ODG - Project Tools - Site Planning

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Find out more about planning your project using the links below.

 DIY, DIT or DIFM   Site Planning   Colour Selection 
Site Planning

Two key factors in creating successful landscape spaces are to:

1. Identify your needs and likes.
2. Understand the good, bad and ugly about your site.

A great way to establish this is to draw a rough plan of the existing area and mark down all the key points. Print out our planning grid to help you get started.


Sketching your garden

1.  Measure up your garden area.
2. Using the planning grid draw up your garden, marking every metre of your area as a centimetre on your plan (1:100 scale).
3. If you know where North is, draw an arrow pointing towards it on your plan.
4. Draw in existing features such as garden sheds, garden beds, gas lines, clothes line, rocky outcrops, plants and trees to be retained or removed, the compost area, vegetable garden, electricity, taps/water, existing paving areas, etc.
5. Include in the plan:
 
•  Direction of the sun (so you know where shade will fall)
•  Soil type and depth (so you can consider if you need retaining walls or raised garden beds, foundation work and to help with plant selection)
•  Drainage (problems, pipes, run off etc)
6. Once you have finished your existing site plan, make plenty of photocopies so that you can always maintain one original.
7. Start drawing up lots of interesting new ideas you may have or take your plan to a contractor as a starting point for discussion.