At first glance, landscape design when building one's own house is considered something secondary: "My wife will decide later what to plant where". But landscape means not only rockeries and ponds with little bridges. Where is it best to place a gazebo, a bathhouse or a guest house on the plot (and accordingly how best to bring electrical networks, water supply and sewerage to them)? How to arrange lighting on the plot? Which plants are best to plant (taking into account the illumination of different zones of the plot, soil characteristics, the owners' preferences and the compatibility of the plants themselves)? And in general — how much will site landscaping cost? All these questions will be answered by the landscape design project by Anna Blokhina.
The sequence of work in developing a landscape project:
1. Pre-project preparation of materials.
1.1. Topographic survey (scale 1:200) with tree inventory.
Provided by the Customer. If unavailable, the survey can be ordered from us.
A geodetic (topographic) survey is the plotting on a plan of all buildings and trees; it determines the exact boundaries of the plot. It must necessarily include a survey of underground utilities.
Contour lines (relief) are plotted on the plan. It is best to use contour sectioning at 0.25 m intervals. Tree inventory consists in plotting woody vegetation on the plan, as well as compiling a statement indicating the tree species, height, diameter and other indicators. This is necessary to identify especially valuable trees that must not be damaged, and diseased trees that are to be felled or subjected to sanitary measures (treatment).
1.2. Plan of the house and other buildings.
Elevation marks of the building aprons and of the garage floor level. Room schedule.
Developed by our architects.
The house plan is necessary for developing the engineering utilities plan (lighting, irrigation, storm sewerage, etc.).
The apron elevation marks are needed to tie in the elevations of paths and platforms and to calculate the slope of the storm sewerage (catch basins and channels).
The room schedule is necessary for working out interesting compositional solutions opposite the windows.
1.3. Hydrogeological surveys.
Provided by the Customer.
Necessary for developing the drainage network design (in case groundwater needs to be lowered).
2. Design concept stage.
2.1. Two design concept variants of site landscaping and planting at a scale of 1:200 (1 cm = 2 m).
Main tasks:
Creating an optimal concept for the placement on the plot of all buildings and small forms.
Routing of paths
Creating open and enclosed spaces with the help of plantings and small forms.
Searching for a stylistic solution (landscape garden or formal).
2.2. Preliminary selection of the range of woody plants.
The positions of key trees are determined on the plan according to the Customer's preferences.
2.3. Drawing of the most interesting compositional nodes.
For a visual representation of the information set out on the plan, the landscape architect develops several drawings of the most interesting compositional nodes. They are necessary as explanations to the planar image of the landscape. Sometimes every interesting design solution needs to be commented with illustrations. The drawings are needed not only by the Customer but also by the craftsmen who will bring the idea to life.
3. Working drawings stage.
3.1. Site master plan of landscaping and planting.
The master plan is developed on the basis of one of the two preliminary design concepts. It serves as the basis for all subsequent drawings. Therefore all changes to the master plan should preferably be completed before the development of all subsequent documentation begins.
The master plan is worked out taking into account the existing utilities: it is necessary to observe SNiP requirements when planting trees (distance from tree trunks to utilities, building walls, fences and paths). All elements are designed with regard to ergonomics and material costs.
3.2. Planting plan and schedule of the designed range of plants.
Detailed development of the future range of plants taking into account the insolation regime, planting spacing and cultivation requirements. And, of course, first place goes to the Customer's aesthetic preferences and the correspondence of plant species to the given style.
3.3. Layout drawing.
Necessary for setting out the path-and-walk network and other landscape elements in the field. Point referencing is usually done from the fence or from the building.
3.4. Planting drawing.
Serves for marking the planting positions (planting pits).
3.5. Lighting network plan (if necessary).
Arrangement of luminaires on the plan according to illumination requirements and the design concept. Their referencing on the plan. Cable routing. Division into lighting circuits.
3.6. Storm sewerage plan (if necessary).
Designing the scheme for draining storm water from the roofs of buildings, platforms and paths. Usually this is a system of catch basins, channels, pipes and a collecting collector (roadside ditch or pipe).
3.7. Drainage network design (if necessary).
Where the groundwater table is high, deeply laid drainage is performed in order to lower the groundwater level.
Where groundwater lies at a shallow depth in clay and loam soils, a drainage network is laid in order to create an optimal water and oxygen balance for the lawn roots. This is especially necessary during the period of excessive autumn and spring moisture.
3.8. Irrigation network plan using surface-mounted or underground sprinklers (if necessary).
A network of hydrants (water outlets) is designed, to which a hose or a surface-mounted sprinkler can be connected. Usually, due to the lack of optimal pressure in the pipeline, running several sprinklers at once turns out to be impossible.
Automatic irrigation plan. Sprinklers are mounted below ground level. Pressure is created by means of a pump. The irrigation duration and its frequency are programmed. The only drawback is that a water storage tank must be installed on the plot.
3.9. Development of mixed borders.
Composing a mixed border of perennial plants whose flowering continues throughout the spring-to-autumn period. The selection takes into account the harmonious combination of colours and leaf textures, the tiered arrangement of plants by height, as well as cultivation requirements (spacing between plants, attitude to illumination, soil texture, soil acidity, etc.)
3.10. Development of the structure and decorative design of cascades, water bodies, retaining walls and rockeries (if necessary).
Recommendations for decorative design and structural execution.
3.11. Vertical planning.
The master plan is drawn in red design contour lines. Slopes are formed so as to create a proper surface runoff of water away from the buildings. The ground planning must be calculated so as to optimize the balance of cut and fill. Longitudinal and transverse slopes of paths and platforms are derived. The heights of retaining walls are calculated.
3.12. Sections of the plot.
Necessary for a visual representation of complex multi-level solutions. Can serve as a guide for implementation.
3.13. Plot balance (lawn area, paths, flower beds, etc.).
The basis for compiling the estimate.
3.14. Earthworks diagram.
Calculation of the volumes of excavation and fill.
