Standing at the cusp of creating something new can be exciting. But it can also be overwhelming.

We’ve put together five steps, inspired by our own process, that can help you plan your own yard. You can get a great DIY space by having a solid plan and sticking to it. These steps are meant to give you a push in the right direction.

Knowing you’re ready to re-think your yard is the first step, but what’s next?

Step 1: Think about function

Let’s clear up the who’s, what’s and where’s of this future oasis. We’ll leave the how’s and when’s for later.

So, who’s it for? You? Your dog, kids, partner, neighbors?

What’s important?

Entertaining, farming, working?

Where’s it going?

Is this a whole yard project or just a shady corner?

Okay great. Now we have some direction on the specifics. Make note of these and use them as a guide in decision making. This is how we build the framework. Let your mind be free from budgets or timelines. This is the time to dream.

I mean it, grab a pen, cellphone, laptop and jot this stuff down. Our lives are far too busy to expect our garbled minds to remember what we found important yesterday. Once you carve out your vision with some specific details we can look at it logically and squeeze our big dreams into our real life pants.

Good?

lets move to step 2.

Step 2: Find your inspiration

Creativity isn’t born from blank spaces, it’s born from inspiration. Think about the lines, forms and textures that make you do a second take.

Again, dream big. Save the images you find and ask yourself why you like it. Think about the lighting, materials, plants and even the feeling it gives you. What is drawing you into that idea?

Go back and jot your observations down. Pay special attention to low-cost alternatives, specific brands or details that will help you out down the road.

Step 3: Look through a good lens

I’m not saying you can’t design the space you want, but we will be sharing our yard whether we like it or not. This step will let us stop and think about our family, neighbors and the planet. Here are some questions you could ask yourself.

Do you belong to a homeowners association? Any neighbors that dislike or have allergies to particular things? What bylaws apply to you?

I wonder what your family thinks of the plan or if they have some input?

What about wildlife you want to either attract or discourage?

We are just taking a step back, considering the moving parts and shifting into a holistic lens. It is our responsibility as the designer to consider how everything interacts with the space we’re creating. After all, if we are bringing something new into this world it only makes sense to create it beneficially.

Step 4: Lay it out, like a boss

There is a lot to unpack when it comes to layout but I will do my best to give you a solid bite sized grasp.

Right out of the gate, design software’s can be expensive. If this is your first and only design, I do not suggest making the investment. But, if you want to pull together a digital design on the budget I highly suggest the app “concepts”. (Not affiliated) Its cheap, easy to use and comprehensive enough to do what you need it to.

Alternatively though, a hand drawing can be just as descriptive. I have seen an entire set of residential construction drawings done by hand. Wowza.

Regardless of which way you go, here’s some tips…

Think about who needs to interpret your drawing. If it’s someone other than yourself, it’s a good idea to identify north and go heavy on the descriptions. Keep it short but call it out.
Record measurements of structures or features that will be the same through-out the life of your project such as a house or fence.
Scale it. Scales really come in handy for seeing a layout and judging proximity. There are tons of helpful videos out there for this.
Consider that hand drawings prevent you from moving elements around after the fact. For this reason they can prove to be a lot more time consuming compared to their digital counterparts.
Consider the golden ratio as you design. You might want to give this one a minute of research but it basically breaks down like this…

length / 1.618 = width and width X 1.618 = length. Use this to plan the sizes of your elements.

Want to irrigate? This is way more complicated than it looks. Not to fear, most irrigation system suppliers will provide you a free layout and material list if you bring your drawing to them. They will probably be able to get you a quote to install it too.

Look at you go. Revise, repeat, rip it up and redo.. You are too close now to turn back.

Step 5: Follow through

The time is here to look at our pant size. Budget and time.

Consider this..

How much time do you have to maintain this space?

Do you have the budget to hire someone to install or are you a DIY ’er?

Will you be eating food from this space? If so, I highly recommend getting a soil sample to test for any contaminants.

A good thing to remind ourselves of here is that this doesn’t have to be done tomorrow. We can and should break our big ideas into pieces we can manage.

So, what’s your timeline? Lets be realistic.