Plan the layout of a bed or balcony

An empty space and a pile of plants you want to arrange sensibly rather than by trial.

Plan the layout of the space below.

1. **Map the conditions across the space.** Where the sun falls at different times, where it is windy, where water collects or drains too fast, what the neighbouring structures do. Ask me anything you need.
2. **Place the plants**, using mature size rather than the size they arrive at. State the spacing and say explicitly what will look sparse for the first two years and why that is correct.
3. **Layers.** Height, structure through winter, and what carries each season so there is not a dead month.
4. **Access.** Where I will stand to weed, water, and harvest. Do not design something I cannot reach the back of.
5. **Describe the layout in words and as a simple text diagram**, with dimensions.

Tell me honestly if I am trying to fit too much in, and say what to cut. Overplanting is the most common mistake and I would rather hear it now.

Space, dimensions, and aspect:
Plants I have or want:
Climate and soil:
How much maintenance I want:

Planning the garden. Bed and balcony layouts, the jobs this month, and records that stop you relearning the same lesson.