Base plans are the very foundation for a landscape design and thanks to apple pencils and google earth they have become sooooo easy!
I use a drawing/art app called Procreate (not at all sponsored I just LOVE it). It is a one time purchase app and I just really appreciate not having to pay a yearly fee. I prefer this to a drafting/autocad program because I still get to add the artistic elements of a hand drawn design.
You dont need this program, any art program where you can work in layers is just fine.
First, begin with a grid paper background and decide your scale. Mine is usually a 1square=2ft. Then drop in an aerial image in a new layer so you can delete it later. You aerial image can be from building plans, a plot map, or from google earth!
Next, find a known measurement. I like to measure a walkway or other hardscape structure. Once I have this measurement I create little marks so I can enlarge or shrink the dropped in aerial image until its the proper size. Because the image enlarges uniformly, the entire image will be to scale.
Then I simply create a new layer labeled “Base Plan” and begin drawing over all the elements I’m going to keep. Like walkways, the house, garages and things like that.
Finally, I delete the aerial image and I’m left with a to-scale base plan ready for my design work.
And if you have any questions just let me know in the comments!
We are planning to do a big landscaping project this next month and I am curious about your thoughts on a dumpster rental. We are debating if we need one or not. We have quite a bit of debris but could take a few trips in our truck. What has been your experience?