Top 3 Ideas for Landscape Planning Among Beginners

Top 3 Ideas for Landscape Planning Among Beginners If you have never engaged in a landscape planning project before, you might feel a bit overwhelmed with all the ideas, tips and techniques out there. You have plenty of choices, but then, the lack of experience might negatively impact your project. Just like for any other project, a little research will help you prevent the most common problems and succeed. Certain principles apply in design, whether you do it indoors or outdoors. Luckily, some of them are common.

Assessing Your Necessities One of the main ideas in landscape design is assessing your needs. Don't just dive in without knowing what you want or you'll have to change your project over and over again – whenever new ideas kick in. Do you have any kids? If yes, they might need a space to play. Do you plan to have a little garden? Maybe you want to grow a few vegetables for your salads in the summertime.

Once you figure your needs, draw a basic sketch and place various elements accordingly. For instance, your vegetable garden shouldn't be in the way, while your kids' playground must be easily accessible. Keep in mind that these are just some ideas that can change in the next days, so don't take them as a final plan. Draw some lines and circles, write some words and come up with a plan.

Studying the Environment The environment can give you plenty of details in your LVIA (Landscape Visual Impact Assessment). Failing to study it may lead to unpleasant surprises later on. What do you have to look for? First, check the sunlight. The figure which parts of your garden get more sunlight than others. If you're going to have a vegetable garden, that's where you want it. A nice patio on the western side of your house will only get sun in the afternoon. During the summertime, your dinners can be quite hot.

Second, think about winds. You don't want wind whistling around summer campfires. These are the most common mistakes newbies make. Tackling sunlight issues wouldn't be a problem but analyzing winds can undoubtedly challenge you a bit.

Starting Small, Going Big Don't overwhelm yourself with a massive project and a professional sketch. Start small and take your time. Also, don't rush. You'll find plenty of ideas in magazines, not to mention garden TV shows. A little homework can only open your horizons. You can come up with an outdoor makeover in less than 72 hours – according to TV shows. But then, they have teams counting dozens of people. You don't! Therefore, you have to start small. Work on landscape planning for a couple of hours when you have time. Set a general plan and slowly go into details. You don't have to file all the details in the first “session”.

Overall, planning your landscape makeover shouldn't be hard, even for a beginner. Sure, a professional can do a much better job, but you can certainly come up with a small plan and go on from there. Remember that flowers take time to grow – and so does your plan. You won't finish it in one day. You'll add more and more details as you educate yourself. Planning will also prevent unexpected situations and the need to perform random makeovers in the middle of the action.