Draw a map of your garden

Activity

Mark any garden features on the map and where plants could be grown, either now or in the future.

  • Estimated time: 30 minutes
  • Location: Outdoors & Indoors
  • School term: All year round
  • Level of experience: No experience needed
  • Subject(s): Art&DT, Geography, Social Studies

Learning objectives

  • Learn mapping skills and draw to scale
  • Use measuring equipment outdoors
  • Discuss future design ideas for your garden 

Preparation

Practice drawing plan views - perhaps start with a bedroom.

Younger designers may benefit from the basic plan being created for them, make copies so that different garden ideas can be created.

Equipment

  • Board to lean on, pencils, rulers and tape measures
  • Graph or grid paper
  • Compass 
  • Old gardening seed catalogues

Step by step

  1. Decide on the area to be explored and record measurements (you could do this by first measuring your stride and then use this to calculate).
  2. Using a clip board and blank or grid paper, decide on a suitable scale and draw a birds eye view of your garden.
  3. Walk around and note all the different features such as sheds, paths, hedges, paved sections, sunny and shady areas.
  4. Mark these features on your plan, to scale if possibe.
  5. Draw any existing flower or vegetable beds, trees or large plants.
  6. Remember to make a key for your map.
  7. Work out where north and south is with a compass and draw this on your plan.

Hints & tips

  • Old seed catalogue pictures and gardening magazines, or websites will be useful to help with ideas.
  • Give your plan a theme; this could be using a favourite colour, you could plan soup beds or include items or areas in the garden which may be attractive to wildlife.
  • Use this activity as part of the Earth Matters, Grow Your own Lunch and Focus on Fruit  growing topics.