How to Start a Garden Train Layout

Contact your local zoning board regarding any permits that you may need. Chances are that if your layout is only the size of a flower bed, you won't need a permit, but if you're planning on using half your yard, you'll most likely need one.

Take your climate into account in your design. For example, if you live in a location where the average year-round temperature is 70 degrees with ample sunshine, you'll be able to operate your layout year-round, so building a more expansive, detailed layout is more feasible than if you live in an area that has snow cover from October to April.

Decide where exactly in your yard the layout will go. You'll need access to electricity to operate the layout, so a spot close to an exterior electrical outlet would be ideal. Placing the layout under trees means branches, leaves and sap falling on it---or needles, if you place it under a pine tree. Avoid placing the train layout in an area of your yard that collects water, as that can damage the layout and possibly cause a fire if the track shorts out. Placing the train layout in a location where it can be enjoyed by your family and guests is key.

Decide on the theme and era of your garden railroad. Many model railroaders pick a location and specific time period as the basis for their layout and choose trains and scenery to fit that theme. For example, you can give your layout the rugged look of a mountain town in the 1920s or 1930s, for which you'd use a steam locomotive. Or you can go with a somewhat more modern, urban theme in which diesel engines will lead your trains across your layout.

Decide what types of plants you will have in the garden around your layout. One thing that you can do to make the plants fit into the scenery better, and to provide a more realistic appearance for your layout, is to plant smaller plants closer to the track, and larger plants farther away. The smaller plants will be more in scale with the trains and scenery you install and won't overwhelm them. Also, avoid placing plants that shed a lot of debris close to the tracks in order to cut down on the time you spend on upkeep.

Design the layout of the track. If you're building a new garden bed from scratch, you pretty much have free rein to lay out the track however you want. If you're incorporating the track into an existing flower bed, you'll need to either redo the bed or work around the obstacles in it. When designing the layout, make sure that you design it so that you have easy access to all areas in order to be able to clean the layout and do any necessary maintenance work.