Don't make the same mistakes as everyone else

If you want to create your own garden, making a plan is an essential step.

Not convinced by this statement?

I prefer to tell you very clearly, if you start working in your garden without first making a plan, you are headed for disaster.

Imagine assembling your garden shed and then saying to yourself “ah hell, I should have put it somewhere else, it would have been more practical” or, after building your terrace, telling yourself “I made it too small to put a table and chairs on”.
At that point you would have the choice between destroying what you have made to start again, which takes time and money because you have to buy the materials, or resigning yourself to keeping what you have made but which isn't very useful to you. Neither of these two “solutions” are really attractive! This type of mistake can be avoided by making a plan.

It is important to understand that it exists two steps to create your garden. THE reflection and planning phasewhere we develop the plant by determining all the elements that we want to find in its arrangement, their placement so that it is practical, their dimensions according to their usefulness, the position of the paths, the plants… It may take a little time, but this is one of the keys to success.
And only then does it arrive creation phase, that of the workswhere all you have to do is follow the plan as a guide.

Yes, but it can seem difficult to create a plan if you're not used to it.

You ask yourself how to do it concretely ? And you may also have difficulty projecting yourself, i.e imagine what the plan will actually look like on the groundespecially in terms of size.

I will give you several techniques to eradicate these apprehensions and prevent you from making the same mistakes as many people.

No, the software won't help you, on the contrary

Many people make the mistake of wanting create the plan of your garden using softwarethinking it would be easier.

It's a big mistakebecause if you're not used to it, you'll use more energy mastering the software than thinking about your garden. It's a waste of time and moreover it risks limiting you. For example, if you want to create a beautiful curved shape for a flowerbed and you don't know how to draw it in the software or the resulting shape is not harmonious, you will find yourself stuck.

It's much easier to make your piano by handwith a pencil and a sheet of paper. This way you won't have any of the technical limitations that the software imposes on you. You will be free to design the project according to your ideas.

Furthermore, the software only copies what you tell it, it will never give you ideas. It's like when you want to write a letter, you type it into the computer, but it's not the software that tells you what to write, it's you who provides the ideas, the software only serves to do the layout.
It's the same for the garden, no software will tell you how to arrange your garden.

Furthermore, I find that we are much more creative and we have many more ideas when we are in front of a sheet of paper with our pencilthe one in front of a computer screen, don't you think?
As a landscaper myself, I always draw my clients' garden designs by hand, before copying them onto a computer so they «look neat».

So as you can see, you have everything to gain from making a plan by hand.

Yes, but well, the problem when you're not used to making a plan is that you don't actually do it visualize how it will look on the ground. Then you can let yourself be tempted by software that promises you a 3D vision of the result, but even in this case you will have to master the software to be able to design your garden in three dimensions. It's a waste of time and many people give up because they can't represent what they want.

I therefore propose a series of simple tips to implement realize the result before even starting the work.

Draw the elements of the project… in your garden

Probably when you draw your terrace on your plan you wonder if it will be big enough? And there's nothing to be done It's hard to talk to you about a planeven if we tell you it will be 4m by 5m, that doesn't tell you anything. You have to see it in real life to realize that. Nothing could be simpler.

Go out into your garden, grab a squirt of marking paint, some stakes and string, or even chalk if you're on a hard surface, and draw the outline of your terrace. You will then be able to check whether its dimensions are suitable for you, for example by positioning the garden furniture you already own.

You can also do the opposite: first delimit on the ground the location of your future terrace and its dimensions, Thenwhen the result satisfies you, draw it according to the correct measurements on the plan.

You can do the same thing for all elements of your layout. Do you want a vegetable garden? You can imagine in the field what dimensions it should have in relation to the different vegetables you would like to grow, but on a level it doesn't tell you. First mark it in your garden, before transferring it to the plan.

What about 3D?

You tell yourself that all this is fine for delimiting the places and surfaces of each element that will make up your garden, but how to determine heights ?

For example, how high must my hedge be to hide me from the neighbor or, what size must the statue I want to place have so that it is clearly visible without appearing immense?

Simply have someone stand where your future hedge or sculpture will be placed and see if it should fit. the same height as your friend (measure it!), 1.5 times their height, 2 times their height… If you don't have anyone on hand to help you, you can also do this with a spade or large stick stuck in the ground.

With these techniques, you will no longer be afraid of making a project and getting the dimensions wrongyou can view everything directly from the ground, in your garden.

And if I can give you one last piece of advice, and not least, know that the best way to succeed in your garden without making mistakes is to follow a list of steps in which we explain step by step what to do, what questions to ask, what actions to take.

This is what my method in the video does” The 5 steps to successfully beautify your garden“It allows you to have everything at your fingertips to create a garden that suits you, that you like and that fits your budget.

In this method I guide you step by step through the 5 steps needed to develop and succeed in your garden. I will explain to you little by little what to do and how to do it. And in step 4 I show you how to create your plan step by step.

Don't run the risk of ruining your garden, being disappointed and having to start all over again later!