Site Evaluation, Garden Style and Uses.
What have you got that you wish to keep?
We recently visited a garden that was designed around a 80 year old copper beech. The tree was magnificent it provided shade and great color, but it also restricted planting. The garden design needed to be sympathetic to the trees needs.
From Ellerslie Flower Show 2007 Sarah Eberle
Do you have time to maintain a garden, or do you need a low maintenance garden?
Do you want a vegetable garden, an area for the kids to play cricket do you have a dog?
Do you want outdoor entertaining areas that open onto the garden?
These things help determine the style of garden that will best suite your needs. And remember that needs change, so your garden can change as well.
From Ellerslie Flower Show 2007 Rata Landscapes
Traffic Flow.
Car access, pedestrian access, where do visitors park, where do you park?
Traffic flow can be controlled by planting, but make your house and garden accessible.
From Ellerslie Flower Show 2007 Palmco
So by now we have drawn a plan of the garden area on graph paper, marked in the structures, the trees and plants we wish to keep and drawn in neccessary traffic flow lines. Its time to start planning. 
Landscaping Needs
Water Features
Garden Structures
Outdoor entertaining
Fun and Games
Trees
Shrubs
Perennials
Bulbs
Vegetable Gardens
From Ellerslie Flower Show 2007 Rain Garden
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