Nursery and Landscaping Practice Test

Managing water movement on the site is the foundation of a successful landscape. If you set up the drainage first, you establish how water will leave the area and where it will flow, which serves as the framework for all later work. With proper drainage in place, you can shape the ground—grading it to create slopes that carry water away from structures and planting areas—without accidentally creating accumulating puddles or undermining drainage paths. This upfront drainage setup also helps avoid reworking graded soil or plantings later because you’ve already addressed where water goes.

Planning planting beds depends on knowing soil moisture and drainage, so you want that information from the drainage and grading plan. Installing irrigation lines, while important, should come after the drainage and grading are established to prevent trenches from cutting through drainage paths and to ensure even, efficient watering that won’t conflict with how water is removed from the site.