It is not unusual to hear that planning is for big public gardens, those with staff and time to devote to it. Large gardens with a lot of resources need to plan how to use them. Why, with resources scarce at the outset, should a small public garden spend some of its valuable time, money and energy in a planning process when there are so many other things to do, not enough time to do them, and not enough staff to do everything that should be done. Written by Patricia E. Rich, 1987