What Garden Software do we use?
Some garden software tools have impressed us, other so called garden software has left us colder than after a wet December day spent planting garlic... and taken up time that could have been better spent in the garden (or with a good book). Like the garden, you will find different tools suit different purposes, and some gardening software would be best tied to string and used as bird scarers.
We have used various garden software packages, but have not gone for the most expensive landscape software as we have not needed it so far.
Luckily for us, we have been using PhotoShop, Fireworks, Flash, Illustrator and CorelDraw for years and are comfortable playing around to get what we need from them. We also like pencil and paper.
Garden software for Plants
Garden software can't look at your garden and pick the plants for you, so if you are not an experienced gardener, choosing plants for your garden can be tricky. One option is to go for a plant encyclopedia, another alternative is to buy a ready made planting plan or if you want something completely designed especially for your garden, maybe consider going for a customised garden planting plan. This means you get straight to planting rather than trying to work out how software works, then trying to choose which plants you want for your garden.
Of course, if you have an interest in garden plants and gardening, then you will probably enjoy searching through the possible plants you can use.
The Complete Gardens Plant Finder is an excellent UK produced software and is suitable for amateur and professional gardeners - even if you don't know plant names, you can search for suitable plants for your garden using filters like colour and season of interest. and there is a lot of care information and advice on pests etc. We think this is the best all round product for gardeners of all levels.
Deeproot Plant Base is another excellent UK software package that is well worth considering and has free email support and is fully editable so you can create your own plant information records.
Ideas Genie Pro and Garden Management System look like they should be good for keen gardeners.
Garden Management System is effectively a skeleton for you to build with, Ideas Genie Pro seems to have more features and comes with a master plant database to get you started, hence the difference in price. George Kelly, the designer and developer of Ideas Genie offers an online support forum but stresses that his software is not for complete garden novices - a little knowledge can go a long way here and complete beginners might be a little overwhelmed.
With expensive landscape software, because of its cost it's probably for professional garden designers and landscapers.
Is it necessary for business? I don't know; I can see arguments for and against. For hard landscaping there are tools for estimating and if you have half an eye for drawing, the sterility of some landscaping software will never beat sketches. On the other hand, some people are impressed with what you can do with graphics software. If you can draw and have a management system, then you could always use a scanner to get you garden plan or design into a digital format.
Also, from what we have seen, the best way to get started is with some sort of training package - that said, if you are investing in your business, then it makes sense to budget for the training so that you get the best start possible. CS Designer does not have a visualisation tool, but with the AutoCAD drawing engine you have the best foundation. Many programs use the AutoCAD engine as their starting point.
If you need to produce plans at architectural standard, then there are programs like Vectorworks and GlobalCad as well as names like CS Garden Designer. The thing to watch out for here is whether the money you spend lets you use the software indefinitely or whether you are buying a license that is little more than a subscription, which means that in a year's time, you are going to need to pay out again to extend your license.
Landscape software like VectorWorks is one way to go, or a program on top of AutoCAD - for example, buy AutoCAD and then buy GlobalCAD to use as an add-on.
VectorWorks was around £1000 last time we looked, and from the demo we looked at, again some form of training is essential because, unless we missed something, the support documentation wasn't that helpful to us, but then that goes for all the heavier duty CAD landscaping software from what we've seen.
I am often puzzled when people say they want software for their business but baulk at paying £100, let alone £1000 - I am not saying that expensive software is necessary, but if you are willing to base your business on software, but don't want to spend any money, then how seriously do you take your business? If cheap software does what you need, then that is brilliant, but be careful evaluating the garden design or garden landscape packages before committing yourself.
Whatever you choose - expensive or cheap - there is a learning curve and time to be spent. For cheap garden design software, there is probably not any training; if you are buying expensive software, then definitely budget for training either in the form of CD home study or classroom based instruction - some of these programs are brilliant, but getting started can be a headache.
Something else to consider is your computer - does it have the guts for the job. Always check the system requirements and beware of 'minimum requirements' - software might run with 64mb of RAM, but you have to allow for everything else that is running on your machine - with all the other programs, there could be a lot less than the minimum requirement and you might grow old before your machine chugs its way to the end of a 3D rendering job.
Definitely DO NOT plan on producing immediate results that are suitable for clients - producing satisfactory results can take time.
No software provider guarantees results - that is impossible, and you will find that the vast majority have disclaimers about this - how you run your business is down to you, not the people who supply the software. For example, we use software for our store, but the company have a disclaimer that they make no guarantee that it works!
Buy planting plans
Garden Software offer from Complete Gardens
Garden Encyclopedia Database
Gardeners' skin care
Garden software - Conclusion:
Whatever your garden software choice - software does not make a gardener; it can help with some tasks, but is not a universal panacea - sometimes it is nice to have a sketch, other times you might want a drawing or a combination of the two. If you can't draw, then software may help with its symbols and pictures; but if you can draw, then you might find that you want to use software for some things and sketch for others.
If you need to produce plans for hard landscaping or to architectural standards, then you need some good CAD software - for other plans and basic design drawings, you may not need that.
If you are studying garden design, then see what the school or college are using - there may be a good reason for it. Also, look into whether you can get an educational license - this is a very cheap way of getting started with landscaping software, then once you complete your landscape design studies and start work, you'll know what you want and be in a position to buy the landscaping software to suit your career.
Do look for trial versions of software, it is very much worth experimenting with limited trial copies and seeing how your questions get answered by support or on a forum - but do remember that trial users may not get the same support as licensed users of a full product. Find out where support is based, and whether you have to pay extra. Don't expect much support for cheap gardening software.
Put your software spend into perspective:
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£10 - gets you a round of drinks and some crisps.
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£100 - is an average dinner out for four people.
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£1000 - one week holiday or a very cheap second hand car.
I am not trying to compare £1000 software with a dodgy motor, rather, that it is surprising that people will pay for one thing but complain about paying for another - we have had old cars that have seemed better than new ones, and the beer served in one pub can better than another... it's all a matter of taste. The same goes for software.
For professional software, work out how many jobs you'll need to do to pay for your software and training - by factoring this in, what initially appears as a ridiculous cost, can suddenly look a lot more like a good investment rather than an unrealistic expense.
If you are thinking about technology, then remember the story about Russia and the USA.
I'm not sure if it's true but it goes something like this:
During the Cold War, Russia and the USA were having a 'space race'.
Well, apparently, the Americans were determined to develop a pen that would work in zero gravity and they assigned a dedicated team of specialists to work on the problem. Eventually, they made a breakthrough - it had cost a small fortune and untold hours of work, but they had made something that would work - a zero gravity pen.
The Russians, being a very pragmatic people, and because they had a much more limited budget than the Americans, decided on a different approach to the problem... they took a pencil instead.
Just because software is available does not mean it is always the best solution. Also, what suits one person could be completely wrong for someone else - if you are spending a lot of money and the software is business critical, then do put questions to the developers before you buy - if you don't feel comfortable with the answers you get, then look elsewhere.
For very expensive software, ask the developers if it is possible to speak with some of their users - find out how existing users are getting on and how easy it was for them to get started.