3-2: Using tracing paper over your base plan, draw shapes to identify what you have and what you want.
Include the following in your sketch:
Plan activities. Add balloons for all the special activities that you eventually want to enjoy in your yard — if you ever get this blasted plan finished.
Add hardscape. Sketch in fences, a spa, a patio, a deck, front porch improvements, and any other hardscape elements you’ve chosen.
Draw plants. Add balloons for flowerbeds, shrubs, vines, new trees, a vegetable garden or herb garden, and so on.
Sketch paths. Draw any paths that you want to add, adding lines to indicate their shapes and widths. Note: Paths tend to change as you define use areas.
Make the balloons about the same proportional size that they are in real life. Create a big balloon for a dining or grilling area, say, versus a small balloon for the herb garden — or vice-versa depending on your priorities.
It’s okay or even unavoidable for these balloons to occasionally overlap, Venn-diagram style. Just try to imagine the sizes as accurately as possible.
THE PHOTO METHOD
Another way to help visualize how your yard could look is simply to take some photographs, and then upload them to your computer. Sketch features on the photos with any basic drawing software or, if that’s too clunky for you, try a landscaping app such as Home Outside, Morpholio Trace, and Concepts App. You can also print out the photos and draw right on them.
PLANNING OR ENVISIONING A LANDSCAPE ON A COMPUTER
Did you think professional landscape designers only use computer technology? Not so! Many start with penciled drawings. True, they do have special software programs at their disposal (such as Autocad, Vectorworks, and Dynascape) as projects advance. But these programs are pricey and, frankly, figuring out how to use them is a rather steep learning curve. Of course, using them is an investment in their business and something they’ll use again and again, whereas you’re a one-time user. In other words, you don’t need to go out and buy those programs to draw your own landscape plan.
The phone or tablet landscape-planning apps are more accessible and affordable, but they do have their limitations. Some restrict you to built-in elements, and they can be time-consuming to master to your satisfaction. Deciding to use them really depends on how tech-savvy you are.
To find options, search online for “best landscape design software,” and you’ll find up-to-date reviews pretty easily. Here are a few popular ones you can try:
Home Outside (https://homeoutside.com/mobile-app/) is an iOS app developed by celebrated landscape architect Julie Moir Messervy’s studio. It offers simple and attractive graphics, an easy interface, the ability to draw elements, a photo import, and even layers so you can try different design ideas on the same base plan.
Morpholio Trace (www.morpholioapps.com) is an elegant app developed for iOS that is great for any level of user. You can start with a sketch of your own, or import a photo or a base plan and then add layers of virtual trace paper to experiment with different ideas. It can be as sophisticated as you want it to be, with tutorials to help you learn how to use its many features. Although it’s not specifically for landscape design, it’s perfectly suited to that use and includes a gallery of tree and plant graphic icons.
Concepts App (https://concepts.app/en/) is the next level of technical drawing for people who really want to develop accurate plans. Concepts enables its users to progress from rough sketches to measured details in one app. It’s available for multiple operating systems.
Putting Your Ideas on the Ground
When you’re satisfied with what you’ve drawn, you need to test-drive your design. Now you get to play with a bunch of objects to make your landscape look alive. Grab stakes (of various heights) and string. Pull your garden hoses out of their perpetual nest-of-snakes tangle, collect wire cages, get rope from the garage, drag out the plastic lawn chairs and buckets, pull along a stepladder or two, and prepare a wheelbarrow load of leaves or a bale (or two) of straw … and get ready to play make-believe.
Start with placing and perhaps tweaking (adjusting the positioning) the bigger elements of your scheme first. After that, you can move on to the rest.
Big deals: Designating space for large elements
When we mention “large elements,” we mean larger plants, but also bigger hardscape ambitions such as new deck or an arbor. Keep the following in mind when place items:
Put lawn chairs where you plan to add shrubs or young trees.
Use a regular ladder to represent a substantial arbor.
Mark the corners of a proposed new deck, patio, porch extension, or pergola with stakes and string lines between them. (Don’t forget these items often require footings, that is, take up more real estate than just the part you will use/sit upon/walk upon.)
Filling in the rest
Now you get to make all sorts of messes. Well, your yard may look that way to somebody else. To you, it’s a vision taking shape. Do the following when adding the remaining items:
Outline curving paths with hose or rope, or sprinkle a path of oatmeal, flour, or white play sand (this last option is sold in bags and has the advantage of not dissolving if it rains), so that you can see the direction it takes. No need to use a lot by making a solid line — a dotted line works.
Pound in stakes or use buckets to show the future homes of rosebushes or large perennials in your flowerbeds.
Rake the leaves, grass clippings, or straw and fill in the outlines so you can easily get a feel for your new beds.
Visualize a fence, long planter box, terraces, or raised beds by putting in stakes at the projected height and running string between them.
By this time your property will no doubt be ringed with throngs of curious neighbors who will be sure that this time you’ve totally lost your mind. Fill them in, if you feel inclined, or let them wonder as you walk around your new landscape.
Squint
