A while back, we visited a garden, almost completely built except for planting and a few details. Was it impressive? Yes! Did it fit how the people would use their garden? Maybe not so much. This is an example of where the program needs to come from the garden’s owners, developed by a professional designer, transformed into a concept, discussed, drawn up with details and finally built.
Site analysis 
Proposed changes
When we first saw the back yard, it was one huge fire table, with benches probably big enough to fit ten, maybe twelve, people.
“Wow, you have a lot of friends,” I said.
“No, not so many actually,
usually just two to four people
at a time.” they replied.
Gulp. This is a pretty large, expensive disconnect. A fire feature for ten, half used because they don’t currently entertain like that?
Will they ever?
Who knows? I’d say people tend to keep their same patterns, so probably not all that likely, although possible. Maybe they’ll invite everyone they know and fill up the space… once or twice.
You see, the thing with big parties is that people love coming to them. Good food, fun people, all that stuff. But inviting you anywhere afterward, that’s another question!
People in the family who throw parties tell us the same story. Out of maybe thirty people we used to entertain, we hear from six. Three propose getting together during the year. So the people who used to host, don’t.
Result: over-designed, too large spaces. Better to create a series of smaller spaces, rooms, whatever, that won’t look empty if there’s no crowd.
Asking questions first, before doing anything written or scribbled is essential! You must delving into your innermost garden desires, dream, talk, wait, contemplate, talk more, re-ask the questions (a zen person might say, “mu”).
At this stage, whatever is done will throw more money on the pile already spent. An architect friend asked why they didn’t just tear it all out and start over. Not an option (we asked).
Sometimes we walk into a bad situation: 90% built, money spent, clients unsure it’s what they want.
It’s one of those times where we wished they’d talked to us when the back yard was bare earth, with only an overlay of not-yet defined desires.
No surprise that there weren’t a lot of smiles – although we sketched things they liked, most was mitigation, not building new dreams. Under all this was the knowledge that whatever we did, it would come as an additional expense over what was already done.
How this should have worked
1
Sit down and think about what you want to do in your garden. Don’t draw anything, just make lists
Think about functions missing from your house that you can create outdoors. Think about how you live, if you cook (what and how?), entertain (how many people). How much space does each function need – and remember that you need to move between spaces. The bigger the parties, the wider the paths need to be! Where do you exit the house? Can you add or widen exit points to work better with a new garden? Can a kitchen window become a pass-through so you don’t need to duplicate functions outdoors?
2
Once you have your functions defined, think about style. Again, no drawing, please
Are there places you love? What’s special about them? Colors, details, structures, patterns, textures? Are they impressive, cozy, intimate, grandiose, multifunctional? Are they open or do they progress from outdoor room to outdoor room?
Be eclectic if you like. There’s probably a way to reconcile different ideas, or just celebrate diversity. You don’t need to follow someone else’s rules: it’s your private wonderland, nobody else’s.
Develop a list of colors you like. Add materials: tile, plaster, stone, metal.
3
Use all your senses
Unless you’re in your home with the windows closed, your garden should be more than visual.
What about sound? Most people associate this with water features, but you can also have places for outdoor speakers, or a place to set a Bluetooth speaker for some music. If you’re a musician – or have friends who will come to play, think about a stage / patio with a sound reflecting wall behind it.
A garden should smell nice, too. Sure, there are lots of fragrant flowers, but think about herbal notes, too. Rockroses don’t have fragrant flowers, but the plants scent the air with an interesting herbal note. Curry plant, rosemary, lavender… all perfume the air to some degree, depending on time of year.
Touch? Yes, some things are fun to touch, like lamb’s ears. Others are not: cactus, maiden grass (sharp leaves), agaves… Put the nice things to touch close, and the others farther from use areas.
Taste ties into use. If you like to cook, plant herbs. If not, maybe a few low maintenance perennial edible plants for grazing as you walk through the garden can work: dwarf citrus, strawberries, grape vines… If you’re an avid gardener, you’ll need a serious vegetable garden – but this again ties into use. No point having a massive vegetable garden if you don’t have the time or energy to maintain it, preferably year round.
4
Think supporting features
By now, you know what you want to do, what style it should be, how it should sound, smell, feel. What do you need to make that happen?
If you’re cooking, and you know what and how – and for how many people – you can develop an equipment list. Get prices – some of this stuff can wreck your budget!
Water features start with two choices: build it or buy it. The first is unique and expensive. The second choice might be less unique, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t fit perfectly in your program. Again, get prices (with delivery), at least for bought items, and remember that you’ll need a permitted electrical run and an outdoor outlet, things not included in the cost of the fountain. If you can’t install it yourself, there will be contractor’s fees on top of all this.
Fire features are not ecologically correct, since they create carbon dioxide, but they are nice to sit around. They don’t tend to throw off a lot of heat unless there’s some kind of back to reflect heat. If you want to be warm, use radiant heating in a structure, either electric or gas. Fire features can be raised pits. They can be circular, linear, pizza ovens (dual use) or traditional hearths.
Style features can be sculptures, wall art, bocce courts or anything that you need to make your initial program work.
5
Shade: structure or tree?
Shade structures should be more than just that. They can include counters, outdoor fireplaces
Shade can come from a tree, but you’ll wait for it to grow. It can also come from a structure that can be metal, wood or sail fabric. Structures can be elaborate, with built-in radiant heating, fans, televisions, misters… They can have carved wood posts or simple metal. If they’re big enough to shade a dining area, they’ll require engineering and building permits, at least in Sacramento. Trees don’t require permits, although if your CC&R’s require review, you still might have to submit something to get them approved.
6
Start drawing: concepts only
At this point, you have a choice: call in a professional landscape designer (us) or forge ahead. Yeah, I’d recommend at least a design consult, since professionals might have some good insights about functionality and future maintenance. They should also offer alternate layouts that meet your criteria, some you may not have considered.
First, make a base plan to scale of your back yard. It really does need to be to scale so that it’s the right shape, and so you can measure out your features.
If you hate drawing, you can use garden hoses or marker paint with a tape measure to paint out your features – as long as there’s currently nothing but flat earth or lawn where you want to build.
Drawing on paper is much easier, since you can erase and start over. Use tracing paper over your base plan, or print out lots of base plans.
Don’t expect your first sketch to be the final word. Keep experimenting, refining, correcting, adding, subtracting.
7
Decide: approve a concept!
At some point, after a lot of thinking, moving things around and redrawing, you’ll have a working concept. If you worked with a designer or landscape architect, you should have seen what the new design will look like in plan view and from various viewpoints around the garden (perspective and elevations).
8
Add detail
Here’s the point that somehow got rushed or just omitted in the design above.
There’s no lighting in the block walls – something that should have been shown on a lighting plan so that the wires could have been hidden inside the wall. Nobody said anything about the water feature’s splash zone, typically 1/2 to 1/3 the height of the waterfall – so there are a lot of porous materials that will collect hard water deposits. Somehow, there’s no drainage system to take excess water away from the patio. Apparently, there was no planting plan, either – this plan ties into the style section above so there should have been some idea on the intended look of the area. The porch has nothing to prevent a careless person from walking off the edge, a 30″ drop. That’s not too far if you’re planning to jump and not elderly or motion impaired – but quite a topple otherwise!
A good set of plans would have fixed all of this, assuming there was a good contractor willing to follow them.
Drainage would have been the first thing in. This site might have needed an electrical sump pump, since there’s not much slope from the back yard to the front curb. This would determine where the drainage lines would run, linking drain inlets to the sump and the sump to the gutter. There could also be a gravel sump to let water infiltrate into the ground, with an electrical sump reserved for large storms and saturated soil.
Layout would have been coordinated with drainage – and would show where to put the new gas grill and smoker, perhaps even with concrete pads for these items in a logical place. There would be details and elevations to show things like a designed system to keep people from toppling off the higher patio, something done after discussion in the concept phase.
All the planting would be identified, along with any mounds needed to get plants’ roots out of poorly draining compacted soil. There’d be a plant list for quicker bidding and pricing.
The electrical systems – new outlets, a transformer for the lighting and lighting fixture locations would have been shown. There would have been wiring inside the walls and under the paving, invisible.
What’s next
These things would have come after having an approved set of plans in hand, after selecting the best contractor for the job, even if it meant waiting a few months to get going on the landscape.
Build
Here is where you talk to contractors. If you went with a landscape architect or designer, you meet at the property, hand them a copy of the plans and listen to what they have to say. Sometimes they can streamline things or make adjustments in the construction phase so things go more smoothly. A good contractor is critical for success, so get references, recommendations and view their past work!
Maintain
I’m just putting it in here because even the best design, unmaintained, will turn to ruin over time.