Checklist
Yard plan checklist
This is for anyone about to change a yard, whether that is one bed or the whole space. It works in the order that avoids the most expensive mistakes: how you use the yard, what the site is like, then layout, plants, materials and phasing. Allow a weekend to walk the yard and make notes.
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Why this order
Planning goes wrong most often when people start with plants or products. If you decide how the yard will be used first, the choices that follow have a reason. Site notes come next, because sun, drainage and soil limit what will work, and they are cheap to check now and expensive to fix later. Rules and utilities come before layout since they can rule out a location entirely. Phasing at the end lets you spread cost and learn from the first stage before committing to the second.
Using the list
You do not have to finish every item in a day. Tick items as you go and come back later, because the ticks are kept in your browser. Print it if you prefer paper on a clipboard. Skip anything that does not apply, such as zone work in a very small yard, and add your own notes in the margin.
Where this comes from
The steps follow the planning order used in landscape design guidance from US university extension services and the hardiness zone approach of the US Department of Agriculture. Utility locating before digging is standard safety advice from the national call-before-you-dig service. This is general information, not professional design advice.