Allotments 4 All

Does anybody know of a good FREE (hehe) garden design programme?  I'm going to call someone in to completely re-do my back garden and I'd like to show them some sort of plan beforehand.  I've already seen the one on the bbc garden section which I don't think is much cop.  I don't really want to buy one because I know I won't use it more than one time. 

Thank you :)

Edit:  Oops, I think I should have put this into Basics but it won't let me delete it  :-[ ;D

Even the expensive ones aren't much good, IMO.

If you have Microsoft Visio installed on your computer, there's a landscaping template that I often use to plan layouts at the lottie.  It's pretty simple stuff, but very good for scale planning.

Done in Visio



Silly expensive though, unless you 'happen' to have it from work.

Thank you both.  I shall have a little play about  :)

Whats wrong with pencil and paper?  its nice and cheap !

Measure you garden, draw it out on a bit of A2, then buy a roll of greaseproof paper (10metres) from the cling film and tin foil counter for about a squid.

Put the greaseproof over the outline drawing and scribble away. If your not happy with your design, screw the greaseproof  up and start again.

That's what I did for my allotment plan. I got a roll of plain drawing paper and painstakingly drew out squares. I wanted to see what I was doing properly so I scaled it 1" to 1ft...

...I now have something the size of Hilda Ogden's 'Muriel'.

All I need now are the flying ducks.

;D

Quote from: Baaaaaaaa on April 13, 2008, 01:37:59
Whats wrong with pencil and paper?  its nice and cheap !

Measure you garden, draw it out on a bit of A2, then buy a roll of greaseproof paper (10metres) from the cling film and tin foil counter for about a squid.

Put the greaseproof over the outline drawing and scribble away. If your not happy with your design, screw the greaseproof  up and start again.

When you're stuck at work trying to waste a bit of time planning your allotment rather than working. Trust me, 10 metres of greaseproof, an A2 sheet and a big drawing that looks a bit like a garden plan draws a bit too much attention to the fact that you aint working!

Plus, an electronic soft copy is much easier to amend than screw up and start again. At the end of the day, whatever works for you. I personally find the electronic way of doing things much easier and quicker in the long run.

Quote from: Amazin on April 15, 2008, 22:28:56
That's what I did for my allotment plan. I got a roll of plain drawing paper and painstakingly drew out squares. I wanted to see what I was doing properly so I scaled it 1" to 1ft...

If you cunning, you put some graph paper, or home drawn squares on a board first, then some greaseproof with your outline plan on top, and finally on top of that more greaseproof for you draw your plan on.

You should be still able to see the squared paper (or triangles and diamonds if you prefer) through 2 layers of greaseproof.

For a standard 10 pole plot, ie about 10*30 yards;
On A2 I'd use 1:20,
A3/A4             1:50,
A5 (ie back of envelope) 1:75

If you want to this at work, keep it in the car and take up 'smoking for nonsmokers' - just until your design is finished. Or do an A5 size and tell people you have toilet problems.