There are several things to think about when looking for the best garden software:
What you want to do now to what you might want to do later.
Perhaps the main thing to remember is that gardening software does not make a gardener.
Software can help, but does not do everything for you.
Gardening software suits different things & to pick the best depends on what you want to do.
Like comparing a trowel and a garden fork & how they suit different purposes and people.
Not sure exactly what sort of garden software you want?
Then read Choosing the right garden software.
If you are looking for the best garden software, then this page gives a summary of products we like and links to more info
& garden software review for each.
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Complete Garden Plant Finder Plant Care and Pruning Guide
Excellent UK produced plant finder and pruning guide that is a goldmine of plant information and gardening tips - ideal for UK and European gardeners.
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Deeproot Plant Base Encyclopedia
Excellent UK produced plant encyclopedia with over 10,000 plant records & fully editable database. One of the best UK produced garden software products we have seen in a long time. Includes US plant zones.
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A low cost Canadian database solution for garden maintenance planning.
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Many packages are available, from £10 bargain basement kit to £1000 plus packages. It an pay to be careful in your choice of gardening software.
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Complete Gardens Plant Finder and Pruning Guide
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Deeproot Plant Base Encyclopedia
An excellent Plant Encyclopedia / Plant Finder produced in the UK.
Suitable for anyone with an interest in plants, amateur or professional gardeners or students. Simple to use but extremely flexible. Create personal lists and add your own photos to any plant. Keep references to additional information including websites, files and documents. Build plant name lists for projects or as reminders. Includes plant zones.
More info & Our ReviewMore about Deeproot Plant Encyclopedia and our gardening software review. Who makes it?Deeproot Plant Base is designed, developed and produced by Geoff Looker and his partner. With a background in IT and horticulture, they have created one of the best editable garden plant encyclopedias we have looked at.
How much is it?£39.95 incl UK postage (subject to change) Only £35 if you download
AvailabilityDownload (Approx 250MB) or on DVD disc by post PC only.
Visit Deeproot Software
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Garden Management System
Version 4 CD for MS Windows
Store all horticultural information and images regarding plants in your garden in The Garden Management System - gardening software that will help you keep your plants healthy.
Use the Plant Journal to record and report on gardening activities, detail and progress of specific plants.
Use the Garden Journal to keep track of your gardening activities.
Reports by common name or botanical name, location, plant family and many more are available.
To get the most out of Garden Management System, you do need to be a very keen gardener / student because you need to add your own garden photos and plant care information.
Who makes it?GMS is a Canadian product produced by Helen Kirkup. Helen is a long-time gardener with a background in software development and project management as well as being a freelance garden writer.
Read about Garden Management System...
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Garden Design packagesThere are a lot of gardening software packages to choose from. From professional level garden landscaping software packages all the way down to gardening software that has not been updated in years and/or has just been repackaged or rebranded with a new cover or tweaked to work with the latest rendering engine / Operating system.
The trick is in finding the gardening software that you really need.
Professional level landscape software might be good for architects and municipal gardening people, but how useful is it for small business people and gardeners who just fancy pottering about?
For small businesses, professional landscaping software garden software is worth considering, but you do need to be careful on what you buy since the marketing for many products is about selling the product, not necessarily meeting your personal needs. Also, don't forget to budget for the training / learning curve.
How much do they cost?Anything from bargain basement sub £10 to over £1000 Who makes it?Cheaper gardening software often seem to be published by software companies that have many and varied products and reminds me of the way that remaindered books are sold. The question I always ask myself is how much care is given to the workings of the software and who supports it? In the intermediate range, there are numerous contenders and obviously once you start looking at higher priced garden landscaping software, the field narrows further.
Read about choosing Garden design software...
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Garden Plant Information list of plant care info by botanical name