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Behind every visually stunning garden lies a well thought out plan.

The first step in making a garden landscape plan is by obtaining a picture of your garden using web mapping applications like Google maps, Bling maps etc. If you have an official map of your property lines in relation to your neighbours and the street, that will be a big help in this project as it is more precise. Once you have an aerial view of your garden lot, you have a good idea of how your property is laid out.

The next stage is to use a big piece of paper or cardboard to plot your garden layout on. Cut the paper or cardboard to the same shape as the garden layout plot or alternatively have a larger version of the cardboard or paper version of the garden layout cut out as it will allow you to have as much detail to your plan. Put into the layout the cardinal directions to indicate the direction the garden layout is orientated. Next step is to draw the permanent features of your lot a way to do this is to print out a copy of the map and draw a map grid on the printout to give you a good idea of the proportions and distances involved. It is advisable to use pencil for this step as you may need to make alterations on the grid.

On your plan, draw the property features such as:

1. The house/ property along with any porches, overhangs or steps
2. Outbuildings like a pool house, tool shed, detached garage etc
3. Driveways, sidewalks, patios, decks
4. Fences

Once it has been decided that those property features have been drawn correctly and in the right place, trace over the pencil markings with something permanent so you can “landscape” around the house and erase when necessary without erasing your house or driveway.

Next step is to sketch in permanent landscape features. These might include:

1. Trees, hedges or shrubs you’re not going to remove
2. Existing beds
3. Terracing
4. Large rocks you’re not going to move
5. Particulars about your lot that will affect your gardening