Westmarch Seminar II: Gardens & Allotments

Layout

When you work on plots the layout will usually already be done for you. But if you need to do it on your own or are looking to try your hand at planning layouts, these points should be kept in mind:

• The south side is the sun side, try to have the east and west sides as open as possible too. This is not always applicable but should be kept in mind, especially for larger fields.
• Paint Brush size 2 is good for quickly painting allotment shapes.
• Straight allotments allow for more design variants but are very hard to integrate into angled plots.
• Don’t have the end (border) of an allotment on layer borders, the dark borders will look bad. Either make the allotment longer or shorter so that it doesn’t end on a layer border.
• Consider the usage of fences around allotments. Sharper angles tend to look worse. Fence overuse can make a plot feel too busy.

Designs

Multiple allotment designs can be found in the palette guide above each WIP settlement, at /warp fbwestmarches, and /warp WestmarchSeminar. 

As mentioned above, most designs only work (well) with straight allotments. Allotments on angles will usually end up simpler.

Gradients

The basic allotment gradient can be found in the WM palette guide. It generally works like this: The outer part of the allotment will be Fir Forest Floor. The inner part will be a mix of Mossy Soil and Mossy Forest Floor with Roots. 

If your allotment is too small to allow for this gradient (i.e. it is only 2 blocks wide), you need to eyeball things a whole lot more but the basic block palette remains the same.

When looking at allotments in the Guide or the WM in general, you will also notice that Thick Mud and sometimes even regular Mud blocks are used. These can work as accent blocks but more often than not will make your gradient look rather messy. Thus, they should only be used sparingly and with consideration.

Plants

Usually, you will be free to choose what plants you want to go with. However, you should not choose them completely randomly. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing plants:

• Who are the people cultivating the allotments? While farmers might opt for more vegetables, berries, etc., druids may have more herbs
• Consider the allotment’s surroundings. Make sure that the plants you choose noticeably differ from the surrounding foliage (color and/or shape-wise) as not to get lost visually
• You can have multiple plant types on a single allotment. If you have a longer allotment, you might divide it 50/50 or 67/33. For smaller allotments, you are probably better off sticking to a single plant-type
• Vibes

Blending

Paths

The general path gradient can be found at the WM palette guide. Since the space between individual allotments is usually pretty tight, your paths should be kept simple. Otherwise, not just the paths, but the entire allotment area will end up looking messy. Thus, you will mainly be working with Fir Forest Floor (outside borders), Dark Sandy Soil (main block), Coarse Sandy Soil and Brown Gravel (accent blocks for Dark Sandy Soil), and Rocky Sandy Soil (for most traveled bits in larger areas).

Here’s an example of a larger allotment area in Macheldun with paths:

Palette

• Fir Forest Floor (Red)
• Dark Sandy Soil (Yellow)
• Brown Gravel (Orange)

Foliage 

Check the Foliage Seminar for an in-depth look at how to do foliage. Here are some pointers for foliage surrounding allotments:

• The foliage palettes can be found in the palette guide
• If your allotments are bordered by fences, make sure to properly detail them. Examples with further explanations can be found at the palette guide
• Make sure to blend path edges with your surrounding vegetation with Common Meadow Grass. However, vegetation should not bleed into the smaller parts between individual allotments too much
• Small parts of your allotments can be overgrown, ie. have foliage instead of plants. Fields will have overgrown bits throughout
• As previously mentioned, make sure that the plants on your allotments differ from the surrounding foliage enough. When you look at your allotment from afar, you should be able to tell it apart from the surrounding vegetation.

Fruit Trees, Coppices, and Pollards

Almost every tree you would find in a West-March settlement has a clear purpose. Over time, the inhabitants would have done away with the trees that were there originally and replaced them with fruit trees, coppices, or pollards. Coppices and pollards are small, quickly-growing trees that supply sticks, firewood, etc.

Plots will usually have markers for where these should go. You can place them like this:

1. Select a tool
2. Type //schbr followed by the code for the type of tree you want to place. The codes can be found here. 
3. Right-click the block you want to replace with a tree. 
4. If you want to change the tree’s look (larger trees often have a second, smaller version) or remove it altogether type //undo.

There is a pinned message in the West-March channel on Discord that lists which tree species are found in the West Marches. Alternatively, you can also find them listed at /warp WestmarchSeminar.

Small Field

Small fields are another common way for people to grow food around their houses. They work similarly to allotments but there are some specificities to them that will be laid out here. There will be a separate Seminar on larger fields in the future.

Important points:

• The ground gradient for fields is different from the one for allotments. It can be found in the palette guide.

Key Ideas for the Gradient:

• Mossy bits on the outer edge to blend the field into the grass
• Taiga Forest Floor as a transition between mossy edge and brown inside
• Interior made of Thick Mud and Loamy Dirt
• Stripes of Fir Forest Floor (following the sloping of the terrain)

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• The plant type will often be already decided for you as indicated by the colored blocks found in the palette guide and above the field layout
• The blending with foliage also differs from regular allotments. You will generally rely on taller plants. The specific blending palettes for each crop type can also be found in the palette guide
• As mentioned in the foliage section, fields have more overgrown bits as they are not as thoroughly maintained as allotments

Conclusion

This concludes Seminar II. If you have any questions or want feedback on your allotments, you can let me or Wurst know in-game or via DM on Discord.

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