Most of the larger office supply stores - Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, etc. - have everything you need. It doesn't necessarily come as a kit, although sometimes they do have drafting kits available, which will have the bulk of what you require. But really all you need is graph or tracing paper, a good scale or ruler, pencils and a circle template. There are landscape design templates that offer some rudimentary plant shapes but they are limited in the scale they can accommodate and look....amateurish is the polite term.....when drawn. A circle template is much more flexible with respect to sizes and scale.

Depending on the relative scale of the drawing, a compass also isn't a bad idea to draw circles larger than the circle template allows.

My gardens are formal, so all the beds line are either part of a circle or straight lines. Would a French curve also be considered a generally useful object?

There's all manner of other tools one can add to the mix.....it just depends how intensely one wants to become involved in the process :-) Sure, you can add french curves, flexible curves, compasses, colored pencils or markers, drafting pens, T-squares or straight edges, triangles, architect's and engineer's scales, etc., or any other drafting tool you like. However, you can get by quite easily with the basics I've outlined above. And with the exception of the circle template, most are supplies one already has at home, especially if you have school age children.

Hmmmm.....seems I missed a tape measure in the first post. Some sort of measuring device is necessary to plot out the dimensions of the area being drawn up as a plan. It can be as simple as a tape measure (or even a string or rope of known length) or as elaborate as a laser scope.

For paper I suggest fade-out vellum with a 10 by 10 grid. The metric aspect of a 10x10 grid where the plan is in feet is easier for a beginner. It comes in cut sheets for small quantities rather than the expense of a roll. Just as little kids learning to write do better with paper having wide lines, so too will you find it easier to draw big on a large sheet. Get the 24 by 36 inch size. The grid is printed on one side. Put the grid side down and draw on the other. When you erase (and you will), the grid will not be lost.

Add a Triangular Scale to your kit and make it an engineering scale to match the type of grid paper used.

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Buy 3 triangles, two 30/90 degree triangles and one 45 degree triangle. Get a large size to match the size paper you will use.

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Round out your kit with:
# 6" protractor
# 6 3/4" french curve
# Soft pencil eraser
# Erasing shield (a thin piece of metal with various shaped holes so you can erase close to what you want to leave)
# Tape ( masking tape to hold down drawings)

Keep in mind that to learn to use these tools will take as long as learning to make simple drawings with the computer you already have and it won't be as easy to share your drawings over the net. Still, I do love a nicely hand drawn plan.

While all those things are nice to have and can streamline the drafting process, I still maintain one can get equally satisfactory results with just the basics I outlined.

Having taught both drafting and landscape design to homeowners, I have found that the simpler you keep the process, the easier the concept is grasped. Triangular scales seem to be particularly difficult for laymen to get the hang of and the engineer's scale even more so than the architectural scale. And if one uses graph paper, regardless of the scale of the graph, it is very simple to translate one square of the graph to a meaningful unit - 1 foot, two feet, 5 feet, etc. That way, one can get by with just a simple ruler.

But I do agree to go large :-) It is far easier to work with a big scale (therefore a large sheet of graph paper) than it is with a small one. And if you are doing a full garden plan, rather than individual sections of the garden, pretty much a requirement.

A big scale is where the compass comes from. There are circle templates for larger circles, but the small one I have only goes up to 2" in diameter. It's not hard if dealing at all with shrubs to get plants much, much larger than that (depending on the scale, of course). A compass is a much more flexible tool than buying vast numbers of circle templates.

I do like the templates for small circles, though. Making them with a compass was always a PITA.

There really is no "kit" for garden design unless the plants are some kind of cartoonish shapes pre-designed to represent things like lettuce and tomato plants.

Stay with the manual paper and pencil as above. Start with drawing the perimeter of your garden or area that you want to design. Then make a list of all the different plants you are considering for the design. Next, draw a column of circles to scale to match the mature dimaters of each different plant you will use and just label each A, B, C, etc. to correspond to each plant name. I used to do it like this: AS = Asparagus sprengeri, or JM = japanese maple, etc.

Its more important to draw everything to scale than to make the plant symbol look like the plant. Rely on the picture of the plant to visulize its shape, size, form etc in your mind's eye as you are using the circular symbols.

When I was first starting out as a landscape designer in the year 1979 BC (before computers), I had a set of rubber stamps that were plants. they were different sizes, small, medium, large etc. for each different symbol. I used the different sizes to represent different plant species. large stampe for the larger trees so it would be like a 3" dimeter symbol, while the smaller shrubs like Daylilies would be reprented using a 1/2" dimeter symbol. the scale I used was 1/4" = 1 foot, so a 1/2" symbol would represent 2 feet wide, which worked out well for plants like Daylily and other plants that stay to that diameter when mature.

This allows you to quickly lay out a lot of plants and space them according to how they grow and not make the mistake 95% of most novices make is planting things too close together.

The only problem with rubber stamps is you cannot erase them as you use an ink pad. so what I did was to draw the design in pencil first, then stamp over the top of it for the final plan that I would show my client, hopefully without smudging the paper...

I agree with gardengal. There are so many other things to complicate the process, so why complicate the drafting?

Small changes in materials can make a huge difference in the resulting design, I find. Markers vs. pencils is one example - you can't erase with markers, whereas with pencils, you can layer, smudge, erase, etc. etc.

Similarly, having templates for individual features can also lead to fixation on those individual features themselves, and not the effect they have on the overall design.

Depending on how much you're going to tackle, I prefer to start off small (smaller scale, not scope), contrary to Gardengal's suggestion. I find it inherently forces me to look at everything as a whole, rather than giving me the opportunity to get to focused on small disparate details. Once satisfied with an overall composition or layout, moving onto a larger sheet of paper lets you work towards that original concept through the details.

- Audric

Many thanks to all of you who responded but you've already lost me here..never could figure out graph paper.

First - what is the goal of drafting a plan in this case?
"Where would I find a kit for drawing up my own garden plan on paper?

This is someone wanting to plan her own garden. That means that the purpose is to communicate to herself. Complicating the communication project serves no purpose because the drafter is also the audience. In order to benefit from adding color to the plan, the drafter would need to understand the color in order to draft it. If the drafter is the intended target of the draft, it would serve no purpose to show what she already understands. If it is to communicate with others, it is a whole different story.

The useful purpose for someone to draft a plan for herself is to see what fits, how it can be arranged while still fitting, and to experiment with layout.

Graph paper is simply paper with a built in ruler and square which allows you to draft to scale using straight lines, right angles, and counting squares rather than grabbing the ruler for every measuremet. Quite honestly, if you can't figure out graph paper, you are not going to be drawing scaled plans successfully any other way. I don't mean to be rude, but there is no kit that will simplify drawing a scaled plan any easier than a sheet of graph paper.

If you are just doing this for yourself to play around with options, do you have a copy of the property survey? That is to scale - obviously! And the scale is usually given, or easy to figure out, which can help you estimate the size of things you scribble on it...I find the survey an easy starting place to experiment with ideas. You can use features of the house or other elements shown on the survey as reference points to play with things like bed and path layout. You can guesstimate for things like tree mature sizes by comparing them to things of known size on the survey. Once you've got a rough outline that is to your liking, you can then make something more accurate on graph paper if you like - or just measure it out and mark it on the ground and correct it there if need be. (I use brightly colored string tied to landscape fabric pins to outline proposed beds - or whatever - on the ground. The string is easy to see and the pins make it easy to move the lines/adjust the shape as need be.) I have done the plan to scale for the yard as well as the scribble-on-the-survey approach and, on the whole, the additional effort involved to do the graphed plan wasn't worth it from a practical point of view for me. As laag says, for yourself all you need is what works for you, regardless of whether it is pretty or professional looking!

Boy, for such a simple request, this has become a complicated thread!

First, I don't recommend going the survey route. Not too many homeowners have property surveys that exceed those included in their closing documents and those tend to be tiny and presented in an engineer's scale - 1:20 is common or 1:50 if a large property. I just completed a design for a brand new construction property with a professional survey and as the property is in excess of 5 acres, was at a 1:100 scale -- virtually impossible to work with, except for determining property lines. And if you are uncomfortable with graph paper, then you will be totally mystified by an engineer's scale.

And I don't want to be rude or abrupt either but if graph paper is difficult to work with or too complicated to understand, then I agree with Laag that this is a project that might just be beyond your scope. You can certainly draw up rough, not-to-scale sketches but for someone who is not familiar with the drafted, scaled plan process, this is unlikely to produce very successful results either. I know several designers, both professional and amateur, that can work wonders from rough sketches or layouts but without fail, they all seem to have an innate sense of scale and if one were to draw up their sketches to scale, they would turn out quite precise.

A couple of things are essential: a couple of good drawing pencils-probably an HB and a 2H to start (they will make nice lines without tearing the paper and are easy to erase), a decent hand held pencil sharpener with two functions (sharpener and pointer) much cheaper than electric and don't eat up your expensive pencils as many times all you need to do is re-point, a ruler (get an accurate metal one with a cork back if you can afford one and plan to do a lot of this), paper ( 12"X 18" graph four squares to the inch. Every square is one quarter of an inch so you can scale your drawings by calling each square a quarter of a foot=3" or a half a foot=6" or even 1" where twelve little squares would equal one foot.), a really good erasure ( I have a Magic Rub 1954 that I love, it's really soft and cleans the paper well, I also use a Factis extra soft, a Staedtler Mars plastic combi, and an art gum. Probably an extra soft and an art gum are a good place to start.), a compass, and probably a circle template for those small circles ( you can make circles look like different plants by creating a key where say an x in the center is a geranium and lots of lines radiating out from the center is pine tree, etc. etc.), an old fingernail file-preferably fine ( this will help you point the leads on your compass as well as soften the points on your pencils as you want them sharp but not so sharp they tear the paper or leave an indentation, making it hard to erase.), a really handy, cheap tool, if you can still get them, is a combination protractor/french curve/triangle/30, 60, 90, 45 angle/circle template/ruler ( they're 6"long, about 4" high and made out of plastic.), and lastly the most important, in my opinion, a sketch book ( you will learn to use this to sketch interesting garden designs and accents when you visit, jot down notes and plant lists, carry it in your car at all times, do prospective drawings of your designs to see if the heights, colors, placement of your flat work meet your initial expectations. I would also suggest a reasonable set of colored pencils. All that said, I find my flexible curve irreplaceable, but I use it daily and they are expensive. Berol make a pretty extensive line of RapiDesign templates that are reasonable but not essential. Angle templates are handy but you don't need them if you have a protractor and a ruler. Erasure templates can be nice but you don't need them either. Sketch book, pencils, erasures are going to be your handiest tools. Learn to sketch, learn a sense of proportions, learn to make fluid lines and curves without the use of aides. With Christmas coming on ask your husband/boyfriend/kids for some of the items. None of them are terribly expensive each and they make great stocking stuffers. When you transfer your ideas outdoors a garden hose makes great adjustable curves, a piece of string and a couple of branches for stakes for straight lines. Lastly, when I design many times I prefer 1/2"=1' scale as the larger scale lets me see relationships better (this would be two little squares on the graph paper equals 1 foot in real life.).

.... note to self:

Buy Staples stocks in the morning.

I think this may have been a really useful thread for many other readers but not for the person who actually posted the question. Certainly, if anyone is looking to design and market such a kit, this information would be gold!

Pippi (love that name!), it may be that you are looking for some direction on how to draw up a plan, which you assume a kit will give you, or just some help drawing, which not all of us can do at all. It may also be that you are looking for a tool for flower bed design, not for garden design.

Neither is really complicated enough to require a kit, but a template would make it easier to be tidy. I'm not! I draw up my plans (which are just for myself, as all I design is my own stuff) on mostly scrap pieces of paper using whatever writing implement is closest at hand. I don't always measure, but I try to get proportions right; for example, I know the back yard is about three times as long as it is wide, and I know the sidewalk in the front yard is in the middle, not off to one side. My lines are even rarely straight! But I get my own general ideas visualized, and am able to identify potential problem spots. If I do want to draw in plants, I just sketch the outline. If I wanted to plan flower beds with colour (which I never do, as I care more about form and foliage than about flower colour), I would just use some pencil crayons or coloured felt pens.

Good luck with getting those stockings stuffed, Laag!

KarinL

There are still stamp kits available out there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stamp kits

As I said, a couple good pencils, an erasure, and a sketch pad are really all that's Important. I don't think any of us, except for the gifted few like F. L. Wright, are inherently good drawers. It is something you learn through doing. You learn through practice a sense of scale and proportion, thats what erasures are for. I do find a good erasure is much less frustrating than one that smudges your drawing, by the way. And I assume most women have a nail file they are about to discard, this is how I got my lead pointer.

If you're not computer savy or graph paper handy, then the do as Woody as suggested and actually go out to the garden location and put in a mock installation. Have a hose for the garden outline and various space filling props to simulate the plants... trash cans, 8 gallon storage bins etc. This will allow for an on the spot determination of the layout and groundproofed at the same time. Not very practical for a very large garden layout, but it will show relative sizes and proportions.

I think I would disagree with gardengal on the usefulness of the common property survey, and most homeowners will have one if they care to dig it out. It is true that they are often at a scale too small to be used directly as a base map. But a little math magic and you can carry the info on the survey to a sheet size and grid you like.

As a website that sometimes helps beginners out, I wonder if members here would be interested to walk a beginner through the design process using paper. It would require a pupil with the ability to make photos of both site and the drawing as it progressed.

Is it possible that pippi is only talking about a flower bed and wants to know how best to arrange some plants in it?

One would think so, Ink.

She asked for a kit. She got a classroom full of all of us (myself included) trying to guess the best way for HER to draw a plan.

..... and one link to a kit.

There are comments about just about every post except the one that actually has a link to a kit. It kind of makes it easy to understand why this forum has such a reputation.

Perhaps "The Kit" was an unintentional red herring Andrew. So let's assume that the OP wants to plan a single flower bed and let's assume that she has enough knowledge of the beds aspect her zone and the soil to know what will grow there. She also knows the eventual size of what is to be planted. The plan is therefore an aid to placement within the bed. I suggest some kind of pictorial reference like a seed catalogue a magazine or a book to help with the visualization. Then take a sheet of paper and draw straight lines horizontally to represent one pace (approx. 1 yard) and then the same with vertical lines. The page shows a series of squares each one equal to a square yard in reality, draw a rough outline of the bed shape that you have paced out on the ground. You can photocopy this page in case you make revisions. Now with the size of plant known and its habit known and a visual reference at hand write the name of the plants in the squares, you could also cut the pictures from a magazine to place in the squares instead and shuffle them around at will. This will give you a basic plan and laying it out you will discover that it will look much better if the plants are not lined up exactly in the squares and a year later you will want to move some things but at least you have made a start.

To our questioner, pippi21. Which answer above did you find most helpful? This type of question appears here on the Design Forum from time to time and many wrestle with trying to put the plan drawing process into words.

You have hit on another pattern Ann "tell me the answer to my question in short or I am outta here". This is where we went wrong, Andrews answer from Sunday with a link to the kit is all that was needed.

I'm sorry Ink, but I think that is an overly simplistic response. The stamp kit ain't gonna do you - or the OP - one bit of good unless you have an outline drawn on paper, at an accommodating scale, to stamp it on. Even the website offers that codicil: The tree stamps and landscape design kits are designed for use by those active in the landscape design field and are not intended for consumer use as basic knowledge of landscaping, design, plants and drafting techniques are needed. Otherwise, all one has is a craft item suitable for decorating cards or gifts. And that is not "drawing up garden plans"!

And I think the reason this forum has a 'reputation' is because many posters, through no fault of their own, have no idea how to phrase their requests to get the answers they are looking for. And the rest of us break our legs scrambling around to provide the answers WE think they want or need and they become overwhelmed with info......some helpful, most probably not.

I like nandina's approach......of the 20+ responses pippi received, I'd be interested to know which, if any, she found helpful.

Honestly, the initial response (yours, gardengal) was the right response. After that,it was just as you said - "the rest of us break our legs scrambling around to provide the answers".

The OP is most likely like a lot of people out there - looking for something to make it easier. I don't fault anyone for that. The problem is that there are so many variables - all of which require user input. That is why after 15 years of the software revolution and the internet, there is still no computer program that can do more than help you draw or helps you sort through a database of plants. Still, all of the programs still need user input all the way along.

.... they still need us.

karinl had it right when she said:

"I think this may have been a really useful thread for many other readers but not for the person who actually posted the question."

For myself, I never considered the original request. There wasn’t enough information given to allow us to provide any direct help to the poster. Besides, I’m not sure the question deserved an answer. I’ll explain.

Pippi said:
“Where would I find a kit for drawing up my own garden plan on paper? My friend who is now deceased sent away somewhere for a kit. It was similar to a template that allowed you to draw in flowers, bulbs, shrubs, trees. I am not computer savy so don't recommend computer software.”

I did a google search on “ drawing supplies kit paper”. I selected the first regular link and then from the menu on the left I selected “Drafting Kits” + sub menu “Drafting Kits Without Boards”. I got four kits similar to what was discussed here, ranging in price from $30 to $45.

http://www.draftingsteals.com/catalog-drawing-kits-drafting-equipment-sets-with-vinyl-portfolio.html

Next, from the left menu I selected “Drafting Templates” sub menu “Architectural Templates for Drafting”. I scrolled down the page and picked “Landscape Templates for Design”.

http://www.draftingsteals.com/catalog-templates-architectural-landscape.html

If the answer was so easy, did we really need to break a leg making a response?

But the subject title was “drawing up garden plans”, and there might be any number of people seeking information on the subject. IMO the discussion was appropriate when directed at those clicking on the thread.

I suppose I may be a part of the reason this forum has a “reputation”, but I don’t run an expert search service. I mostly confine my help to those who stay around and are willing to participate in self-help. Everyone was a beginner at the start and I have no problem with those having zero knowledge if they have a desire to learn. It’s the hit and run folks I have no time for.

Pippi- I think I know what you're talking about...before Eagle Hardware became Lowe's they used to sell these "kits" but I don't know if they're still available. I still have the one for the home design. It's called the Stanley Project Planner Home Designer!

I believe they had one for home plans and one for garden/landscape plans. They have little pieces of plastic that you could peel off and place on the grid paper included and everything was to scale. They're actually very handy, although after several attempts, they don't quite stick as well as they once did.

The home designer has all kinds of furniture plus you can create walls, windows, doors, etc. with the different plastic pieces...all precisely measured. I believe the garden designer had different sized plants, fences, etc. Very cool. Hope that helps :)