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Looking for a garden planning app? These 8 will simplify your growing season schedule

Apps that will help your vegetable garden thrive

Raised garden beds
Maria Sbytova/Shutterstock

With the arrival of the growing season, you may have big plans for your garden in the coming months. However, you may not know how to make your dream home garden a reality. If that’s the case, then a garden planning app may be the solution. There are a multitude of apps available covering topics that range from what to plant to how to lay out a garden.

The best part? Many have low upfront costs, while most are outright free. You may encounter a few that require a subscription fee, but we promise that the convenience and help that they provide are worth the cost. With just a swipe on a touchscreen, you can have a garden planning app guide to help beautify and organize your space.

Child watering plants
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1. Armitage’s Great Garden Plants

Platforms: Google Play and App Store

Cost: $4.99

If you want advice from one of the best authorities on gardening, then you have to get this app. For $5, you’ll have knowledge right at your fingertips from Allan Armitage, a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia. The app provides the exact landscape and ornamental plants you should choose for every garden setting. You can also learn how to control pests, what to do if hungry animals wander into your garden, and how to grow native plants for your region.

Person harvesting summer crops
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2. Kitchen Garden Planner at Gardener’s Supply

Platforms: Online Tool

Cost: Free

For a free online tool, this garden planner is one of the best options out there. It can help you create a new vegetable garden or update an old bed. You can save, share, email, and print out your design for future use. The planner will also let you know what plants to buy for your garden and provide planting tips for how to properly grow them. This is an incredible tool for anyone who wants to start growing their own vegetables.

A person holding a basket full of assorted vegetables
Tatevosian Yana / Shutterstock

3. Garden Manager

Platforms: Google Play

Cost: Free

If you’re the type of person who could kill a cactus — but don’t want to give up growing your own vegetables and plants — then this subscription service is worth a shot. You can set gardening alarms and keep track of your growing progress. It’s also easy to share your progress on your social media accounts to show off your bountiful harvest with fellow gardeners.

Small yard with well-designed landscaping
Artazum/Shutterstock

4. Garden Planner

Platforms: Windows and Mac

Cost: $38 with free trial

Sometimes you need to get down on paper (well, screen) your ideas and goals. This program, available for both Windows and Mac, lets you design your garden and the surrounding landscape by choosing where to locate different items — trees, fences, decking, paths, and anything else — with an interface that allows you to easily drag, drop, and remove whatever you want. There is also a feature that lets you plan out a full vegetable garden so you know exactly how much space you need. The best part? It comes with a free trial so you can decide if the program is worth the $38 fee.

Child in garden
CDC/Unsplash

5. Garden Planner at Territorial Seed

Platforms: Mac/iOS

Cost: Subscription plan ($50 for 1 year or $85 for 2 years)

One of the most powerful online garden planners out there, this website tool and mobile app lets you draw plans for a vegetable garden of any size, get emails or notifications reminding you about your plants’ needs, and allows you to interact with other gardeners using the service. The tool also contains a disease and pest database so you can quickly identify and eliminate any annoying critters. Lastly, it will also check the forecast in your area and give you tips and reminders about how to protect your plants from the day’s weather.

Tomato plant preparing for harvest
Duncan Andison/Shutterstock

6. Smart Gardener

Platforms: Online Tool, Google Play, and App Store

Cost: Subscription plan ($15 for 90-day access or $40 for 1 year)

If you have a tough time deciding what to plant in your vegetable garden, then, for a small fee, this online planner and app will become your best friend. You can take your garden from the dreams inside your head to harvest day. The planner will track the daily garden tasks and send you reminders about when to do them so you never forget them again. The app also lets you record your own notes and photos so you can accurately keep track of your progress.

Fern in landscaping
Samantha Gades/Unsplash

7. Gardena My Garden Planner

Platforms: Online Tool

Cost: Free

One of the more basic planners on this list, this web-based tool from a garden company located in the U.K. lets you draw and plan out your landscape and garden by using a drag-and-drop interface to place items like grass, paving, furniture, fountains, and many other things. It also shows you the rough size of your mature plants so you can plan for the future. While this planner does not have many in-depth features, you can’t beat free.

Sprinklers spraying tulip flowers
Hadrian/Shutterstock

8. Garden Tags

Platforms: App Store, Google Play

Cost: Free

Part journal, part mood board, and part tracker, Garden Tags is the perfect app for cataloging your beautiful garden. The premise of this free app is to allow you to document your garden and its progress, so it’s similar to an Instagram feed for plants. Additionally, you can identify plants, receive advice and inspiration from fellow gardeners, and set gardening task notifications.

You could try to create your dream garden by yourself, but why work harder than you have to? There are many resources out there beyond the apps and guides we listed here. Test them out and see which one you like the best for your space and your goals. No matter your chosen approach, you will accomplish your dream garden with a little time and effort.

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Niko Vercelletto
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Niko Vercelletto lives in Lansing, Michigan. He is passionate about going into depressive spirals thanks to the Detroit Lions…
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