Weekend Project: Make a Yard Plan
time to get out the graph paper!
If you would like to use a process of organic generative design to structure and personalize your outdoor space, here is what I recommend.
A Recap of the List in Yesterday’s Article:
size up your resources
determine the footprint of your outdoor space
make a list of purposes that you would like it to serve
hang out and walk around to determine “zones”
mark spaces in the yard with temporary spray paint
set that plan down on graph paper and modify
modify your markings accordingly
prioritize your projects and begin!
Size Up Your Resources
Who is willing to do the work? You? Any others? What are your physical limitations? Do you have money to hire labor? Money for projects? Before you figure out what you want to do, you should have a sense of these things.
That said, I am not suggesting that a person with unlimited money is necessarily going to end up with a better yardfarm/garden/outdoor-wonderland. Here is the thing about landscaping: you can spend any amount of money that you wish on your project. If I wanted to put in a new cobblestone driveway, some fancy paths and patios, French drains, purchase a new coop, new fencing, new garden beds, hire a landscaper, build a little pond with a fountain, fancy Finnish sauna…
I could easily spend $150,000 on our little sixth of an acre lot. Or, with more home-labor, some recycled materials, some new materials, a longer period of time and a more “eclectic” sense of style, I could fulfill a rough approximation of my original wish list for something closer to $8,000. If I wanted to go full guerrilla, I might even be able to do it for $800.
A garden project can be a very easy way to waste a good deal of money (though, sometimes Finnish saunas can be nice). But more importantly, when money is no object, it can become easier to make mistakes, because you have the power to make things happen more quickly. So if you have deep pockets, I recommend spending twice as much time thinking and planning, to give yourself the opportunity to change your mind and adjust plans. People with limited cash resources do this organically, as their projects tend to take more time and they can adjust the plan as they go along.
Determine the Size and Footprint of Your Outdoor Space
For some people, a “yard” might be a corner of a fire escape, or a small strip of neglected asphalt next to an apartment building. No matter: size it up - and perhaps explore possibilities for securing a plot in a community garden. If you rent a house with a yard, consult your landlord to find out what you are free to do - if nothing, no fear: container gardening offers many possibilities. If you own a house with a yard, figure out your property’s dimensions, either by using a big measuring tape like this one, or by visiting acres.com, entering your address, clicking on the marked property and clicking on the measuring tool (in the US, this is called a Plat Map; it may be called a cadastral map in other countries - I was not able to find an internet resource beyond the US, but they may be available). This will give you the ability to know the lengths of the sides of your property, which will in turn allow you to create a graph paper map.
Make a List of What Purposes You Want It to Serve
Consider everyone who lives with you - humans as well as other animals - and consult with the humans to discuss their ideas and hopes.
If it’s just you, and all you want is a place to sit in the sun: buy yourself a folding chair, find the right spot and you are good to go.
For anyone with more household members and/or a longer list of ideas: write them all down. Infinity pool, llama farm, ninja gym - no dream is too big, though some may eventually be edited. Its useful to see, at the very least, what types of activities you would like your outdoor space to offer. Once you have all of your ideas, prioritize them. On our original list, a dog yard was the first priority - not because the dogs get what they want before other family members, nor because the dog yard would take up the most space, but because having a place to let the dogs out several times a day to “relieve themselves” is a convenience that benefits all of our family members. For another person, someone extremely fastidious, who hates shoveling dog yards and loves taking walks on short notice in all weathers, a dog yard might not even make the list.
Determine Zones
Next walk around, and hang out in, your yard several times a day, on a sunny day, to determine zones. This will give you a sense of where to site planting beds, patios, chicken yards, etc. For instance, you would probably not want to put the tomato beds in the shade and the summer grilling area in the full sun - though, if the ideal spot for a grilling area happened to be in the full sun, you might consider siting it there and putting up some form of shade. The idea is to first explore your yard to see what nature is handing you, then see how you can either work with that, or modify it if necessary.
Ideally, you should also know where the wet areas are in your yard (drainage issues/opportunities) and consider other factors such as views (what you can see from an area of your yard, what that area looks like from inside your house, and what that area is visible to - e.g. perhaps don't put your sauna shower in full view of the street), danger zones for small children (if that is an issue), wind, thoroughfares for foot traffic, etc.
Carry a folding chair with you, and spend some time plopping it down in various locations to see what it feels like to sit there. Take a moment - notice what you can see (eyesores? good view?) and hear (do bird noises predominate or car noises?), and whether you are in the sun or shade. Keep in mind that deciduous trees will create shady areas in the summer and fall, and sunny areas in the winter and early spring (whereas evergreens create shade all year). Some areas will “feel” better then others - when you find these, you will want to keep them in mind as sites for “landing spots”.
You might also need to observe how the yard is currently being used. For example, when we were planning to make the boundary of the dog yard smaller, I noticed that our two dogs spent a great deal of time chasing each other around the thick trunk of the old apple tree. They did this so much, in fact, that their paws had beaten a path around it. I watched to see, during these escapades, how much extra room they needed to accommodate tails and overshoots, then I used a long garden hose to trace the perimeter of the fence, and to see whether the dogs looked like they could comfortably inhabit that perimeter. With some adjustment, I eventually found the right distance so that their play would not be hindered.
Start Marking
Walk around with a measuring tape and something to mark with. You can do this by casting lines of flour on the ground (not recommended if you have one or more dogs in the yard with you, as they are likely to lick up the flour - I have seen it) but it is easier with a can of temporary lawn spray paint. You can also mark with string or a length of garden hose, or small items to indicate corners. I have used all of these methods. I would recommend starting with movable items, then progressing to the yard paint once you are more sure of where you want to site things.
For instance: say you have determined a good, sunny area for two garden beds. You decide you want to make them each 4-feet by 8-feet. Pick up a collection of chewed-up dog toys from the yard and place each of them in the corners of the 4x8’ garden bed areas. You realize, once you have placed them side-by-side, that there wouldn’t be room between the beds to roll a wheelbarrow, so you adjust the dog toys to move the garden beds farther apart, and now the yard feels too crowded. You shift the markers again, to try them next to each other, in one long line. They look good and the yard flows nicely. Now you can shake up your spray paint and mark the lines in a more solid way, and move on to another element.
Once you have marked the major elements of your yard space, it is time to
Get Out the Graph Paper
Here is how I graphed and created a plan for our yard. You can use this as a step-by-step guide. First I set the measurements of our property lines down on graph paper, as accurately as possible, to create a basic graph paper map of the boundaries of our property, showing house and driveway. The graph paper is the kind with dots (there is also a version with a linear grid). I designated each square to be two and a half feet (squared). Four squares together are ten feet (squared).
I made sure that the measurements were accurate (or so I thought!), then took a picture and made copies. Then I added the shed. I drew it in pen then realized that it was slightly misplaced. I also realized the the rear porch wasn’t wide enough. I used a white posca marker to make the corrections, then took a picture and made new copies - as you can see, the corrections are no longer visible in the copy. Being sure of the accuracy of this map, I took a picture and set aside a hard copy. This is the map that I will copy/print and start from when drawing in changeable elements:
Next I drew in all the elements of the yard as it is today, and I took a picture and made a copy (so I could erase elements of the original drawing, but still have a paper copy of the current yard):
Then I erased the elements that I wished to change, and drew in the new plan (and took a picture - I did not print a copy, because this plan is now theoretical, and a virtual copy will suffice). The circles in the dog yard represent trees (fyi).:
At this point I will spend some time considering what I have drawn, and see whether I have any good ideas for changes. If I do I will:
Go Back Outside and Adjust the Markings
(By the way, this by no means needs to happen in one day or one weekend - take all the time you need for planning, mulling and adjusting.)
The lawn paint can be rubbed out easily enough, or covered with a sprinkling of dirt, if I need to re-mark any areas. Once I have re-marked, I will move around the yard and make-believe I am inhabiting the various spaces, doing the tasks that are meant to be done in each of them. Is there really room to navigate around the grilling area on the patio? Does that Little Free Library really belong in that corner of the front yard - is it too close to cars backing out of the driveway? Is the new gate to the garden situated in the right place?
If I make changes, I will adjust the graph paper plan by erasing and re-drawing. Then if I see any ideas as I look at the graph paper plan, I will go back outside and see how they feel in the yard - and so on.
Once I am confident about a plan, I will consult with my husband (and our boys if any element specifically applies to them) to see if he has any objections or suggestions. Once we all feel good about the plan, it is time to
Prioritize and Begin!
Now is the time to choose what project to do first. This might be weather dependent, or have to do with something that needs to happen ASAP (as was the case with our dog yard.) In our new plan, we have more flexibility. Probably the shelters for the bikes and for the trash will go on the top of the new list.
It is important to remember that your list might take a year, or two or three, to complete. And in that time, you may change elements of your plan, based on lessons learned over time. This is why I think it is good to not do the whole thing all at once. You just make your best decision at any given time, and if you realize that something isn’t working and needs to be changed (like adding a new gate to our dog fence, and moving the planting beds), you adjust.
Adjusting the plan as you go is the key to creating space by the process of generative design - as one element goes in, another asks to be adjusted. As something emerges, a problem is solved - or maybe created. When you plan in this manner, intuition has a chance to have a voice, and that is what makes beauty and utility possible.
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