Grasshopper is a little app (and website) that changes the way landscape business owners are running their companies. We also just happen to love helping people in the industry do things they never thought possible. Like scheduling jobs, invoicing customers, or taking payments on the go. And we’ve been doing it for almost 10 years.
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Best Apps For Landscaping
- iScape
Compatible with: iOS 12.2 or later, MacOS 11.0 or later
iScape is a landscape design software specifically for Apple Products. It’s optimized for iPad, but can be downloaded on iPhone, iPod Touch, and Mac devices as well. It’s available for both homeowners and professionals. So it’s meant to be easy to use. It also provides realistic visualization tools to help you see what each design will actually look like once it’s completed. Then you can share designs or even collaborate with other users.
The basic version is free for homeowners and hobbyists. There’s also a premium version available for $29.99 per month that includes features like 3D AR designs and proposal tools.
- Planter
Compatible with: Android and iOS devices
Planter specializes in optimizing growth conditions for various garden plants. You can create a grid with your landscape dimensions and add more than 50 preloaded plants or create custom additions. The app includes information about companion plants, frost zones, and spacing. It’s ideal for planning vegetable gardens, with less features for those interested in flowers and hardscapes.
The app is free to download and has in-app purchases. It’s designed for consumers. So it’s easy to use. But it doesn’t include many of the advanced design features of other software programs.
- PRO Landscape Home
Compatible with: Windows desktop app, can be used on Mac using Parallels Desktop; companion apps available for Android and iOS tablets.
PRO Landscape is a computer design software for landscape architects. It includes realistic photo imaging and CAD designs so you can see proposed ideas right on your screen. It’s also a licensed program, so you can run it on multiple devices or include multiple users in each project. The companion apps for tablets include tools for providing estimates and collecting payments on-site.
The companion apps are free to download. But the desktop version is $1,245. It comes with 24/7 support. And free demos are available as well.
- SketchUp
Compatible with: Web-based software
SketchUp is a free 3D modeling software. It’s not specific to landscape design. But it is useful for placing objects in a space. So landscape designers could use it to render plants, patios, benches, and water features.
It’s a web-based software, so it’s accessible to just about anyone. And it even includes cloud storage and sharing, perfect for those who need to send design ideas to clients. The free version is meant for small projects. But there are also paid options starting at $119 per month.
- Microsoft Pix Camera
Compatible with: iOS
Microsoft Pix Camera looks like a simple photo capture app. But it allows you to take full panoramic shots of a yard. Then it includes Photosynth technology that you can use to add extra features to the images, giving you a realistic view of what the new design may look like.
It doesn’t include some of the advanced features of other software programs. But it is totally free and allows you to render new designs over an actual image of the yard.
- Houzz
Compatible with: iOS, Android, Amazon
Houzz is a mobile home design and remodeling app. You can upload photos and then add popular products to see how they may look in the space. It’s designed for interiors, but also works for garden spaces. It’s also meant for consumers, so it’s user-friendly but doesn’t have many advanced design features.
See Also: Graphic Design Secrets Revealed: Trends to Make Your Site Irresistible (INFOGRAPHIC)
- LawnStarter
Compatible with: iOS and Android
LawnStarter is a mobile app for both homeowners and landscaping professionals. It’s not really a design app. But you can use it to connect with customers for jobs. It has a booking feature and lets you set prices and create schedules. Basically, you can use it along with the design apps on the list. Simply market your services and make appointments, then use the other apps to showcase your designs.
Best Paid Landscape Design App for Companies and Designers
The above apps are at least free to download, though many do come with additional costs. The following ones charge for downloads. But some at least offer free trials so you can see what you’re getting before paying. Here are some top landscape design tools for those interested in paid products.
- Garden Planner
Compatible with: PC, Mac, iPad, and web
Garden Planner is a software program from The Old Farmer’s Almanac. It includes the ability to draw out garden beds, add plants, and move things around to create ideal layouts. It’s adaptable for various gardening styles. So it works for those with large gardens as well as those with small containers or raised beds. However, it’s more about the plants than it is about the design elements or visualization.
Garden Planner Pricing
You just need an annual subscription to access this tool. It costs $29 per year if you allow it to renew automatically, or $40 per year otherwise, or $70 for a 2-year subscription. There’s also a 7-day free trial available.
- Uvision 3D Landscape Creator
Compatible with: Windows PCs
Unilock’s Uvision 3D Landscape Creator is a software specifically for landscaping professionals. It includes a full library of pavers, walls, hardscapes, and plants that you can move around to create ideal layouts. Then you can use it to calculate prices and share designs with clients.
Uvision 3D Landscape Creator Pricing
This software is a one-time purchase of $379.95. Or if you have the 2018 version, it’s just $179.95. A free trial is also available.
- Garden Designer
Compatible with: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android
Garden Designer offers a variety of plants and other design elements all within a drag and drop interface. The software offers both 2D and 3D renderings of designs. You can use it for everything from planning a small garden to seeing what a space might look like with a deck or patio.
iscape app
LawnStarter
LawnStarter is an on-demand web and mobile platform for residential outdoor services connecting homeowners (or renters) and lawn care professionals. The easy-to-use app provides instant quotes, allowing you to schedule lawn mowing and related lawn-care services from insured professionals all at the click of a button.
Pros: Everything from messaging your assigned lawn care professional to payments and customer support can all be done within the app – without ever having to walk to someone directly. It’s completely free to sign up and has great reviews.
Cons: Outfoor services offered is currently limited, however, the app has been making frequent updates with new services added over time. It doesn’t provide any design tools or free landscape design software you can use.
Platform compatibility: The app is free to download. Compatible with iPhone ans Android smartphones and tablets; it can also be accessed via the web.
For more information, visit LawnStarter.com
Lawnstarter Application
PRO Landscape Home
With the highest Apple App Store rating of all of the design apps on our list, PRO Landscape Home (image above) gives homeowners the tools they need to redesign their landscapes. This one functions as a 3D modeling tool which gives you a better idea of how your landscape and garden may look.
Pros: Users start with a photo of their home or garden and then add plants, materials and features. The landscape design software lets you search for plants by climate zone, draw in grass or mulch, add focal points (like water features or furniture) and insert the original photo for before and after views of the project. Once you’re finished and happy with the garden design, the free landscape design software lets you save and share it on social media.
Reviewers say it is a useful tool for DIY projects, easy to operate and helpful if you want to share your ideas with landscape designers.
Con: It’s free, but you one of the downside is that the free version doesn’t have a large selection of images to use. You can purchase access to the image library for $14.99 — which includes more than 2,000 landscape items. If you download this one, go ahead and pay for the library. You will get a lot more use out of it.
Platform compatibility: The app is compatible with iOS and Android phones and tablets. PRO Landscape also offers design apps for professional landscapers.
Eden Garden Designer
The Eden Garden Designer app allows users to design spaces either using stock garden images or with photos from an iPhone or iPad. Then they can add foliage by searching the Plant Library by plant name, height, zone, color, blooming season, sun exposure and type.
Pros: It has a 3.5-star rating on iTunes, and some of the biggest pros of the app are its ease of use, animation and ability to see what plants will look like in different seasons.
Cons: The biggest reviewer complaint is the lack of plants available for free in the app.
Platform compatibility: The app costs $1.99, and there are add-ons — like shade/sun and additional plants specific to your zone — within the app for additional charges. It’s compatible with iPhones and iPads.
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Garden Designer
Based on the desktop Garden Planner version, the Garden Designer app allows you to put an image of the plan directly on your photos of the space. It’s got a drag and drop interface which makes using the app simple.
Pros: Its top features include having more than 600 objects in its library, being able to take and save photos of the image, adding/resizing paving and fencing, depth sorting and drag-and-drop capabilities.
It’s efficient for simple designs, so it isn’t ideal for more professional-looking layouts.
Cons: The biggest complaint for Garden Designer is from users who tried to pair it with incompatible iPads, as it only works with iPad 2 or newer. So, it’s important to make sure you have the right device for the landscape design software.
Platform compatibility: The app costs $9.99, and is available for the iPad.
iScape
landscape design software
iScape rounds out our list of Top 5 apps with its three versions: iScape Free, iScape and iScape Elite.
The free version allows you to test out the full version, so I would only recommend that one if you want to see it before you buy it — not as an actual design tool. The iScape version is $5.99, and the iScape Elite, which is targeted to professional landscapers, is free to download but requires a paid subscription.
Pros: Some popular features of this landscape design software include a texture tool that allows users to add or replace ground covers like grass, mulch, pavers or stones; the ability to save and share images; and being able to use photos from the phone. Its database includes trees, shrubs, flowers, grass/groundcover, tropical plants, planters, water features, hardscapes and other 3D modeling objects.
Fort Lauderdale, St. Louis or in Levittown, you can throw plants and other landscape materials directly into a dumpster rental, instead of trying to bag up everything.
What To Look For in a Landscape Design App
When deciding which is the best landscape design app for you to use, consider what must have’s the app should include. If you want something that gives you a very specific idea of what your outdoor home design would look like, then opt for an app that comes with a 3D modeling software. If detail and variety is important to you, consider spending money on app purchases. If you aren’t quite sure what you want and would like help with design ideas, then make sure the app is user friendly and simple to use.
Conclusion
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