Landscape Planting Brief Preparation Checklist

Write down the job each planted area has to do, whether that is screening a view, softening a wall, holding a bank together or filling ground you no longer want to mow.

A professional can answer the same job in several very different ways, but only once the job has been stated rather than assumed.

Note which views you want hidden and which you want kept, judged from the window or seat where the view actually matters rather than from the middle of the lawn.

Screening is directional, and the position it is judged from decides how tall and how dense the planting has to be.

Consider whether any planting is expected to take the edge off wind across a seating area, and record which direction the wind arrives from as you have felt it.

Shelter planting is a different proposition from ornamental planting, and it needs to be raised as an aim rather than hoped for.

Whether planting can shelter an exposed spot, and what it would have to withstand, is a matter for a qualified professional who has seen the site.

Record whether any bank or slope is currently held together by what grows on it, so its role is understood before the existing planting is cleared.

Vegetation on a slope is often doing structural work that only becomes visible once it has been stripped away.

Anything that appears to be holding soil in place should be looked at by a qualified professional before planting is cleared or replaced.

Write down whether planting is expected to keep people or pets away from an edge, a pond or a boundary, and say so plainly in the brief.

Planting used as a barrier has to be chosen for that purpose, and it behaves quite differently from planting chosen for appearance.

Note where scent would actually be noticed, such as beside a door, along a path or next to a seat, rather than describing scent as a general wish.

Scent only registers close to where people pause, so its position matters far more than the quantity of scented planting.

Walk the plot and mark which beds sit in shade for most of the usable part of the day and which stay in open sun, rather than relying on how it feels in memory.

Recollection of light is unreliable, and shade is the single condition that rules the most species in or out.

Note where puddles linger after heavy rain and how quickly they clear, described plainly, such as still wet the following morning.

Ground that stays saturated rules out a great many plants, and it is the sort of observation a single site visit will never capture.

Record where the ground dries out fastest, such as against a sunny wall, under a large tree or beside paving, and mark those spots on your sketch.

Dry positions are usually blamed on the plants rather than the position, and marking them early avoids repeated failures.

Dig a small hole in one or two beds and write down what you find: how easily the spade goes in, what colour the soil is, and whether it feels gritty, sticky or crumbly.

A plain description of the ground beats a guess at soil type, and it gives a professional something concrete to test against.

Soil testing, contamination and ground conditions are matters for a qualified professional; a hand-dug hole is an observation, not an assessment.

Note which parts of the garden take salt, road spray, prevailing wind or frost that lingers, based on what you have watched happen to earlier planting.

Local exposure explains most of the difference between two beds that look identical on a plan.

List anything that has failed repeatedly in one particular spot, and note exactly where it was, since a pattern of failure usually says something about that position.

A history of losses in one place is genuine site evidence, and it often points at something underground nobody has looked at.

Write down which parts of the year the garden is mainly looked at from indoors, and which windows it is seen from at those times.

A bed seen only through glass in poor weather needs different treatment from one walked past in high summer.

Note when the garden is used most heavily outdoors, such as during school holidays or one particular season, so interest can be aimed at that part of the year.

Planting interest can be concentrated or spread, and knowing which the household wants prevents a scheme that peaks unhelpfully.

Consider how much bare ground you are willing to look at once herbaceous planting has died back, and say so before any scheme is proposed.

Tolerance for bare soil varies enormously between households, and it changes the balance between permanent and seasonal planting.

Record whether evergreen structure matters to you, particularly for the view from the room you occupy most when the weather is poor.

Evergreen content is easy to add at the design stage and awkward to retrofit into a scheme that has already been planted.

Decide and record whether autumn seed heads and dry stems are something you value or something you would want cleared away as soon as they appear.

This single preference changes both the planting proposed and the tidying regime it needs, and it divides households more often than expected.

Note any regular occasion when the garden has to look its most presentable, and write down where people actually stand or sit on that occasion.

Aiming a scheme at a known moment is straightforward, but only if the moment and the viewpoint have been written down.

Walk the boundary and note where a mature shrub would reach across a path, a washing line or into a neighbour's side of the fence.

Growth crossing a line is the most common cause of friction after a planting scheme matures, and it is straightforward to design around.

Growth reaching over a boundary is a matter to raise with your neighbour, and where ownership is unclear, with a suitably qualified adviser.

Write down the height above which planting would block a window, a view you value or light into a room, describing it by what it would obscure rather than by measurement.

Describing a limit by what it hides is more reliable than an owner guess at a figure, and a professional can work from it directly.

Note where planting would be walked past every day, since anything that flops, arches or carries thorns becomes a nuisance in those positions.

Path-edge planting is judged by contact rather than appearance, and the wrong choice there is resented long after the project ends.

Consider which beds you would accept clipping to keep in bounds, and which must be able to reach their natural size without regular intervention.

A scheme that depends on clipping requires a household willing to do it, and that willingness is worth stating rather than assuming.

Record where planting would sit close to a wall, a drain run, a paved area or a boundary structure, and raise it as a question rather than assuming it is fine.

Position relative to built elements is a design constraint that owners rarely think to mention until something lifts or cracks.

Planting near structures, drain runs and boundaries should be discussed with a qualified professional before positions are fixed.

Note whether you want the planting to feel established quickly or to be allowed to grow in gradually, because that choice affects plant sizes and spacing.

The two approaches produce different schedules and different early appearances, and the expectation is worth setting before ordering.

List who spends time in the garden unsupervised, including young children, pets and visiting animals, and note which beds they can reach.

Who can reach a bed matters more than what is in it, and this is exactly the information a professional needs before choosing anything.

Whether a particular plant poses a hazard to children, pets or livestock is a question for a qualified horticultural professional and, on health matters, a medical or veterinary professional.

Write down any allergy, asthma or skin sensitivity in the household and raise it before planting is chosen rather than after it has gone in.

Sensitivities are easy to design around at the schedule stage and disruptive to accommodate once beds have been planted.

Health effects of planting sit outside any preparation checklist and should be raised with a medical professional.

Note where thorns, sap or spines would sit at face or hand height along a route the household uses daily.

A plant that is admired in a border can be intolerable at the edge of a narrow path, and the difference is purely positional.

Record whether anything edible is wanted, and where it would sit in relation to a path, a bin store or a boundary shared with a road.

Position matters for edible planting, and stating it early stops it being pushed into the least suitable corner at the end.

Consider whether pets dig, run a fixed route or lie in particular beds, and mark those patterns on your sketch before any layout is proposed.

Animals continue their habits after replanting, so designing around an existing route is more reliable than trying to change it.

Note whether ball games happen on the lawn, since planting at the edge of a play area has to survive being trampled rather than merely admired.

Border planting beside a play area is a durability question, and it is usually raised only after the first season of damage.

Write down where the nearest outside tap is and how far a hose would have to reach to serve the furthest new bed.

Distance from water is a strong predictor of which parts of a garden establish and which quietly fail.

Consider who would water new planting during a dry spell, and whether that person tends to be away at exactly the point it would matter.

Establishment failures usually trace back to an absence rather than a choice, and the gap is easy to plan around once admitted.

Note whether anyone can water while the household is away, and record that limitation in the brief rather than hoping the situation will not arise.

A written limitation shapes the scheme proposed, whereas an unspoken one simply produces losses nobody planned for.

Ask what watering the planting will need while it establishes, and record the answer in writing rather than trusting anyone to remember it.

Establishment needs are specific to species, soil and season, and a written answer is the only version that survives the project.

Irrigation systems and any new outdoor water connection should be designed by a qualified professional and local requirements confirmed.

Record whether mulch is wanted, where it would be delivered and how it would reach the beds given the access you have.

Bulk materials are ordered easily and moved with difficulty, and the route into the garden decides how practical they are.

Write down whether any planting is going into ground that has been compacted by machinery or by materials stored there during earlier work.

Compaction is invisible from the surface and is one of the most common reasons new planting sulks in an otherwise good position.

Ground compaction, and whether it needs remedial work before planting, is a judgement for a qualified professional.

Decide and record how much mown grass the household genuinely wants, and where a mower would have to travel to reach each separate piece of it.

Lawn shape decides mowing effort more than lawn area does, and awkward fragments are the parts that get resented.

Note any part of the lawn that is worn, waterlogged or in deep shade, since those areas rarely respond to reseeding on its own.

Persistent lawn failure is usually a symptom of something else, and treating it as a grass problem repeats the same disappointment.

Persistent waterlogging is a drainage question for a qualified professional rather than a lawn problem for the owner to solve.

Consider whether a looser meadow-style area appeals, and be honest about whether it looking untidy at certain points in the year would bother you.

Meadow areas look neglected during part of the year, and households that have not accepted this in advance tend to mow them off.

Write down whether gravel, bark or another loose material is wanted between plants, and note where it would meet a lawn edge or a path.

Loose materials migrate at every edge, and the junctions decide how much sweeping the arrangement generates.

Record where children or pets need durable ground rather than planting, and mark that area rather than leaving it to be worked out later.

Areas of genuine wear are identified most reliably by the household, since a professional will otherwise plant them optimistically.

Note who cuts the grass now and whether the equipment they use can actually reach and turn within the shape being proposed.

A shape that suits a plan may not suit the machine that has to maintain it, and this is easily tested before anything is laid out.

Ask how substitutions are handled if a plant on the schedule cannot be obtained, and agree in writing that you are told before any change is made.

Substitution is routine, but an unannounced one undermines trust and can quietly change the character of a whole bed.

Write down which plants matter to you personally, so a substitution in those positions is treated differently from one in a mass planting.

Not every position carries equal weight, and saying which ones do lets a professional protect them when supply is difficult.

Ask what size the planting will be when it arrives, and record how that was described so expectations match what actually turns up.

Delivered plants are commonly smaller than the picture in the owner's mind, and disappointment at delivery is avoidable.

Note whether plants would be held on site before going into the ground, and ask who is responsible for keeping them alive while they wait.

Stock waiting on a hard surface in wind or sun deteriorates quickly, and responsibility for it is rarely stated unless asked.

Storage and handling of plant stock on site is the responsibility of a qualified professional; agree who holds it before delivery is arranged.

Record whether you want to see the planting schedule before anything is ordered, and agree at what point in the process that would happen.

A schedule reviewed before ordering is a conversation; the same schedule reviewed afterwards is only an explanation.

Ask whether anything proposed needs a particular provenance or growing condition that could limit where it can be obtained.

Supply constraints affect what can realistically be planted, and knowing them early keeps the scheme achievable.