Assess Your Needs and Desires

Let's Be Imaginative... Anything is Possible

Before you put pen to paper to map out a garden design, your first task should be to determine the features you need and want. The odds are that you'll need to make compromises on your ultimate desires because of space or budget constraints. But at this stage, try to list every feature you would like under ideal circumstances. It's wise to make this a family brainstorming session with assurance to all that no idea will be considered too silly or far-fetched. Later you can sift through all ideas to determine which are most important to you and most feasible. Study books and magazines that are rich with photos of garden ideas. Use them for inspiration in the same way you might use home magazines to gather ideas for interior decorating. Mark or save the pages with gardens you like; then consider what qualities in those gardens you like; then consider what qualities in those gardens appeal to you.

Don't be afraid to consider designs on a much bigger properties than yours, as well as designs in different regions. With creativity, your or a professional designer can adapt and scale designs you like to fit your property, substituting plants suitable for your local.

The Hall family in New York used this brainstorming process to develop a landscape plan that met the needs of the parents, their grown children, their live-in grandparents they were caring for and future grandchildren. They worked with landscape designer Kristen Sherlock, who listened  to both spouse's vision for an ideal landscape spanning 5 acres and 4 generations.

The Halls invested a lot of money in their landscape, but no more than they might have spent on a major house addition. In fact, the family got far more living space with the garden addition than they could have gained by enlarging the house.

Successful Landscape Design

Each of the following steps plays an equally important role in successfully designing your landscape:

1. Identify Your Dream Landscape: List every feature you want, no matter how frivolous it seems.

2. Establish a Budget: This will determine whether you need to scale back and plan to do some work yourself.

3. Determine Your Style: What are your tastes? What makes sense for your property?

4. Understand the elements of Design: Proportion, light, color, mass, and texture are the key concepts of landscape design.

5. Develop a Concept: Now that you know what you want, you can start to make it a reality.

6. Start Planning: Take photographs, make notes, and draw sketches to commit your ideas to paper.