INFRASTRUCTURE EXAMPLES
A SMALL GARDEN
Within informal gardens, a surprisingly wide range of features can be included in a casual yet purposeful manner. The pergola acts as a focal point.
INFRASTRUCTURE EXAMPLES
A SMALL FRONT GARDEN
Most small front gardens have a formal character, with plants in rows and neat roadside edgings. Porches help to create focal points for paths.
A SMALL COURTYARD
Courtyards are summer-leisure areas as well as places where plants can be grown. By their nature, courtyards are private areas, with complete seclusion.
GETTING IT DOWN ON PAPER
If you want the project to run smoothly, you need to plan everything out and make drawings. The procedure is as follows: first, make a rough sketch on a scrap of paper, showing the existing garden with measurements. Next, transfer these details onto graph paper to make a “site plan” (drawn to scale). Then, set a sheet of graph paper over the site plan and make a “master plan” of the new garden, tracing the boundaries and existing items as required.
How do I make a working drawing?
MAKING THE SITE PLAN
About graph paper You will need a pad of graph layout paper – meaning thin paper that has been printed with a grid – the biggest size of pad that you can obtain. Look at the size of your garden; say it is 100 ft (30 m) long and 80 ft (25 m) wide, and decide on the scale of your graph paper. Count the squares on the long side of the paper and divide them by the length of the garden. Work to the nearest whole square. So, for example, if the paper is 100 squares long, then you could say that one square on the paper equals 1 ft (30 cm) in the garden.
Measuring your garden Use a long tape measure to measure your garden. Start by measuring the length. Plot this measurement on the long side of the paper. Repeat the procedure with the width of the garden and plot it on the short side of the paper.
Right angles – 90° angles Check for right angles by measuring the diagonals. For example, if your garden is in any way square or rectilinear, then the crossed diagonal measurements should more or less be equal.
Awkward shapes You can plot an awkward shape by drawing a straight line from two fixed points – say between two trees. Step off at regular intervals along the straight line and measure how far the curves of the awkward shape are out from the stepped-off point.
Paths and drives
If the site plan is a record of items and structures that you have no choice but to leave unchanged, you have the option here of whether or not to mark in the position of the paths and drives. You could say that, since the position of the front door and the front gate are fixed, it follows that the paths will also stay the same. This does not necessarily follow, however. That said, it is usually a good idea to draw them in.
Slopes in cross-section
The easiest way of recording a slope is to draw a cross-section view. Draw the length of the slope on a piece of graph paper and label the line “top.” You need a spirit (carpenter’s) level taped to a 7 ft (2 m) long board. Working from the top of the slope, hold one end of the board on the ground so that the level is true, and measure the vertical distance from the overhanging end of the board down to the ground. Mark this in on the drawing. Continue down the slope until you have a record.
ITEMS THAT YOU NEED TO MARK ON THE SITE PLAN
• NSEW
• Midday sun
• Outline of boundary
• Items that you want to keep or modify
• House
• Mature trees
• Neighbors’ trees
• Underground pipes and cables
• Doors on house
• Windows on house
• Drain access points
• Main gate
MAKING THE MASTER PLAN
Tracing the site plan Put a sheet of graph paper over the site plan and use the underlying plan to work out what you want in your new garden. You might well have to go through this procedure a dozen or so times before you have a drawing that suits all your needs.
Pencilling in your design Once you have achieved a good preliminary plan, set it under another sheet of graph paper and trace it off with a pencil. This new drawing is your “master plan.” You should now have two finished drawings – the site plan that records the bare bones of the garden, and the master plan that sets out the design of the new garden. You can photocopy the master plan so you have lots of copies.
Separate details Some items are so complex in themselves that they will need working drawings. So, for example, with a water feature, you will need a plan view, a front view and a cross-section showing how it is constructed.
Coloring in Some people make colored drawings to show how the garden might look at various times of the year. To make a colored drawing, set a sheet of plain paper over the master plan – hold it against a window and make a tracing. Tint this drawing with colored pencils or watercolors.
Calculating materials
Save time and money by calculating quantities and ordering in bulk.
Area
Rectangle – Multiply the length by the breadth to give you the area. A plot 100 x 50 ft = 5,000 square ft (30 x 15 m = 450 square m).
Circle
