Finishing Your Landscape Design

Putting it all together 

Once again, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. You should have produced a number of alternative use sketches. Now you will give exact shapes to the use areas you want and decide what plants and structures will create a pleasing overall landscape design. 

If it has been some time since you made the general use sketches, you may want to retrace the steps that led up to them by reviewing the first three sections of this publication. To complete a successful design, you need to have a grasp of lot, house, and neighborhood characteristics and general design principles. 

On the drawing board, place the best use area sketch over your base map and lot analysis drawing. On top of this, place a clean sheet of tracing paper. 

There are three parts to completing your landscape design: 

• Draw exact shapes and locations of use areas, planting beds, and landscape structures. 
• Identify specific planting sites. 
• Select plants and construction materials that meet your design requirements. 

First, draw in planting beds and landscape structures that give shape to your outdoor space. Unless a very formal garden is desired, use a few loose and bold curves to create planting bedlines and turf areas. This style will help your eye move through the landscape and make mowing easier. As you draw, consider both function (e.g., energy conservation, screening poor views, enhancing good ones) and aesthetics, based on general design principles. You may want to review the relevant sections as you zero in on the most successful design. 

Draw planting beds and landscape structures accurately to scale. You’ll need some idea of the types of plants that will go into planting beds—deciduous versus evergreen trees versus shrubs—to make the beds the proper size. Bed size should have enough depth to match the scale of the house and yard, and provide enough space for plants to mature and be intertwined in groups and masses rather than in straight rows. 

Be prepared to draw several alternative designs. Professional designers usually draw several designs, try to improve them, and then select the one that is the best. 

Second, identify exactly where plants should go, using appropriately sized circles on your drawing. Except for very large trees, which are usually drawn about two-thirds their maximum size, draw circles representing approximate mature plant spread. You may want to differentiate deciduous and evergreen plants with different symbols. 

Tip: Check plant tags for plant mature height and spread. If it’s not listed, a good rule of thumb is the spread is usually about two-thirds the specified height. 

Try incorporating trees (new and existing) inside planting beds. They will be much healthier in the mulched bed where they don’t have to compete with turfgrass, and you won’t have to mow around them. 

Finally, decide what plants and building materials will fulfill your design requirements. The goal is to select plants that will grow well in your planting sites while providing form, texture, and color that complement your design. 

Also choose building materials with textures and colors to complement your design. Structures should blend in with the house and the plants. If you have a wood-surfaced house, for example, you’ll probably want a wooden fence, and its color should be the same as or complement your house color. 

Getting ready for installation 

If your budget does not accommodate installing the entire landscape at once, decide which area you want to focus on first. Hardscapes are best installed first because they tend to be messy during construction. 

Once hardscapes are in place, begin to lay out the landscape beds. This can be done by spray painting or using rope or hose to outline the area. Once you have the outline, you may have to remove existing grass. Doing so can be done several different ways, including physical removal, smothering, or using an herbicide. Once the grass is removed or killed, organic matter can be added to the area before planting. In many situations it is not necessary to rototill the ground or remove the dead grass. 

Next, determine where the largest plants will be located and plant them properly, followed up with a good watering. Once the largest trees and shrubs have been planted, edge the perimeter of the bed. Then set out the smaller plants in their containers. Rearrange them as necessary to determine the best location before removing the containers and planting them. After all the plants have been planted, the garden is ready to be mulched and watered. 

Congratulations, the landscape is now ready to be enjoyed and, of course, maintained!