How to Design a Garden Part 3: Creating a Plan

Now you understand the nuances of your garden, it's time to put pen to paper. Learn how to create a scale drawing of your garden and start planning out different elements of your design.

If you've completed the exercises in the last step of our garden design guide, you may already have a good idea of how you're going to use different parts of your garden. Before you can sketch out your designs, you need to create a scale plan of your garden. In this article, we cover how to do this, what to include in your base plan and how to lay out your garden so everything has its place. 

 

How to create a scale drawing of your garden

A scale plan of your garden reflects real-life measurements and proportions. Unless you've very experienced, you're unlikely to be able to judge measurements and angles accurately by eye, so for this step, you need a tape measure and some graph paper or a ruler. 

Google Earth can be a handy tool to get a rough outline of your garden as a starting point, particularly if your garden is an odd shape. I always thought my garden looked square, but checking it on Google Earth, it's clearly a rectangle. Print out the Google Earth image and trace over the outline and key features, so you can use it when taking measurements. If you prefer, you can also just roughly sketch out the shape of your garden on a piece of paper.

Here's how to accurately measure your garden:

1. Measure along the back (or front) of your house. Houses tend to have neat 90-degree corners and straight lines, which you can use for triangulation.

2. Choose two corners of your house (points A and B) and measure out to the corners of your garden (C and D). Take a measurement from point A to point C and from point A to point D, then from point B to point C and point B to point D. This process is called triangulation and it will make a lot more sense when you create your scale plan!

3. Follow the same process for key features in your garden, for example trees or structures like sheds and greenhouses.

4. Curves can be trickier to map. The easiest way is to measure out to a straight line and then take multiple measurements at regular intervals from the line out to the curved boundary.

Once you've got your measurements, you can draw your garden plan. Scaled graph paper is useful for this, but you can use plain paper and a scale ruler or a normal ruler. You'll also need a drawing compass (which is possibly the only thing you'll need to buy if, like me, you haven't used one since primary school).

A scale of 1:100 is the easiest to use. This means that 1 cm on your drawing represents 1 m on the ground. For small gardens, a scale of 1:50 may work better (1 m on the ground translates to 2 cm on your drawing), whereas for larger gardens, you may have to use a 1:200 scale to fit it on your piece of paper. 

Draw on your house measurements, then slot your pencil into the compass and set it to the distance you measured between point A and point C. Place the point of your compass on point A on your drawing and gently draw a curved line in the general area where the corner of your garden will be. Reset the compass to the distance between point B and point C, place the point of the compass on point B and draw another curved line. The point where the two lines intersect marks the corner of your garden.

Use the same process to make the other corners, structures and features you measured. Your plan may start to look a little messy, so rub out lines as you go, then go over the final plan in pen when you've finished.

What to include in your garden plan

As you're creating a base plan, you don't need to include everything that's in your current garden, especially if you're planning on making major changes. Try to keep the plan minimal but include:

• boundary fences and hedges 

• access points, such as side gates

• significant changes in level and retaining walls

• any manholes or other utilities that can't be moved

• large trees or shrubs that you want to keep or can't take down

• any features you definitely want to keep, e.g., patio, shed, pond, trees

If you have structures you want to keep but not necessarily in their current location, take a note of the measurements but leave them off your plan for now.

Redesigning a garden can be expensive, and there may be things in your garden you can't afford to remove now, but may wish to at a later date, for example, a large tree or a concrete shed base. Include these elements in your base plan, but think about how you'd ideally like to use this part of the garden in the future when designing the surrounding areas.

 

Create rough designs of your garden

You've done the hard work; now it's time to get creative! You may have a firm idea of what you want your garden to look like by now, or you may have no clue at all. Either way, I suggest doing a number of different sketches to experiment with different layouts and garden design ideas.

You can use tracing paper to trace your base plan, scan the drawing and print copies or photocopy your plan. Then, start sketching out some ideas. At this stage, focus on creating rough "zones" to divide up the space, rather than specific details. Make sure structures and areas of hard landscaping are roughly to scale, so you get a realistic view of what you can fit in.

This part of the design process may fill you with excitement that your dream garden is coming to life… or disappointment when you realise that you can't include everything on your wish list. That's why I find it helpful to sketch out different designs that prioritise different features. The process of putting pen to paper often sparks new thoughts or out-of-the-box ideas on how you can combine elements of your wish list in your space.

What to position where?

If you're not sure where to begin, place the elements most important to you, taking into account what you learned in the previous step about how light falls in your garden and which parts are in sun or shade at different times of the day.

• A seating area for morning coffee would ideally be in an east-facing part of the garden to catch the morning sun.

• If you're more likely to enjoy a drink outside after work, circle the part of your garden that gets the evening sun (usually a west-facing spot).

• Large seating areas for al fresco dining are usually located near the house for convenience.

• Budding kitchen gardeners will want to dedicate a sunny part of the garden to vegetable beds, particularly if growing sun-loving plants like tomatoes and cucumbers.

• A greenhouse or polytunnel needs a level site without significant shading. Avoid locating it at the bottom of a slope, as this may turn out to be a frost pocket.

• Shaded parts of the garden are ideal for bin stores, sheds and compost bins – anything you don't want on show! 

• Partial shade is ideal for a children's play area, particularly if it gives some respite from the strong afternoon sun.

If you have a particular plant or tree that you're desperate to include, look at where it will be happiest in your garden, based on its sun requirements and hardiness, and include it in your plan.

 

Zoning small vs large gardens

Small gardens have a more limited scope, but this can make designing them easier. You will need to hone down your priorities and think creatively about how you combine different elements and features in your space. You may have just one or two zones – perhaps a footpath winding through a large flower bed to a small seating area. Have a look at our article on small garden design ideas for inspiration!

You have more space to play with in larger gardens, but this can feel overwhelming. Dividing the space up into "rooms" allows you to have areas for different purposes, gives you the freedom to embrace different styles and aesthetics, and creates sheltered areas for seating and delicate plants.

 

What next?

You may have decided on a rough plan for your garden or still be mulling over your options. Don't worry if you haven't mapped out all the details yet – in Part 4, I'll give you tips to help you refine your design, so it looks like it's been created by a pro.