Designing your own landscape - includes related article on background reading and design help

With water restrictions facing gardeners in many parts of the West, now may be the perfect time to plan new, more waterefficient landscapes. For a large garden remodel requiring complicated grading or major construction, you might want to consult a professional for help.

But for a small job or partial renovation, such as adding a new deck or redesigning a planting bed, doing it yourself can be rewarding. Once you understand some of the basic principles, the design work isn't that hard. And you're sure to have fun experimenting.

To help you get started with a garden remake, we offer some basic guidelines and a few special tips. Much of this information came from surveys and interviews with two dozen landscape architects and designers from around the West-practical ideas they themselves use when planning gardens.

Assembling the initial ideas

Create a file of ideas pictures of attractive landscapes, plant arrangements, individual plants, benches, decks, fences, paths, and pools that may help you decide what you want in your garden. Look for examples in magazines and books. Or you may see something in a friend's garden that you'd like to photograph.

For planting ideas, visit arboretums, botanic gardens, and demonstration gardens. Consider taking a class in landscape design through an adult education program or a community college. Or read both regional gardening books and general garden design books (see our list in the box on page 216).

Getting started

You can use the following step-by-step plan for a landscape renovation or new garden design. For a partial remodel, you can skip some stages.

Analyze what's there. The first step is to evaluate what you have, what you want to save, and what you want to remove-especially when renovating a landscape. Determine which trees and shrubs (if any) to keep, the condition of the soil, and the quality of the drainage. If existing plants are growing poorly, have your soil analyzed (check the yellow pages under Laboratories--Testing).

Develop a base plan. If you're lucky, you may have an old construction plan that identifies your property lines and locates the house (it's best to verify the measurements). If not, you will need to draw up

a base plan yourself.

All objects must be to scale. It's easiest to use grid paper that's transparent, but any kind will do. A typical scale for an average-size property is 1/4 or 1/8 inch to 1 foot. To make things easier, you should get basic drafting tools such as a circle template, landscape template, a triangle, an architect's scale, drafting tape, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, and tracing paper.

You'll also need a 100-foot tape measure for precise positioning of the house, property line, walks, patios, trees, fences, and any other features, It's helpful to have a second person to hold one end of the tape. Another good tool is a photo-collage, as in the picture on page 214. It helps you see the garden in three dimensions and decide where to place all of the elements.

Analyze the site. With tracing paper taped over your base plan, use a bold pen to indicate positive and negative factors that play major roles in the existing landscape. Highlight everything that could affect privacy, views, outdoor activities, and plant growth.

For instance, mark views that need screening: telephone poles, power lines, exposure to a neighboring house. Also, mark the direction of summer and winter winds (to identify windbreak needs), sunny and shady areas, overhanging trees, hedges, slopes, areas that should stay open for good pedestrian circulation, storage and work spaces, and pet needs.

Make the marks bold, clear, and simple. Be general; this is not supposed to be the final design. Use arrows to show views and sun and wind directions, squiggles for areas to be screened, and large circles to identify recreational or work areas.

Determine your needs. Next, consider the needs of the entire family and make a list of the most important items to incorporate into your design. These might include an arbor for shade, a built-in barbecue, an entertainment area, hedges, a perennial flower bed, a play area, a pool, a private patio, shade trees, or a vegetable garden,

Creating the garden

Once you've identified your needs, you can start deciding where to position different features in your garden.

Develop a concept plan. With the base plan on the bottom and the site analysis either on top or close at hand so you can refer to it, tape another piece of tissue over the base plan and use a soft-leaded pencil to sketch in roughly what you want. To figure out optimal sites for elements, experiment with different arrangements (have plenty of paper ready). Include fences, plant locations, and any paths.

Sketch out the shapes. Take your favorite concept plan, lay tissue over it, and sketch out the best designs. Develop several alternatives-as many as it takes to come up with the configuration you really want. Keep an open mind, and play with shapes. For instance, try one with undulating and flowing flower borders, and another with hard edges and geometric forms. To add extra touches, include some elevation changes, such as raised beds, low seat walls, a bilevel deck, or a series of low (18- to 24-inch-high) rolling mounds.