Planning is the essence of any activity that is related to your home maintenance or improvement. I consider landscaping as a part of home improvement activity because it will enhance the resale value of your home greatly. A well maintained home is a great asset.

That's why when it comes to landscaping put the plan on a plain sheet of paper. Mark out various areas on the sketch plan. First mark your home building on the sketch and then locate other spaces such as pathways, flower beds, sand pits, swimming pools, patios in

relation to home building that are already existing in your home plot. Don't forget to mark any existing big trees that you want them to be in your final layout.

Step #2

Look around your home plot for natural and artificial elements such as a busy street, flowing river, mountains, other buildings, etc. All these will have a direct effect on your home garden. This kind of analysis will help in locating various elements in your garden.

natural elements include the direction of sunlight, quality of sunlight, direction and speed of wind (if your home is on seashore the wind will be a major factor). Depending upon all these the design of your garden will change. for example if the sunlight is too harsh, you

might consider to plants tall trees so that the garden area remains in shade most of the time.

Step #3

Define the function of your garden. This means that your family members will use the garden, so what are their needs. What happens if you arrange a small family get-together in this garden, Will the garden space be sufficient to accommodate your guests. Try writing down various situations in your everyday life when you will be using this garden.

Once you define the purpose it will be easier to locate the final layout depending upon your plot analysis in step #2 and function of the garden.

Step #4

Write down a brief of the materials you would like to see in your garden. This does not mean write down everything to the minutest details, but a rough idea of what will happen in the garden. for example would you like to build the pathways in brick or paving tiles, or would the compound wall be painted from inside or will be kept exposed.

This will guide you to create a list of common material so that you get a primary idea of the budget of your residential garden.

Step #5

Create a schedule of execution for your garden and take action. Creating a schedule is a great way to save a lot of time and money when it comes to execution. Once you know which activity starts first, it will be easier to plan accordingly.

For example first comes the site cleaning, then plotting out major areas on ground. Then if you have electricity cables running around your compound wall lighting, you will have to call the electrician to complete his tasks before you start planting the delicate and

precious plant species. It should happen that you have planted the flowerbeds and a water pipeline needs to be laid under the flowerbeds that supply water to the fountain in the corner of your garden.

So planning and executing a schedule of tasks will help to improve your efficiency.

This was just a brief guideline of how to go about planning and executing a residential garden. I hope this will help you to start thinking more creatively in building you dream garden.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya