Creating a new garden or fundamentally redesigning an existing one is a lot of work. Many factors must be considered. It would be nice if this time-consuming work could be made easier with garden planning software.
Brand new – garden planner in 3D
Garden planning is promised to be easier than ever by the 3D garden planners, with which you can realistically recreate your own garden on the screen.
The best-known software in this area includes the 3D Garden Planner 9 from Data Becker with a price of around 20 euros and the 3D Garden Planner 2011 from Franzis, which costs around 30 euros to download. During its service period in April 2010, WDR de alt with both products (the previous year's version for Franzis). The programs all did what they were supposed to (described in more detail below with two examples), but only with a knowledgeable and patient operator. Because everyone missed a good manual, and the operation is usually quite complex.
It was precisely this complex operation that highlighted one circumstance that, in the opinion of the testers, made the software's usefulness generally questionable: Before the user can plan his garden, he has to enter the data. In order for the programs to display this data correctly, very precise measurements are required, together with the subsequent input into the computer, this is a lot of work.
With the Franzis garden planner, the user first designs the landscape to be planned on a specific scale, as if on graph paper. The objects that are then inserted can be chosen from a large library, so they look very real. You should be able to use the menu items without explanation, and the user interface should be very clear. Once the garden is finished, it can be viewed in 2D or 3D. The program also allows you to walk through it or fly over it from a bird's eye view or zoom. A comprehensive plant lexicon is also included, which also gives the user the most important information about the respective plant.
After the garden has been created by entering data, the Data Becker program enables planning and viewing in 3D, with innovative 3D technology ensuring realistic shadow creation. Around 2,300 objects can be inserted in the practical planning and construction mode, which should show results quickly. These include a wide variety of plants, but also more than 1,000 objects such as garden houses or barbecues are available.
Garden planner software is also offered by Electronic Arts as an additional program to the Haus Designer from TriCad Gmbh (villa and garden add-on to the VA Haus Designer, around 40 euros). So if you have an affinity for such programs and enough time for measuring, you can represent your own garden very precisely with garden planning software.
Other options for computer help in garden planning
Unfortunately, the programs do not provide any information about how plants next to each other get along or how they cope with the lighting conditions that are assumed after the input. If you prefer a self-drawn sketch for garden planning under these circumstances (because you still have to go through books anyway) or don't have enough memory for the programs (Data Becker's program requires 311 megabytes), you can design the computer help differently. There are Word templates available for free download that can be used to create a table that archives the planting of the garden including a sample site plan.
The magazine “Mein Schöner Garten” also offers registered users the opportunity to use a 2D garden planner for free. The finished plans can be saved as JPEG.
