Landscape Design on Computer?

[Tony Michael]

Hi,

I am new to this news group and new to (serious) gardening. One thing I have
found as I try to learn about what I might want to plant in my flower beds
is... there are a lot of different flowers, all with different reqirement for
best growth.

I am look for a starting point. I need visual feedback. I am wondering if
there exists a computer package that given certain information about the
flower bed (demensions(length, width, height, contour), relations to
shrubs/trees in bed, degree on sun (shade, sun/shade, shade), geographical
location, etc., would suggest and display graphically different planting
schemes. The most frustrating thing for me is not knowing what it will look
like when the plants grow to maturity... not knowing if combination of plants
will grow to tall for the area or to small. With visual aid I can try "if
then" games on the computer and not wait until the flowers are grown and try
again next year. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Tony

[KSewellMAE]

There's a program called Flowerscape that allows you to "plant" all kinds
of things. It then allows you to select different months of the year to
see what the garden will look like that month, so in January, your
simulated garden won't have anything growing, and in May, it will show
things just coming up, and in July, everything will be in full bloom. It
asks you where you live (zone) when you first start to use it and gives
planting suggestions based on your zone. I believe it has a wide selection
of annuals, perrenials and shrubs. It also provides information, such as
whether or not the particular plant prefers sun or shade, etc.
I haven't used this program in two years (tried it when it first came
out). I still see it in software catalogs, however, so it's still around.
Two years ago, it was a big memory hog, however, they may have improved
this downside in later revisions.

[Glenna Feir]

> There's a program called Flowerscape that allows you to "plant" all kinds
> of things. It then allows you to select different months of the year to
> see what the garden will look like that month,
>

> I still see it in software catalogs, however, so it's still around.
>

Anyone know which software catalogs include "Flowerscape" or which company
makes this product.

thanks,

Glenna

[Karen Fletcher]

: Anyone know which software catalogs include "Flowerscape" or which company
: makes this product.

The best place to look (and buy from, they're great!) is PC Connection.
Next day, instant gratifaction and great service.

Their phone number is (pause to scurry away to look for catalog)
1-800-800-0004

For an illustrated review of FLOWERscape and reviews of other garden
desgin software, see the Gardening Software page at The Garden Gate (URL
below).

--
Karen Fletcher flet...@prairienet.org
==========================================================================
The Garden Gate http://www.prairienet.org/ag/garden/homepage.htm
The Garden Gate at SunSITE http://sunsite.unc.edu/garden-gate/homepage.htm
The Garden Spider's Web http://mirror.wwa.com/mirror/garden/spdrsweb.htm

[BMacken969]

FLOWERSCAPE is available from TigerSoftware, at 1-800-888-4437. I think
it costs $49. It's lots of fun to play with, and educational.