You don’t need to be an artist to draw an effective garden plan. The sketch just needs to capture the location of doorways, a proposed path, a potential border, and which zones are needed for watering, pruning, and use. This is not a work that needs to be displayed to anyone. It’s a thinking tool, so that you don’t dig before you plan, plant before you plot, or cram too much into a small space.
Start with permanent elements of the site: the house, the wall or fence, the gate, steps, windows, existing trees, patios, the shed, any hardscape. Sketch the shape of these elements and just give them names. The patio is a rectangle. The fence is a line. The tree is a circle. Proportions don’t need to be perfect at this stage, but don’t get completely out of whack: a narrow path alongside the house should be narrower than a lawn.
If you can, include some dimensions, however basic. Measure the length of the wall or fence, the width of the path, the depth of a planned bed, or the distance between the house door and a proposed bench. You’ll be amazed at how much better your planning is once you actually measure the site. Many amateurs skip this step because they think of measurements as “too technical.” Without measurements, your sketch can turn into a fantasy, with shrubs squeezed into tiny spaces and paths so tight that it’s hard to get through them.
After the permanent features are down, make a few copies, or place tracing paper over your first plan and do it again. Try out a meandering path. Or a straighter route. Make another copy with a larger planting bed and smaller lawn. Move the seating group, place the focal point elsewhere, widen the bed, and so on. It’s a whole lot simpler to make changes to a plan on paper than in the landscape. And you’ll soon see if your plan feels peaceful, or gets busy as soon as you add a path, bed, container, and plantings.
Plant markings don’t have to be detailed either. Instead of drawing individual leaves or flower heads, you can use circles, ovals, or loose clusters to indicate groups of plants. Make shrubs big circles, smaller for perennials, and flat shapes for groundcover or ornamental grasses. Allow plenty of “white space” between symbols to leave room for the mature plants and working room for the maintenance. Don’t have all the symbols touching, or it will be really hard when you go to plant the garden. On your plan, white space may equal working space.
Try following a path of movement around the plan with your finger. From the door to the gate. From the seating area to where you store your hose. From the pathway to the border where the plants will need pruning. See what areas may be obstructed, or hard to get at. Look at views from the windows and seating. Do they all have a focus? Should there be something visible? Should your shrubs or trees block those sights? Is your plan going to make the garden too difficult to clean, water, and transport your tools?
You’re done with your garden plan when it helps you figure out your next step, not when it looks nice. You’ll likely end up with crossed-out beds, arrows, and several drafts of the same plan for your small yard. That’s okay. A simple garden plan gives you a chance to work out the scale, the space, and the movement before you turn a paper plan into a physical garden. The plan is worth keeping around when you’re comparing plant tags, thinking about paths, and so on. The best sketch is one that keeps the physical space before you.