Put It On Paper: Garden Plan Part Three


Please note: Thank you for visiting my Cottage Garden topic and reading my columns, published here from February 1997 through spring 2003! This Cottage Garden column was written by Barbara M. Martin and is Copyrighted by Barbara M. Martin. It may not be altered or copied or published elsewhere in whole or in part without specific permission from the author. I regret I am no longer actively editing or contributing to this suite101.com topic as of mid-2003. Happy Gardening!

LOOKS LIKE THE LIGHTS ARE STILL ON! HAPPY MILLENNIUM NEW YEAR !!!

Part Three: Putting It On Paper

This third step, putting things on paper, can be intimidating but it doesn't have to be. We need a working drawing not a masterpiece! Pencil and paper will help you envision your possible changes with confidence, and once you have made a baseline drawing you can try out as many changes as you wish. Trying them out on paper is so easy you might even come up with multiple options!

So make it easy on yourself: get out your photo, plop a piece of tracing paper on top of it and tape them both to the table so they don't wiggle. Now take a pencil and lightly outline the buildings and the permanent fixtures such as trees you hope will live forever and your picket fence that will never fall down. Just do a simple line sketch, tracing over the outline of the main features. Leave out anything you know you are going to remove, say that big old rotten tree to be cut down next spring or the hedge you are going to rip out.

Don't press hard or you'll ruin the photo. Make a light pencil sketch. Don't aim for perfection, just the rough idea is enough. Erase if you want to but don't fuss. If you make a mess, get a fresh sheet of tracing paper. It's cheap.

When you have everything marked, remove the photo for safekeeping. You should have a decent line drawing of the area in question right there on paper! Magic! Once your drawing satisfies you, go over it in ink so it will be easy to read through multiple layers of tracing paper.

Now take a fresh bit of trace, slightly bigger than the drawing, and place it on top of your inked outline. Again, tape the papers to the table so they won't wiggle. On the top layer of tracing paper, sketch in changes to your heart's delight using the inked drawing as a base. If you have trouble seeing through the tracing paper, use a bolder pen on the outline page and put a white sheet of paper under it, or make a photocopy of it and it will show through successive layers better.

The copyright of the article Put It On Paper: Garden Plan Part Three in Cottage Garden is owned by Barbara M. Martin. Permission to republish Put It On Paper: Garden Plan Part Three in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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