Designing your ideal garden. First measure your plot.

Now is the time for New Year’s resolutions, clearing out the clutter gathered over the previous twelve months and getting organised for the year ahead.

It’s a popular time for signing up at the gym for an exercise routine that will burn off the excesses of Christmas and get you looking like a million dollars for your summer swim suit.

We all know of people who have joined the gym only to lose heart in a month or two’s time. So here’s a challenge for you, why not direct that energy burning exercise routine towards re shaping the garden.

This way you and the garden get into good shape together. Besides which exercise outside certainly has a feel good factor.

Before making drastic change to the garden, however, it’s a good idea to have a plan to work to.

Start by making a checklist of practical considerations that are important to you. Too many gardens suffer as a result of what I call the “aaahh factor”.

This is the reaction that many people have when they visit a garden centre and see a plant in full bloom in its moment of glory.

The response is “aaahh that looks lovely. I’ll have one of them.” The plant is dutifully purchased, carried home and then you are bombarded by all the doubts and questions. Where should I put it? How big will it grow? Does it like the sun or the shade?

Having a plan to work to will help you make decisions on which plants to buy as well as ensuring that all your practical needs are met.

Having made a list of requirements it is essential to draw a plan of the site including the house, boundary lines and all the items that you may wish to keep in the garden including items such as trees, sheds.

Plot man hole covers so that you know where the drains are and plot direction North on your drawing so that you know where the sunniest parts of the garden are in the morning, afternoon and evening.

When measuring your garden, don’t assume that the boundary is at right angles to the house. Measure the distance between two fixed points on the house which we will call A and B.

From these two points measure to each point on the boundary line. For example to locate C, measure from A to C and from B to C. Over the coming months I will give you some hints and tips on how to apply a range of design principles to your new plan for the garden. In the meantime enjoy measuring your garden and drawing a scaled plan.