Edible Landscape - Planning the Front Yard: Step 1 Site Assessment

You might be asking why would you take a site assessment of the whole place when you are only putting in a few raised beds to grow food ? I wanted to do the site assessment because I want to inspire others that they can grow their own food but still look aesthetically pleasing and beautiful. To do so as I learned in my landscape design class we need to take into consideration the whole area, not just the raised bed. To do so we need to do a site assessment.

A site assessment captures all the elements that will or could have an influence on the design. You want to capture all the big and small details. Below is a list of items to look for when performing a site assessment:

• Location: high fire area, rural, urban?
• Geology and Soil: test drainage, what is the soil composition?
• Water: How does water move through the property ? Where are the gutter downspouts located and where do they drain ?
• Topography: Slope analysis, contours
• Climate: regional climate, micro climate, what are the sunny spots, shady areas, how does the wind move, humidity, fog?
• Ecology: are there any existing plants and animal life?
• Man-made structures: existing structures, roads, utilities (electrical lines, telephone lines, gas, water, cables), septic systems?
• Other: neighbors, views, sounds, where the garden will be viewed from.

These are the items I used to do my site assessment and an image of what I captured.

• Tape measurement
• Pencil
• Notebook with white pages
• Tea (as a treat)