, which bloom every year. If you choose annuals, they only survive for one season, so you will have to start over the following year with an entirely new plan.

Site Plan
Prior to beginning your garden, you should draw out a site plan to get your ideas down on paper. You may want to cover your entire yard in flowers and shrubs, or simply begin with a small corner to experiment. Either way, getting your ideas down on paper by drawing them is very important. This is the way that professionals begin, so it makes sense that even a novice gardener does the same! By drawing a bird’s eye view of the area you want to landscape, you can easily identify how much space certain items should take up, the location of where to plant vs. walking paths, and the proximity to your home. This plan can also help you to determine if there is anything you should remove from your yard prior to starting the process, like large trees or bushes that may interfere with your overall vision.

Overall, your garden planning and design is an important step in landscaping your home. There are many plans available on the Internet to assist you with this, and as long as you keep in mind the three keys above, your garden planning and design should lead to a successful garden.