Starting Your Landscape Design

With a little planning, designing your own landscape can be a fun and rewarding experience.

First, spend some time thinking about how you plan to use your garden. Next, walk around your site and mark down what you want to keep or change. Note plants, soil types, views, pathways, and other elements. Pay special attention to sun and shade patterns, as well as drainage.

Take rough measurements and draw a map of your site. Include the house and other buildings, utilities, driveways and paths, and any landscape elements you want to keep.

Finally, taking all this information into consideration, start drawing ideas on your map. And don't forget: put the right plant in the right place!

UF/IFAS Sites

• Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Program
• Living Green: Landscaping in the Southeast
• Simple Tips for Florida Garden Design

UF/IFAS Publications

• Basic Principles of Landscape Design
• Design Strategies for a Sustainable Home Landscape
• Energy Efficient Homes: Landscaping
• Landscape Design: Analyzing Site Conditions
• Landscape Design: Finding Inspiration for a Design Theme
• Landscape Design: Putting Your Yard on Paper — Site Measurements and Base Maps
• Landscape Design: Ten Important Things to Consider
• Landscape Elements for a Florida-Friendly Yard

Also on Gardening in a Minute

• Choosing Plants That Fit Your Landscape
• Designing Low-Water Use Landscapes
• FFL Principle 1: Right Plant, Right Place
• Form in the Garden
• Hiring a Design Professional
• Layers in the Garden
• Naturalized Landscape Design
• Plant Personalities
• Preparing for Garden Renovation
• Putting Your Yard on Paper
• Saving Energy in the Landscape
• Saving Money with Landscaping
• Texture in the Garden
• Using Art in the Garden
• Using Color in the Garden
• Using Turf Wisely