Landscaping 101

Lesson 2: Starting Your Landscape Drawings

Tips on Base Map & Site Inventory

Before starting your base map, put together the supplies you need. The following materials will be helpful as you measure and draw out your site:

1. 100 foot measuring tape
2. 25 foot tape
3. large white paper for drafting your plan
4. pencils and erasers
5. tracing paper
6. scales (rulers, there are engineering and architectural rulers available at office stores (The easiest scales to work with are 1” = 10’ or 1” = 8”.)
7. masking tape
8. T-square, triangles and templates can make the drawing easier

Note: There are actual landscape design kits available at some office supply stores. These generally include templates, a ruler and graph paper. Save yourself some money by buying these items separately rather than in an "official landscaping kit".

Your base map will be the starting point of your landscape design. Take your time and get accurate measurements. Having accurate measurements will make it easier to layout your landscaping. It also helps to take photographs from various angles and aspects. Keep these photographs with you once you start the actual design process. Use tracing paper and pencils to sketch your site inventory over your base map. Look around your neighborhood and make note of what plants are thriving and what plants seem to have problems.

If measuring grades, such as steep slopes, you can determine elevations with a carpenter's level or string level. Stretch the string tightly from your starting elevation. Next measure up or down to the point you wish to determine the difference in grade. Add or subtract this to the first measure to determine the relative elevation. If the changes are rapid, you may have to use several steps to determine your elevation. You may want to do this in successive steps if the grade is steep.

Different size of paper are available, from 12” by 18” to 24” by 36”. If you decide to use smaller paper you may want to divide the site up into sections rather than working with an extremely small scale. Using a small scale is difficult as some of your trees, shrubs and perennials may be no larger than a small dot on your plan.

Drawing supplies are available at most office supply stores. If your local store does not have the paper, tracing paper and templates you would like to work with, there are many places on-line where you can order. A couple of places we have used with great success are: Master Graphics, Dick Blick, and Re-Print.

Once your base map and inventory are complete, get out a piece of paper and write down some of the main concerns of the site inventory in one column and in another column your potential “fix”. For example:

Your site inventory indicates: Open view of wooded area. Your analysis may be to: Maintain view. Your site inventory indicates: Existing patio is 100 square feet. Your analysis may be: Should be enlarged to at least 200 square feet. Your site inventory indicates: Back of house exposed to hot afternoon sun. Your analysis: Need shade trees at back of house. Your site inventory indicates: Noisy kids and dogs on neighbor’s property. Your analysis: Need some kind of screening.

Taking your time and creating accurate maps and making correct assessments of your site will help immensely as you start your design process. It is more work to move trees, plants and features later on than it is to accurately determine where they should be placed in the beginning of your design process.

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