QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF (AND YOUR FAMILY) BEFORE YOU DESIGN YOUR NEW LANDSCAPE
Getting ALL your thoughts on paper before you begin the actual design/planning process
So, you’ve bought a new house with property. Lots of new space to build your new garden, right? Before you jump in to start planting trees, shrubs, a vegetable garden, and all the rest, though, you might find it helpful to sit down to plan first.
When I taught landscape design to home owners/gardeners, the first class of an eight-week class (16-week class for those interested in more details), was “practical matters.” This first class wasn’t really “design” as home gardeners know it. In fact, a handful of new students, over the years, dropped out after the first class – they didn’t understand what this part was about; they said they just wanted to know how to arrange shrubs, how to mix and match colors, and how to make curving flower beds.
Planning, of course, comes before the shovel digs the first hole. And there’s a lot to think about (the practical kind of planning) BEFORE laying out the new landscape (the familiar kind of planning) on paper. Essentially, this article is about the planning before the planning.
The “practical matters” I hoped to get across became a questionnaire, a checklist of what I consider to be the most important aspects of design that need to be addressed prior to drawing the actual “lines of design.” These are the aspects important to those who want to create or re-create an entire landscape or a large part of a landscape. Some may even apply to building but a vegetable garden but some points here are obviously irrelevant to most small projects. This questionnaire also helps guide a project if you phase it.
Even if, after putting down the answers, you decide you’re not up to designing your landscape, for whatever reason, you can pass your completed questionnaire off to a professional landscape designer or Landscape Architect. Or hang onto it to refer to when you hit hurdles in questioning your wants and needs.
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FIRST, THE LEGAL CONCERNS
What City/County Codes apply to the property involved?
What utility company issues might influence placement (e.g., easements, overhead, underground)?
Do you need to follow HOA Regulations (what are they?) or get a design review?
Are there environmental issues that need to be addressed? What exactly are they?
What government agencies can provide resources?
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THE MONEY
Is there an installation budget? What (in dollars) is it? An approximate range, of course.
Is there a timetable/deadline for the project? In general, what would that be?
Do you need to phase the project? (IMPORTANT)
— What are the priorities? What absolutely needs to come first (after resolving “Problems, Issues…;” below) and second and etc.
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WHO WILL BE USING THE LANDSCAPE/GARDEN?
How many adults (permanent residents and regular visitors)?
Will there be “elderly people” (those who need adjustments) involved in the
garden/landscape?
Are there children? What age-appropriate areas and equipment needs to be included? (keep rapidly-changing needs/want in mind)
Is anyone physically challenged? What on-site modifications and/or equipment will they need?
Will you need wheelchair accessibility? (Now or in the near future) Where:
Do you have pets, how large, how many? That converts to how much “dog run” you need and/or how much lawn you will need.
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FAMILY WANTS, FAMILY NEEDS
What “Activity Rooms” are needed? An “activity room” is a part of the garden defined by what takes place in it. Analogous to the rooms of a house. These rooms will, ideally, fill up the entire property, much as the rooms of a house, with no “blank” spaces between them. For instance:
Entry/Entrance; do you need…
An enlarged path for visitors to see the actual entrance to the house and to get
there safely
Courtyard/Enclosed
Covered
Porch
Entertaining/Dining, do you need…
Patio/Deck
Covered
Overflow area
Walk-on Groundcover (often needed for “overflow”)
And for how many people at any one time? Maximum (regularly)?
Private Areas, do you need…
Sanctuary/retreat/sitting area
Secret garden
Hot tub/spa
Detached sun room/reading room
Small walk-on groundcover
Play/Recreation, do you/they need…
For children — List specifics
For adults — List specifics
For everyone
Multiple-use play area
Swimming pool
Service/Utility areas
Trash cans, woodpile, storage shed
Dog run
Compost bins
More than one “utility area” needed?
Working areas
Vegetable Garden
Herb Garden
Cutflower Garden
Orchard
— (the above are often combined (“mini-farm”)?
Rose Garden
Plant Collection(s)
Pond (small)Workbench/shed
Greenhouse
Woodlot
Other functional areas
Screening plants (hedged or informal); hedgerow
Windbreak
Prairie/meadow
Woodland (embellished)
Pasture/corral
Large water feature areas
Rain garden
Nature Preserve (predominantly native areas to remain untouched; maybe with minimal remediation)
Do you have desirable views to frame, enhance, or even create?
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PROBLEMS, ISSUES – NOW AND POTENTIAL
To be defined and resolved from the get-go.
Do you have an extreme soil type, such as:
Construction compaction/fill
Decomposed granite deep
Sandy (as in beach-like)
Gravelly/Rocky
Hardpan below (including Rock shelf)
Having “crappy” soil is NOT and extreme soil type.
Is there a drainage problem?
Have you done a “Perk” test? The ideal soil drainage is around 2 inches per hour. If the rate is less than 1 inch per hour, your drainage is too slow, and you’ll need to improve drainage or choose plants tolerant of wet soil.
Large areas of standing water
Run-off, flooding
Will you need French Drains (underground)? For large areas.
--- Where will you put a “rain garden” for collection overflow?
Can a cistern (vertical drain) do the job? For smaller areas.
--- Where needed?
Extreme elevation differences (= difficult to walk on). Also note where.
Do you need to:
Grade
Cut & Fill
Contour
Retaining wall/berm construction
Erosion Control
Difficult sun/shade exposure. Also note where.
Deep shade (less than 2 hours per day, to no sun at all)
Summer sun, winter shade
Is wind a factor?
From what direction (in general, over the year)?
Strongest time of year?
What kinds of windbreaks will you or can you use?
Do you need to provide barriers/fencing for deer?
How will you redirect rambunctious kids or big pets?
Is there noise from the street or elsewhere? Shrubbery, hedging, trees don’t really work to absorb noise on a residential scale
Big trees creating deep shade and filling the soil with roots? This will boil down to right plant, right place
Presently unseen potential issues. Yes, a tricky one but do look around carefully. Look for:
Tree roots
Ineffective irrigation system
Sewer lines or septic system
Weed proclivity
Water supply lines
Underground utilities (see utilities, under “Legal Concerns”)
Do any family members have allergies?
Flower pollen
Dermal allergies (touch)
— List specifics, where known.
Bees
Do you have a bad view that needs to be screened out? How will you screen it out?
Where is it?
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“STYLE” (the theme, the message)
What will influence your style?
House architectural style and colors
Existing cultivated landscape (if there is one and you’re renovating)
Existing native plant community surrounding property
Existing site topography, soil, and conditions
Others’ gardens, real or in magazine photos
Your dreams, personal tastes
Landscape Style Examples — (Check as many that you feel are appropriate to your senses; you do not need to know the exact characterization of these styles.)
Alpine/Rock Garden
American Southwest
Asian: (dry Zen, hill and pond, tea garden, courtyard, stroll)
Contemporary
English Cottage
French Provincial
Italianate
Meadow/prairie
Mediterranean
Native/Naturalized
Old-fashioned
Romantic/Poetic
Rustic/Country
Tropicalesque (yes, it can be created as drought-tolerant)
Woodland (Western or Eastern)
Note: more often than not, a “garden style” is a fusion of two or more of the above styles. This idea was on the questionnaire I left with clients* and almost always, the clients would check off more than one box; it was up to me to do the fusing. And “rooms” of the garden can be different styles from each other.
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MAINTENANCE
What’s your comfort level of maintenance:
Low (a couple hours a week, probably on weekends; occasional clean-up; otherwise hire out)
Low-medium
Medium (a couple good efforts per week; mow, prune some, occasionally fertilize)
Medium-High
High (an hour or so daily; above + tweak regularly, plant annuals seasonally)
How much mowable area (walk-on groundcover) do you want?
Where?
Watering Method
What’s your preferred method?
What method(s) will be the most effective for each area?
For example:
Garden hose (small gardens needing a variety of watering techniqeus)
Sprinkler/spray system (low angle; fine for small lawns, groundcovers, newly-planted perennial beds)
Flood/soaker (level flower or vegetable beds)
Temporary drip (new areas, seasonal vegetable beds)
Rotary (large or hillside areas)
Do you want/need it automated?
How much?
Will you need a shed(s) for storing garden tools/equipment?
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HARDSCAPE
Do you need outdoor lighting?
For security, For atmosphere
Where?
Special hardscape features wanted/needed? — Examples:
Arbor
Boulders (large)
Bridge
Built-in BBQ
Built-in benches
Deck(s)
Dry creek bed
Firepit
Gazebo
Greenhouse
Heaters
Lap pool
Outdoor kitchen ornamental features?
Raised planters
Shed
Spa/hot tub
Sports court
Sunroom
Swim spa
Swimming pool
Tea house
Trash can storage
Water feature: fountain
Water feature: pond
Water feature: waterfall
Anything else?
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PLANT PALETTE
What is the color of the house (it will be a background to much of the landscape)?
What special garden areas are wanted?
Container plants
Flower beds
Plant collections
Rock garden
Roses
Shade/woodland
Something else?
What are your favorite plants (by general type, if any; do NOT list specific plants)?
Any major dislikes in plants (identifiable, specifically or by general; type)?
What are your favorite flower color(s) and/or color combinations?
Do you have a color scheme in mind?
What special plant features (besides flower color) do you want?
Autumn color
Butterfly, pollinator, and/or bird attractive
Colorful foliage
Espalier-trainable
Fragrance
Sound and movement
Textural/architectural foliage
Topiary
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SUPPORT
What background materials and names do you need?
What local gardens -- public or private – do you like?
Where are they, with addresses?
What do you like about them?
What magazines offer design ideas and/or show the styles you like?
TIP: Take lots of “before” photos of the garden.
TIP: Include magazine “clippings” (now digital collections) of garden/landscape ideas that you like.
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* This questionnaire/checklist became, with a change in formatting (including the addition of lines to fill in with the answers), the form I gave to my own landscape design clients. I would email it in advance of a first meeting and it encouraged clients to search their brains and hearts for all they’ve ever dreamed of for their individual ideas of paradise.
© Copyright Joe Seals, 2025