If you’ve never designed a landscape before, you might find all the choices you need to make a bit overwhelming. Which plants do you want, and where should they do? Should your paths curve or run in straight lines? What accessories, like benches, bird feeders, and planters do you want? It can help to think of your garden in the same way that you would a room inside your house, as many of the same principles of room setup can help you to design the outside too. Here are five considerations that will help you get your landscaping project off to the right start. 

Determine Landscape Needs And Wants

Make a list of what you need and want. Do you need somewhere for children to play? Do you want to grow vegetables? Do you want a patio to use for entertaining? Do some rough sketches of your yard to start getting a rough idea of where you want to place things. This is an easy place to start for a beginner. These don’t need to be master plans, and they can just be ideas. These sketches let you play around with some ideas without investing much time or commitment.

Think About Location

Study the pattern of the sun and wind in your area, as well as the local climate. For example, a more humid climate will need different plants than a cooler one. This post gives some good ideas for dealing with a climate like Florida. 

You want might want to put a patio on the west side of your patio, but this will likely get the most sun, which could be too hot for dinner in August. Wind blowing round a corner will put out your fire pit. Not considering where the sun and wind are common mistakes in backyard design. Take into account what they do at different times of the day and year. 

Sit Down And Enjoy Your Landscape

Live with your landscape for a while. Deciding too quickly can lead to you making choices that you don’t want after all or that don’t work. After spending time outdoors, you will start to see areas where you want to sit that you might not have thought of first. 

Start Small

Home and garden television shows might show off makeovers that took a couple of days, but they have huge crews, which is not the case for most beginner gardeners, even if you’re hiring someone to do the garden for you. Part of creating a landscape is slowly developing your plan. Look at your overall plan and start with a small area like a flower bed. Go out and work on this flower bed for an hour or two when you have time, rather than worrying about doing the whole garden right away. Take your time, avoid shortcuts, and don’t get sloppy with your DIY design.

Find A Focal Point

Any good garden design should have a focal point. This could be a beautiful tree, a water feature, or a sculpture. Let the design draw your eye around to different parts of the garden.