Shapes, surfaces & paint
Not every area is a planting bed. Drop ready-made shapes, then paint each one as lawn, soil, mulch, stone, water or decking to map out your whole plot.
1. Arm a shape from the Plot tool
Switch View to Edit, then pick Plot from the left tool rail. A floating picker of seven preset shapes drops down, rectangle, circle, ring, half- and quarter-circle, and two triangles. Click the rectangle, then click the canvas to drop it.
2. Paint a surface texture
Click the new surface to select it. The area panel opens on the right. Open Appearance and, under Textures, pick Grass, Mulch, Gravel, Tile and more; the fill updates so a path actually reads as gravel and a bed reads as soil.
Texture first, then colour Picking a texture also writes that texture's own two default colours over the surface, so any colour you tuned by hand is replaced. Choose the texture first, then adjust the colours.
3. Tune the opacity
Drag the Area opacity slider in the panel to dial the surface back. Lower opacity suits big background surfaces like lawn, so your plants stay the focus of the plan.
4. Layer surfaces up
When surfaces overlap, use the Stack order controls in the panel, On top or Behind. To choose which one wins. A gravel path can sit cleanly on top of the lawn beneath it.
Order looks off? If a big surface is hiding a small one, it usually just needs bringing to front, that's exactly what the Layering lesson covers.