The first thing you need to do when designing your garden is to measure the area accurately and make a detailed, scale plan of it. Omit anything you do riot want to include in the new design but show the position of anything you want to keep, such as an old tree or specimen shrub. You will also need to show the positions of better fixtures, as these can influence your design. Mark the site of manholes, overhead cables (so that you don't plan a tree in their path) and underground drain lines and cables plus their depth (so that you don't cut through them when digging a pond or other excavations).
Stages in drawing a plan
1. Do a rough sketch on a large piece of payer first. A long tape 30 m/100 ft will make measuring easier and more accurate. Start by marking in the area of the house, which should be included in the plan. Mark the positions of doors and windows. To measure the distance of the boundary at each side of the house use a sight line front the house. To do this, stand so that you can look directly along the house wall and with one eye line up a point on the boundary along the same line. Mark this spot with a cane and then take a measurement from the nearest house comer to this point. Then do the same on the opposite side.
By using triangulation, positions can be plotted accurately. Measure from one house corner, A, to the end of the garden to a point such as a boundary corner, C. Than measure the distance of C from the opposite house corner, B. Mark these two distances on the plan. On the same from A and B to the opposite boundary corner D (or any other boundary corners). If the house and garden are wide you may need to measure from a number of points along the house to a range of boundary points - see lines from A and B to D. C and E on the plan.
Once the boundary distances are recorded, move on to those items in the garden that cannot be moved, such as manholes, oil tanks, and trees or shrubs that you wish to keep. Use triangulation as described in step 2 to plot the positions of each of these. Heating vents, rainwater barrels and garden tap positions also need to be shown. To avoid confusion you may find it easiest to use a different color for lines and measurements to each point. For large trees, you will also need to measure the approximate diameter of the trunk and radius of the canopy and mark these on the plan.
Now move on to making a proper scale plan. For this you will need a large piece of graph paper. First work out the scale you need to use to fit the complete garden onto the paper: a scale of 2.5 cm to 3 is or 1 in to 10 ft is a usually a good size. Note the scale used on the plan itself, and also show the north point. To mark each pair of measurements use compasses, set to each recorded scaled-down distance, and draw a short. The point at which the curries from two measurements cross is the accurate position. Draw in the boundary lines by connecting these points. Mark the positions of the items such as manholes, trees, shrubs within the garden in the same way and show a rough circle for a tree or shrub canopy.
Mark on the plan the positions of any views to be accentuated or blocked out (making it clear which is which), any overlooked areas of the garden, any wet areas, slopes, and the main wind direction. All of this information is important in helping you design the garden.
When the plan is drawn in outline, arrange the elements you wish to include in the design. Use two sheets of tracing paper: one to show the basic structure and one for the planting. Design the basic structure first, then overlay the second sheet on top and position the planting on this
