A garden layout starts before you pick the first plant. Grab a notebook, a pencil, and just a few minutes. Stand in the garden and look at where the sun falls, where the shade remains, and which areas tend to feel damp or dry, exposed or sheltered. It may seem a little slower than designing beds and choosing blooms, but it saves from many of the layout headaches you run into later.
The sun varies through the day, so you won’t want to take just one quick look. The corner that seems bright and sunny in the morning might actually be in shade for most of the afternoon. A bed next to a wall might get the full brunt of the sun near the top while the base of the bed remains a moist cool area. Before drawing your layout, walk the garden a few times. Try morning, midday, and late afternoon to see which beds get direct full sun and which are in full shade, which areas get reflected heat from the pavers and walls, or whether they’re only shaded at one time of day.
Shade isn’t just about darkness; it can create the atmosphere and function of a garden. A shade seating area is often ideal, while a vegetable garden needs a different look than a flower border. A narrow side yard may only need a simple path and a low light tolerant ground cover rather than a heavy mixed border of perennials. Noticing shade patterns will lead to placing seating, planting beds, paths and groupings of plants where they make sense and not trying to apply the same ideas throughout the garden.
One thing to try is to draw out a quick site sketch and divide the area up into sun and shade. Your site map sketch doesn’t need to be pretty. Sketch out your home, doors, windows, fences, existing trees, hardscaping and any other planted areas. Then simply mark in things such as morning sun, afternoon shade, wet areas, or dry spots under trees. Your site map will help you see what areas could be planted and what areas could remain open or be used for a path.
Many beginner gardeners choose plants first based on color, flowers, and foliage that you like, and then go back to find a place for them in the garden. This is a recipe for poor plant growth, awkward spacing, and beds and borders that constantly need tweaking and reworking. It is much better if the site conditions determine the plants you select. Plants that grow in full sun may not work well in a wet shade area, or if you have a dry area with full exposure to wind. Plant descriptions, information, and hardiness zone info is much more useful when you know what type of conditions you are selecting plants to live in.
Sun and shade can affect planting scale and layering too. A shrub placed too far forward may shade a small perennial plant and even block a window from your garden view. A planting bed can look beautiful and in scale when you’re working from your sketch, but it may become very dense and too dark in the area if the tallest plants are the ones that get the least light. As you work on your plants from back to front, take into consideration their heights, spread and mature size, and also where the layers will grow in light. The planting bed will be easier to understand and manage, and plants will grow better because they won’t crowd each other.
This whole approach of reading the sun and shade in the garden isn’t trying to make a technical site map; it is making your first attempt at designing a garden more honest. When you have included your sun and shade patterns, soil moisture, paths and features you already have, you start making decisions calmly and clearly where and why you may want to add a seating area, how big a border should be, or where you can create a focal point. Before you start adding in more ideas, spend a moment with your drawing and decide what parts of your garden layout might already be giving you ideas about what it might need.