Create a Base Map to Begin Designing a Garden
Here’s how to make a base map of your property before you design or renovate your landscape.
A simple base map, which can be hand drawn, is the starting point for a new garden design or an existing garden's renovation. The base map will be the basis on which you make your analysis notes, followed by your garden plan. The finished plan will indicate your garden’s new plantings and features.
Base maps of landscapes are drawn as if viewed from above—the bird’s-eye view. They are drawn to scale, reflecting the accurate dimensions and location of the home, garage and other structures. (If creating a base map isn’t your idea of fun, hire someone for this part. Save your creative energies for the analysis and landscape plan.)
Getting started
You may have received a legal survey when you purchased your property. If it includes dimensions, then you are ready to start your base map. If not, you can physically measure your property lines, or digitally measure them using Google Earth. (Here are instructions.) Taking digital measurements comes in especially handy for large properties.
With your property measured, choose a paper size that will fit your entire landscape when drawn in a scale of 1 inch equaling 10 feet. (I prefer working in 10 scale because it can easily be measured with a standard ruler.) If you have a larger property, draw your site on quarter-inch scale graph paper. It will be best to use a scaled drawing for accuracy on the final design.
Base map details
The base map for your garden design should include the following:
- The outline or footprint of your home and other structures as they relate to the property boundary. Mark the locations of doors and windows, because you will want to consider views and approaches to the home.
- Hardscape features, such as driveways, sidewalks, decks, pools, and patios.
- The locations of utilities, such as heating and cooling units, spigots, meters, utility boxes, poles and overhead wires. Any time you will be digging or excavating, you must call 811, the national (US) phone number for free locating and marking of public utilities.
- An inventory of existing plants. Locate and note the size of trees and shrubs in scale. You will want to save as many mature plantings as possible.
- Determine which directions are north, south, east and west, then mark them on the plan. Knowing the cardinal directions in relation to your home and garden will allow you to determine your site's sunniest and shadiest spots and the prevailing direction in which the wind blows.
Every site offers features that can be incorporated into the design. Walk around your landscape and explore different viewpoints. Do you have exposed rocks or slopes that you perceived as a detriment in the past but could be re-envisioned into a natural asset? Are there areas of your outdoor spaces where you cook or relax that need to be linked with pathways? Is there a soggy spot in the yard that could converted into a water feature that supports wildlife? Mark spots such as these on the base map.
Once it is complete, make several copies of your base map to use in planning your landscape designs.
Read these articles next to continue designing or redesigning your garden:
