According to an article printed in The Economist in May: ‘Official statistics show that 45 per cent of Britons are coping with the lockdown by gardening, slightly more than are cooking or reading.’
If you’ve examined your outside space this year and found it wanting, now is the time make changes. Whether you already have green fingers or you’re a novice who wants to get into gardening, there is an app out there for you.
Here, we’ve come up with the very best garden design apps out there.
iScape
Only available for iPad and iPhone, this app makes designing your outside space super easy. It is considered to be among the best garden design apps around. Forbes magazine says: ‘If you’re DIY’ing it, iScape makes it easy to plan out what to buy and how to put it all together. If you’re hiring a landscaper, the app can help you explore ideas and share your vision.’ Subscriptions begin at $14.99 per month.
Landscaper’s Companion
With information on over 26,000 plants in seventeen categories covering North America, the UK and Australia, this plant guide gets rave reviews. Each plant is searchable by its common and scientific name and is accompanied by a short description that includes helpful information such as water usage, size, sun requirements and any problems it may have. It costs $9.99 per month but there are various in-app upgrades to tempt you.
Home Outside
It is the 700 beautiful, hand-drawn graphics that set this landscape design app apart. Writing in The New York Times, Kate Murphy said: ‘Home Outside allows you to create intricate and varied landscapes. And when you’re finished designing your yard or indulging in a little dreamscaping, you can email the results to a friend.’ Most reviews sing its praises, while some call for more plant varieties.
Home Design 3D Outdoor & Garden
With this app, you can create, design, furnish and decorate your garden and share it with a community of 35 million users worldwide. Reviewers say it pays to read the instructions first! The basic app is free but upgrading to the ‘save’ function costs £5 and is recommended.
Garden Plan Pro
This one is a corker. Combining, expert plant knowledge and straightforward tools, the app allows you to plan the perfect vegetable, fruit and herb garden. Intelligent advice – like how to rotate crops and make a succession planting plan – and planting reminders really will raise your game in the garden. New features are coming soon, including garden objects such as sheds and greenhouses to add to your plans; journal and ‘to do’ functions to help you track and plan what is done in the garden; and a pest and disease database.
My Soil
Users of this app are either already obsessed by soil or they soon will be. This specialist tool allows you to view map of the soil in your local area, retrieve descriptions of the soil depth, texture, pH, soil temperature and organic matter content. Supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the app uses information from the British Geological Survey, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Met Office.
HOUZZ
Most of us know HOUZZ as the number one app for redesigning the home but its helpful community of users can also connect you with a contractor, designer or landscaper to help make your garden dream come true, too.
Garden Tags
Garden Tags offers plant identification, planting inspiration, growing advice and plant-care instructions. With built-in digital plant recognition and thousands of expert gardeners on hand, this app will please gardeners of all abilities. TV gardener Michael Perry says: ‘You don’t have to be a gardener to love Garden Tags. It’s the only gardening app you’ll ever need!’ A monthly plan begins at £3.49.
Pro Landscape Home
This one talks a pretty big game. Its creators say: ‘Whether it’s impressing a customer with a photo imaging project, creating a CAD drawing for a large commercial project, upselling with a night lighting design, or presenting a complete, professional proposal, PRO Landscape can do it all.’ The app allows you to create, save and share your designs and then locate a professional to help you realise them.
My Lawn: A Guide To Lawn Care
There is a whole world of lawn geeks out there, and this is the app for them. Nothing pleases a gardener more than a plot of verdant, thick, patch-free grass. This app puts you on course for that perfect swathe of grass by creating an easy-to-follow lawn maintenance plan. Cultivate your lawn and you’ll reap rewards.
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June 2020
By Becky Ladenburg
