Archived address: how to plan your own plot

Look at your plot first

Before you draw anything, live with your plot for a while and observe it. Note the cardinal directions and how the shade from the house, the fence and the neighbors' trees moves in the morning, afternoon and evening. See whether there is a slope, where water runs after rain, and where the ground stays damp longest after the snow melts.

Go to the windows of the house and write down what you can see from the living room, from the kitchen and from the entrance. This is the view you will see most often, so it matters more than the far corners. Note where the wind comes from and where you would like some privacy from the neighbors or the road.

A list of wishes and zones

• Relaxation area: where you want to sit, eat outdoors and have guests.
• Vegetable patch and berry bushes: the sunniest spot, not far from water for irrigation.
• Play area: within view of the house and away from water and outbuildings.
• Utility area: firewood, compost, tools and a spot for trash, closer to the driveway and out of the main view.
• Flower beds and ornamental plantings: where you look at them every day.

The plan on paper and on the ground

1. Draw a plan to scale

   Transfer the boundaries, the house, outbuildings, large trees and everything else that can no longer be moved to paper. Mark the cardinal directions, the slope and the damp spots.

2. Lay out the zones

   Draw the zones as rough patches without defining their shapes. Move them around until it is clear how they connect with each other and with the house.

3. Draw in the paths

   Run paths where people really walk: from the gate to the house, from the house to the deck, to the vegetable patch and the utility area. Unneeded loops soon get overgrown.

4. Transfer the markings to the ground

   Mark the zones and paths with stakes and string and walk along them for a few days before you start any work.

Flower beds, rockeries and rock gardens

A flower bed is best placed in the line of sight from a window or by the entrance. Choose plants with the light, the soil and their mature size in mind, not the size of the young plant: what looks modest now may hide its neighbors in a few years.

Rockeries and rock gardens need good drainage: plants for stony ground suffer in damp soil. Use stones of one type and set them firmly, sinking them halfway into the ground so the composition looks natural. A sunny slope and a shady corner call for different plant choices.

The order of works through the seasons

• First utilities, drainage and grading: everything that will end up underground.
• Then paths, patios and foundations for outbuildings.
• After that, the large trees and shrubs that form the framework of the garden.
• Finally, flower beds and the lawn, once heavy machinery and construction no longer threaten the plantings.
• Plan planting for the right season for the plants, and earthworks for a time when the soil is not waterlogged.

Read next

• Ideas
• How-to
• Conifer bed (in Russian)