If you're comfortable using something like Excel you can use that for a rough design. I had the end of my garden landscaped a few years ago and done a sketch using Excel. It worked for my project, but is not in any way a gardening tool.
That's exactly what I did as I am most comfortable with excel and don't have power point. May I ask how you drew the pond? Did you do a shape in other software and copy/import it? I struggled with my curved flower beds and had to do a series of straight lines. I also used coloured blobs (circles/ovals) to represent plants and made the blob size relative to the scale of the plan. Its really easy to move and resize blobs
It wasn't anything fancy Mandy - I had a photo of the pond open in 1 window and drew the outline freehand in excel in another window. It took a few goes, but it's pretty close to what I have. I also use blobs and Stars and Banners to represent plants - but not very realistically
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
It wasn't anything fancy Mandy - I had a photo of the pond open in 1 window and drew the outline freehand in excel in another window. It took a few goes, but it's pretty close to what I have. I also use blobs and Stars and Banners to represent plants - but not very realistically
Just had a go - a 3 year old could do better! Not easy
I'd really like to find a software package that will help me identify plants that suit soil type and different aspects within the garden, will show me how they will change during the seasons and gives me an idea about the layering of the different plants and how they fit within the overall garden design. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Hi Will, this is probably too late a reply for you, but the Weatherstaff PlantingPlanner does most of this. It will suggest plants that suit your garden's conditions and you can either use the generator to generate a planting plan or use it more interactively to search for suitable plants and make your own plan. It shows seasonal interest and layering/underplanting. There's a maintenance calendar to show how to look after the plants in the plan. It designs borders/ planting plans - it doesn't do a garden layout but there are plenty of other programs that do that.
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I also use blobs and Stars and Banners to represent plants - but not very realistically
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I think there is a free online version.
It won't be much use in giving you specific details on plants, although it's good for designing