Monday, May 23, 2011

Organize Your Ideas with a Planting Plan

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A planting plan doesn’t have to be complicated; it can help you to organize your ideas and make decisions on how many plants you are going to need.


Figuring out the cost of your plants

If you are able to buy large trees and shrubs you will be able to have an instant garden; if you can’t afford them then you will need patience to grow young plants. For instance, Perennials can bloom and reach their maximum height in the first couple of years, so don’t spend money on big plants. Besides, it will be very interesting to see them grow as time goes by.

Gonzalez Landscaping and Tree Service in Agoura Hills, CA can help you choose the best plants at a great price. We are very experienced so we can offer our services along with great materials at a lower cost than most landscapers.

Organizing your Plants

Many people get excited and try to cram too much into a small space, but overcrowded plants tend to be unhealthy, so always think about what their final spreads will be when drawing up your plan. The best way to make your plants look fuller is to put them all in a group together.


  • If you group plants in the shape of a sausage (which works well for cottage and prairie styles), or in triangle shapes they will look better and you will be able to create harmony among disparate groups.
  • When you place the occasional plant away from its group it will look like it grew naturally.
  • In order to create contrast with natural plantings elsewhere do a formal planting design near the house.
  • Gonzalez Landscaping and Tree Service in Thousand Oaks, CA usually plants trees at a good distance from your property to prevent the ground from sinking, and to give them enough space to mature.

Visualize your ideas


At Gonzalez Landscaping and Tree Service in Agoura Hills, CA we believe you should try to visualize a planting plan. If you are doing a small garden you can sketch the view from an upstairs’ window. Feel free to let your imagination run wild and don’t worry too much about being accurate at this stage.

  • Next, look at all the views from the house at ground level and think if you want your plants to frame, enhance, or block them.
  • Be sure to scope out the field, decide where the plants are going to be. You can place these on your drawing as simple shapes.

You should also take photographs as well, that way you can refer to them when you draw your plan. If you already have a pretty good idea of what you want, you can sketch your ideas directly onto the photographs; if not; work on a sheet of tracing paper laid on top. These rough sketches will help to prepare a more organized planting plan.

The Last Draft Of Your Planting Plan


If you are preparing a plan for your own use you will not need fancy graphics, if you need help Gonzalez Landscaping and Tree Service in Agoura Hills can give you ideas that will produce a beautiful landscape that you can be proud of.


  • On the last draft of your plan, map out the sections that you would like to plant, and then add the plants you want.
  • To help you decide where trees, plants or shrubs will be, sketch circles to scale.
  • So you are able to see how dense your planting will be, mark out a square meter on the ground and calculate plant spacing for different species using their final spreads. Make a note of them for future reference.
  • You can design your plan on graph paper. When choosing the scale, take into account how big the beds or borders are going to be. A scale of 1:50 or 1:20 is appropriate for an intricate plan.
  • Also, make sure you trace your drawing to develop a nice, complete design. Make two versions: a drawing to keep for yourself and the other version that you can use when you are going to plant. It would be nice if you laminate your last draft to protect it from the weather.

If you want a garden that not only looks beautiful but it brings harmony to the overall landscape of your property please call us at (805) 573 0809

Visit: http://www.gonzalezland.com

1 comment:

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