Landscaping

[bgrant]

I was doodling around with a new design and thought I'd try my hand at landscaping (which I've never done either using Deluxe or Pro) and I tried to simulate a raised mulched mound on either side of the porch.

The only thing I could think to use was a quarter dome out of the geometric shapes library, but I didn't quite get the look I was going for. I tried going into terrain but the prompt for the kidney shape was greyed out. I don't know how to draw polylines and all that other technical stuff I read about on these threads which I don't even know would or could work in Pro.

Waiting to hear some great ideas!

[dr0591]

That's a fine-looking house, Bernadette.

I'm afraid I can't offer much help with landscaping. I've only made one attempt at landscaping and I did mess around with the polylines a bit, but I wasn't able to get nice smooth transitions or rounded shapes or anything. My flower beds jump up in elevation from the terrain 2 or 3 inches, so they look like they're surrounded with edging of some sort (http://hometalk.homedesignersoftware...3&d=1187058820).

[Kilgore Trout]

The best advice I can give you for learning how to use the terrain tools is to first learn how to use them in a blank plan. Once you have figured out how each of the different tools actually works, you can then start to apply them to your plan with your house on it.

As for your kidney shaped tool being greyed out, my guess is that either you don't have a terrain perimeter or that you were on some other floor other then the first, or that you were in a camera view.

[bgrant]

Kilgore, does a mound up against a house qualify as terrain, though? I thought that you actually have to lay out your terrain first and then put the house in. If that's the case, how does that work if one doesn't know where, lets say, a flower bed is going to end up (a mounded flower bed, that is)?

[crisw]

You can add the terrain features afterwards.

[bgrant]

OK... got that. Now this may sound like a silly question, but let's say I achieve a raised contour, how would I be able to isolate that area to apply mulch so that the entire terrain isn't mulched?

[crisw]

If you add a terrain feature, you can select material for it.

[bgrant]

Thanking you most kindly

[bgrant]

I managed to get the terrain tool working for me and played around with the kidney shape even though I knew I couldn't get it to make a mound.

See day and view of the new landscaped bed.

[Allen42ACJ]

Check out the terrain plans that come with Pro..

[dr0591]

Cool! I especially love the night shot.

Your kidney beds look good. Let me know if you figure out how to make a mound.

[Allen42ACJ]

This is from one of the landscape templates that comes with Pro.
They are worth looking at to help learn..

You can notice things like the stepping stones kind of floating that can spoil a Ray Trace and is not seen till after..

[bgrant]

Check out the terrain plans that come with Pro..

You're referring to the build terrain tools, right? I'm almost afraid to ask


Kathleen, have you seen any landscape templates in Pro?

[dr0591]

Yes, they're under Architectural Blocks (dumb place). I have both Landscape Beds and ~Bonus Landscape Beds. Here they all are -- what a garden!!

[bgrant]

Duhhh. That answers that question - thanx a lot!

Now, what is Allen talking about when he mentions "terrain plans that come with Pro"? Do you know?