Creating Your Colorado-friendly Garden: 4 – Mapping Use Areas (Creating a Bubble Map)

Over the past month you developed a ‘Needs & Dreams’ list that contains all the features and functions your family wants in your Colorado-friendly Garden.   You also defined water goals for your garden.  Now the creative part begins – you get to play around with different ways to fit the functional clusters into the space you’ve got.   One of the easiest ways is to create a Bubble Plan (also known as a Concept Plan or Bubble Map).

A bubble plan is simply a map with functional clusters roughly located by outlines (bubbles) of the areas they will occupy. You can draw your bubble plan(s) on copies of your Base Map 1b (see https://mothernaturesmontrosegarden.blogspot.com/2019/08/creating-your-colorado-friendly-garden.html).  You’ll need several copies as you’ll likely go through several iterations of your bubble plan.  Alternatively, take a sheet of tracing paper and overlay onto a copy of your Base Map.    

Draw bubble outlines in pencil to suggest where the different use areas might be placed.  Be sure to include all the functional clusters you defined last month.   Bubble size should correspond to the approximate size of each functional area.  For example, if you want a play area for children that is 20’ by 20’, draw your ‘play area bubble’ approximately 20’ x 20’.  

Sometimes it’s easier to see what we mean by working through an example. Below is the Base Map for an example small garden.  

Example Base Map - small garden

The homeowners have defined several functional clusters for their Private Areas:

·         Lawn

·         Shady Seating Area

·         Maintenance Area

·         Butterfly Garden

·         Quiet Area

·         Vegetable Garden

Below is their first attempt at drawing Bubble Map.

Example: first Bubble Map draft

At this point, step back from your bubble plan and look at it critically.  The outdoor areas should have a strong relationship with the areas and activities within your home. For example, outdoor cooking areas should be located adjacent to indoor kitchen or dining facilities. Service and storage areas should be located away from main use areas and views from the home – and provide easy access from backyard and front yard if that’s important. Patios and decks should directly tie into main circulation areas from the home.

Your bubble plan also needs to reflect the physical characteristics of the garden site (your site’s ‘assets’).  If you haven’t yet completed a site physical assessment, now’s the time to do so.  We walk you through the process in our September, 2019 postings (Planning Your Colorado-friendly Garden: Site Physical Assessment).  Below are the Physical Assessment Maps for the example site.

Physical Characteristics of the Site

When we compare the first bubble plan with the site’s light/shade patterns and other characteristics (see above) we note a few problems.  First, the Maintenance Area will be readily visible from the house and garden seating areas.  It might be better to move it to the area just south of the garage.  This area is less visible and provides access from both front and backyard.  We’ll have to build a smaller shed – and sell the old one on Craig’s list – but that’s a much better spot for the maintenance area.  

There are also some challenges for the Lawn Area. Note the slope on the South side of the site – a slope that will be difficult to use as a lawn.  If we move the Butterfly Garden Area to the sunny slope, it will provide flowers visible from lawn, patio and house.  Since butterflies – and their host plants - like sun, this is a better location than the shady east side.  If we move the Vegetable Garden to the sunny southwest corner, it will be pretty, functional and also attract butterflies.   You can already envision the lovely flowers and interesting foliage surrounding the seating areas.

The lawn can fill the space between the Shady Seating Area and the Butterfly/Vegetable Garden Areas.   As seen above, this area has a low spot and an area of poor drainage.  We’ll have to choose a lawn grass (or grass-like plants) that can handle these conditions.   Considering all of these insights, we create a revised bubble plan.

Example: second Bubble Map draft

The revised plan has much to recommend it.  The maintenance and vegetable garden areas are close to each other – and right out the kitchen door.  We’ve got areas of sunny and shady seating.  We’ve located our butterfly garden where the butterflies will come and we can watch them.  If we need more butterfly plants, we can also plant the showier ones in sunny areas in the front yard.

Revised Bubble Map better reflects the site's physical characteristics

As seen above, the views looking south will be lovely:  lawn, a flowery slope and attractive views in the distance.  We’ll also get good air circulation with the afternoon breezes.   We do have a visual eyesore (the side of the neighbor’s garage) to the east of the quiet/meditation area.  We’ll need to do something creative to turn that view into something attractive.   But we’ve managed to create an overall garden plan that reflects the family needs and the realities of the site.

In creating your own bubble map, there are likely a number of workable layouts that will accommodate your functional areas.  Some will make better use of space and the physical features of your site.  And some will simply appeal to you more than others.     We suggest trying several different schemes until the best layout becomes evident.   You’ll probably want to work on this over a few weeks, as new ideas may come to you as you work and see other garden ideas.    

Once you’re satisfied with your bubble diagram, take a copy of your Base Map 2 and create a final Use Areas Map.  File the map behind your Functional Analysis Worksheet for reference.  Don’t have a garden notebook yet?   It’s time to start a binder/notebook for your maps, plans, pictures and notes.    We will use these materials in the next sections of this series.

Now is a good time to look at gardening books and magazines for some inspiration.  You don’t need to spend a lot of money; your local public library likely has lots of resources.  Also visit botanic gardens, demonstration gardens and native plant gardens for good ideas.  Get out in nature to see how Mother Nature gardens. Take lots of pictures and notes.  You’re going to be glad you did this (fun) background work when we get to next month’s activities.

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We welcome your comments (below).  You can also send your questions to: monaturesmontrosegarden@gmail.com