Savvy Landscaping: Landscape Design, Ideas, Photography, and More » Landscape Design Software

Plan-a-Garden

Sirena Van Schaik — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:54:42 +0000

Planning your garden can be a lot of work and for anyone who is unfamiliar with mapping things out, it can be a complete headache. It is almost impossible to see how a square will look within another square on a piece of paper. It might look perfect in a spot of a graph sheet but when you place your square patio set into the same spot on your patio, it might look completely off and suddenly you realize that you will need to fix flower beds, move stones and try to get everything in the way that you want it.

Now, I can’t really help with that but I can help with the difficulty of drawing in all those different geometric shapes onto a piece of graph paper. Whenever I try to sketch something out, I try to remember every little detail my teacher taught me in grade 10 drafting. Needless to say, my shapes are a little wonky, my dimensions are usually inaccurate and I just shake my head in dismay that I can’t fit everything in.

Landscaping programs are perfect for alleviating this problem. It is very easy to punch in dimensions of your yard, and get to planning from there. There are many landscaping programs that you can purchase and all of them have good points and bad. One of the biggest detractors to landscaping programs is the cost but there is a free online landscaping program that you can use to plan your landscaping.

This program is offered by Better Homes and Gardens and it is called “Plan-a-Garden.” The program itself is very basic. There are 3 plans to choose from and one blank plan where you can create your own shape. For all of the plans, all you need to do is click and drag to change the actual measurements.

After you have your general shape and dimension of your space, you can start adding to the space. The program offers you plants, flowers, trees, shrubs, accents, structures and garden beds for the graph. All of the items can be changed in size to reflect the plant or accent that you are thinking of putting in.

This is a great program since it is free and it can help you with a rough idea of what you would like to see in your space. It is very easy to use and all you need to know is how to click and drag your mouse. Another bonus is the ability to save plans to open later. This saves a lot of time if you decide to change something last minute and want to incorporate it onto your plan. Simply open up a saved garden and you are ready to fix it.

One negative to this program is that you need to register to use it. This leaves you open for excess mail to your email account such as the latest news and promotions that is happening at Better Homes and Garden. The other detractor is the limited shapes of items. A patio is square, a walkway is straight and a pool is kidney shaped. If you are going for a circular patio made with a mosaic of flagstones or a winding walkway through a maze like garden, well, it is better for you to pull out the graph paper and get sketching.

Still, for a free program with little fuss, this is an excellent online landscaping tool that I would recommend.

Sirena Van Schaik

Minimize Costs And Maximize Beauty With Landscape Design Software

Jennifer — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:55:01 +0000

When most people embark upon their landscaping project, they do not realize the size of the task which they are undertaking. Soon, their rough estimates about supplies needed, costs, and amount of work needed prove to be entirely wrong, ultimately making the entire ordeal frustrating. You can ensure that your landscaping project does not become victim to this mishap with landscape design software.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

When you’re designing your landscaping project, you don’t need to measure at all with landscape design software. Right there is its biggest asset. By using a computer to do all the calculations which aren’t prone to human error, and much more quickly, you save time while getting very accurate calculations of area in a given area and how all the components of your project work together. With landscape design software, you won’t suddenly find that you had made a mistake and your gravel pathway is cutting into your flower bed or some project-halting error.

However, landscape design software helps you design your project with many other useful tools. With beautiful image previews, you can see how your project will look once completed before you’ve even begun working on it. Some software even comes with a three dimensional view so you can rotate the scene to see it from many different angles.

Perhaps this tool is the most effective at making your landscape project exactly what you want it to be. But who said your landscape design software couldn’t show you plants and other life? If you plan to have a pond, it even shows fish swimming. Many come with plant encyclopedias so you can further ensure that your flora choices are perfect for your climate.

Ultimately, you don’t want to be spending tons of money just for landscape design software. You can get this software for as cheaply as twenty dollars, and with a bit of searching around on the Internet, you can find freeware and shareware versions of the software. However, you do get what you pay for, and the most complete software can run you fifty or sixty dollars, but when you look at their advanced tools and features, you’ll find that it would be money well spent.

If you’re thinking about fixing up the yard, be sure to check out landscape design software. It might help you save money, and you’ll get a great idea of what the project will look like once completed. A plant encyclopedia will make sure that any plants you buy are perfect for your climate, and overall, landscape design software will help your landscaping project go as smoothly as possible.

Using Landscape Design Software

Jennifer — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:08:25 +0000

One option for would-be landscapers is to plan out their design on landscape software. Most of the time this software has great features that can help you decide where to put different plants, and how different features would look in a yard. The great thing about landscape design software is that you pay for it once, and then you can use it over and over again. While it cannot completely take the place of a landscape architect, it does allow the improver to get a good idea of what is possible.

Most software programs meant to help you design landscapes come with graphics that look like a variety of plants. These images often include flowers, shrubs, trees, and even vegetables. Additionally, some programs also include information on common garden pests as well as how different plant diseases look. Tips on how to prevent diseases, and sometimes even how to treat them often accompany this information about garden blights. This can save you time and money as you more effectively take care of your own garden needs.

Other features that come with some landscape design programs include already laid out garden designs. So, if you do not know where to begin, you can receive inspiration by looking at ideas suggested in the computer program. Additionally, some programs provide easy to follow suggestions on how to properly plant the garden or build some small landscape features. There are plenty of ideas present that you can either use straight from the program or even that you can modify a little bit to better fit your ideas of what you would like.

One of the best features available with landscape design software is the fact that you can scan digital photos into the computer and work with those. Rather rely on a graphic image of something that looks sort of close to what your house looks like or its situation, you can use a picture from a digital camera so that you can create a design based around what your yard looks like now â€” and then you can see what it could look like with a little difference in the landscape.

In addition to showing what your home would like at the current season with certain plants and trees and flowers, there are programs that also take you through the seasons. Therefore, you could see what your yard would likely look like when the plants that change colors enjoy a seasonal change of leaf, or how it would look in early spring, just prior to blooming. This can help you plan to move in plants that have different blooming times, and plants that still look attractive even after they are done blooming.

Not only do many programs show what your yard could look like, but they could also help you find the right plants for your garden and climate conditions. You enter in your soil conditions, and the area in which you live, and the program can help you run a search for the plants that would most likely flourish in your particular landscape. Then, using the click and drag method, you can set these potential plants into your virtual landscape and see how they would look. With the possible plant varieties before you, you can move them to various points in the yard until you are satisfied with the result. When you are ready to get started, you can use the program to work out a plan of action to help you bring your landscape creation out of the virtual world and into the real world.

Landscape design software can actually help you save money in the long run. Most programs for personal computer run between $25 and $75. You can purchase a program and then instead of spending hundreds of dollars to have a stranger design you landscape, you can design your own. Additionally, with programs that help you set out the garden, you might even bet a GPS device that help you more precisely survey your yard and more accurately position your plants and other features. Additionally, with a plan developed to help you accurately gauge what you need, you will have less waste when you go to start your landscaping.