Winter is over and the ground is warming. Doesn't it make you want to get out of the house and get your hands in the dirt? You have probably gone over your garden catalogs all winter and have some ideas of what you want to add to your yard but before you begin planting, think about how you want your yard to look. Your investment in your landscaping is one that will grow and change over the years, so it's important to consider not only how it will look now, but what it will look like when your plants grow and mature.
- Look at your yard carefully from the outside as well as the views from the windows of your home.
- Photograph your property and use the pictures to make notes and plan your design.
- Using graph paper, draw an outline of your home and property to scale. Mark the location of your home's doors, windows, water spigots, electrical outlets, utility boxes, air conditioners, and roof over hangs. Add the driveway, walkways, patio, fences, and the location of above and below-ground utilities.
- Overlay the drawing with tissue paper on which to draw your landscape plans and make notes.
- Plan your garden by thinking about what you want your garden to accomplish and how you want it to look. Do you want lots of flowering plants? Do you prefer evergreens to leaf bearing trees? Do you want a vegetable or herb garden? Do you want a seasonable garden or do you want lots of flowers?
- Do you want a garden with straight formal lines and perfectly trimmed shrubs, and remember this type of garden needs constant maintenance, or had you rather have relaxed lines with natural growth and meandering pathways.
- Decide how to use trees and shrubs to separate areas, create borders, and hide elements you don't want to be visible.
- Be sure to plan for points of nonliving elements; pools, fences, rocks, bird baths, walkways, gazebos, paths, and so on.
Regardless of how you do it, go ahead and enjoy your garden. It is all an experiment and any mistake you make can always be corrected. The fun of gardening is planting, digging up your mistakes and trying again. If a plant doesn't work in one place try it in another. Gardening is fun, good exercise, and you are leaving your artistic mark on the world.
