Subject: Landscaping Software

From: [email-masked] (Cymraes224)
Date: 5 Feb 1995 19:28:50 -0500

My husband and I have just purchased our first home.  I am looking forward
to landscaping our yard and have, in the past, doodled on graph paper. 
I've seen several software packages and am wondering which would be the
best.  The 3D Landscaper seems like it would fulfill our needs but I would
like input from anyone who has used it.  Can I design my own fencing and
walkways?  What about ponds.  Apparently there are hundreds of plants in
the program, are they listed by Zone?  Any feedback would be greatly
appreciated.  You may respond directly to [email-masked]. Thanks so
much.  Kate Holgate

---

From: [email-masked] (Schneidsuf)
Date: 6 Feb 1995 21:17:37 -0500

Land Designer is easy to use and offers a lot of flexibility.  Its
available  for Windows by Spinnaker software.  We got our copy thru
CompUSA.

---

From: [email-masked] (Larry London)
Date: 11 Feb 1995 03:24:15 GMT

Shareware and Commercial Software For Landscape Design, 
       Garden Planning, Nursery and General Horticultural Use
       =======================================================

(List 1)

The following list with comments was supplied by Fred Christiansen:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
#       NAME                                    MY EXPERIENCE

$ 13    Expert Home Design by SoftSync    Limited functionality
$ 13    Expert Landscape by SoftSync
$ 25    FloorPlan by ComputerEasy
$ 30    ProShape for Windows (shareware)  Decent draw program
$ 37    Home: Bathroom by Generic
$ 37    Home: Home by Generic
$ 37    Home: Kitchen by Generic
$ 37    Home: Landscapes by Generic
$ 39    KeyCAD by Softkey                 Used to be shareware
$ 43    DYOH: Architecture by Abracadata  Good value!  Object-oriented
$ 45    DreamHouse Pro by ComputerEasy
$ 45    Home: Deck by Autodesk
$ 45    Home: Home by Autodesk
$ 45    Home: Landscape by Autodesk
$ 49    DYOH: Interiors by Abracadata
$ 49    DYOH: Landscape by Abracadata
$ 50    FloorPlan Plus by ComputerEasy    Decent but somewhat buggy
$ 75    TurboCAD by IMSI                  Harder to learn than I tolerate
$ 99    Windows Draw by MicroGrafx
$119    EasyCAD by Evolution              Harder to learn than I tolerate
$146    AutoSketch by Autodesk
$175    DesignCAD 2D by ASBC
$230    AutoSketch for Windows by Autodesk
$259    DrafixCAD by Foresight
$285    Generic CADD by Generic
$349    MacDraft for Windows by IDD       Excellent!  Object-oriented

Some of these, such as MacDraft, are good enough to produce drawings
suitable for submission to city building plan inspectors *IF* you can 
find a plotter.  I couldn't; it cost me $500 to have a draftsman copy 
my work onto 2'x3' vellum. Note that low end products are just suitable 
for reasonably precise drawings of your ideas to give to a real drafter.
If any software can save in DXF format, most blueprinters have AutoCAD
and can load and print. Sometimes they can accept HPGL print files.
Otherwise, tape 8.5x11's together and they can be blueprinted in two 
steps.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
(List 2)

Gardening/horticulture/landscaping/nursery software from HORTLINE BBS

   Directory AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR HORTICULTURE SCIENCE
 
 Number | File Directory Area Descriptions
        |
      1 | American Society for Horticultural Science Information
      6 | Graphics and Statistical Programs
      7 | Chemistry, Biochemistry and Genetic Files
      8 | Instrumentation, Interfacing and Data Collection
      9 | Horticulture (Ornamentals, Vegetables, Fruits)
     10 | Food, Nutrition, Exercise and Health
     11 | Education Programs and Foreign Language Tutorials
     12 | USER UPLOADS

        Directory 9 - Horticulture (Ornamentals, Vegetables, Fruits)

AGPRGS.ZIP 140818 11-05-88        Farm management (feed & livestock)
                                  Collection of miscellaneous IBM-Basic
                                  sub-routines 
DESIGN.ZIP 9999 01-19-88          Apple Production & Profitability  (BASIC)
                                  (HortScience 21:1176-1177 - L.L. Creasy)

EPITHET.ZIP 52773 08-27-88        Epithet finder for plant names. 
                                  A fast computer directory to Latin and
                                  Latinized plant epithets. (TCR shareware)

FASTKEY.ZIP 47995 08-27-88        Key out woody landscape plants quickly. 
                                  A quick key to woody landscape plants,
                                  using 4 vegetative (leaf)
                                  characteristics
                                  for identification.  (TCR shareware)

GARDEN.ZIP 3445 12-08m8>          Plan your garden -- BASIC program
                                  (crude but effective) 

GARDENER.ZIP 50073 04-28-88       Garden planning program (w/Pascal listing) 

GARDPRO.ZIP 47846 08-27-88        Calculate garden productivity. 
                                  A garden productivity calculator for
                                  determining the efficiency and
                                  productivity
                                  of vegetable & fruit gardens. 
                                  (TCR shareware) 

[some information on GPLAN and GASSLIB was lost due to line noise,
 entries reconstructed from memory and with guesswork]
      
GASSLIB.ZIP 170385 10-02-88       The Gardener's Assistant
                                  An interesting garden planning program
                                  which accounts for crops planted, 
                                  family size, garden size and geographical
                                  area.

GPLAN.ZIP 86067 08-27-88          The Garden Planner
                                  Plan your garden/nursery/greenhouse space. 
                                  Garden Planner provides over 60 easy to
                                  learn commands to draw vegetable gardens
                                  and other row crops.  (TCR shareware)

SHORT.ZIP 39075 08-27-88          sHORThand (tm) program to create job lists. 
                                  sHORThand is used to produce job lists of
                                  horticultural activities.  A useful tool
                                  for research supervisors, landscape foremen,
                                  farm managers, and curators. 
                                  (TCR shareware)   

TREELAB.ZIP 100776 08-27-88       Tree Trivia GTREE TRIVIA GAME
                                  has over 400 questions on
                                  plants, people, places and facts on
                                  culti[vars] <info lost to line noise>

DELUXE HORTICULTURAL LABELER      is a 2-line label printing program with a 
                                  built-in database of 200 woody plant
                                  scientific names & 200 common names. 
                                  (USDA zones 2-7). (TCR shareware) 

Welcome to the HortLine BBS!  
The American Society for Horticultural Science BBS
300/1200/2400 bps - (703) 836-2418 
113 South West Street, Suite 400,
Alexandria, VA, 22314-2824

-------------------------------------------------------------------
(List 3)

Shareware:  
(many of these programs are available for download from the
Agricultural Library Forum BBS at the National Agricultural Library)

PLAN-IT.ZIP 
GPLAN.ZIP 
GARDASST.ZIP 
GARDENER.ZIP 
PLANTMAN.ZIP
LNDSCPMN.ZIP 

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(List 4)

Commercial:  

1) for IBM and older Macs(OS 4.5 or earlier): 
"The Garden Manager" Garden Manager Jeff Ball and Gary Gack.  P.O. Box 338
Springfield, Pa., 19064 I think this is the one also available from Ortho
as:  "Ortho's Computerized Gardening" from:  Chevron Chemical Co.  6001
Bollinger Canyon Rd.  San Ramon, Ca., 94583 

2) for IBM and Mac "Hortis Opis", 
plant finder & reference list J. Mendoza Gardens, Inc.  18 East
16th St.  New York, N.Y., 10003 

3) for Apple/Mac "Mum's the Word",
planning tool with drawing program (scaled drawings) & information
database Terrace Software P.O. Box 1236 Cambridge, Mass., 02238 

4) for IBM
"The Plant Database Library", computerized plant encyclopedia, landscape
plant selector, & garden notebook Taxonomic Computer Research P.O. Box
12011 Raleigh, N.C., 27605 

5) operating system unknown "Just the Right
Rose", database of 600 roses, old and new varieties.  Rosebud 3707 SW
Coronado St.  Portland, Oregon, 97219 

6) for IBM "Infopoint Software
Finder", basic database of plant and bulb information, cultural data, &
mailorder sources Infopoint Software P.O. Box 83 Arcola, MO, 65603 

7) for IBM 
"Gardenview", garden planning and design program;  3-dimensional color
graphics, 380-plant database, "Time Display" feature displays plant growth
changes during the seasons of the year and at times in the future. Other
features: ability to change viewing angle in drawing, edit and add to
database, save or print drawings.  SOURCE UNKNOWN 

8) freeware for MAC
"Garden Stack", freeware Garden Stack designed by Frank Grimes, simple and
elegant little garden organizer:  First Card, the Database, and the Garden
Card.  Educorp 531 Stevens Ave.#B Solana Beach, CA, 92075 Request:
"Productivity Stack #7406" 

For more information see:  "The Growing Edge" Magazine Vol.2 #1, Fall
1990, see pps. 28-35 $4.95, The Growing Edge, New Moon Publishing, Inc. 
215 SW 2nd St., Suite #201, Corvallis, Oregon, 97333 503-757-0027;
published quarterly 

The Agricultural Library Forum (ALF) BBS sponsored by
the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Md. makes most of the
shareware listed above available for download. They can be reached at
these numbers 24 hours @ 1200-2400-9600 baud.  

Landscape Plant Manager
Version 1.00 Plant Information System by Robert W. Boufford Feris State
College Ornamental Horticulture Technology program Department of
Biological Sciences Big Rapids, MI 49307 The Landscape Plant Manager is a
specialized computer information management program for use in
horticulture education programs and the landscaping industry.  The prime
goal of LPM is to be a plant selector to assist you in the selection of
plants based on design criteria.  LPM was developed as an alternative to
constantly paging through nursery catalogs and plant manuals when trying
to find plants for a particular landscape situation.  The Landscape Plant
Manager will allow you to:  -Add, delete and modify information about
plants used in the landscape.  -Search for plants based on scientific name
or common name.  -Search for plants matching one or more design criteria
for use in the landscape 

TCR GARDEN PLANNER 
Horticultural Shareware from TAXONOMIC COMPUTER RESEARCH 
This program is being distributed as
shareware.  If you find it useful, please send $39.00 to:  Taxonomic
Computer Research P.O. Box 5747 Raleigh, North Carolina 27650-5747 TCR
Garden Planner provides over 60 easy to learn commands to draw vegetable
gardens and other row crops.  It allows full use of multiple color
combinations/monochrome tones and most ASCII symbols for maximum contrast. 
Many commands operate from function keys and all have plain English names
like plant, delete, path, bed, wall, label, titleblock, grid, color, etc. 
It has also been useful for drawing nursery fields and greenhouse space. 

TCR Garden Planner consists of the following files:  
                                GPLAN.EXE TCR GARDEN PLANNER - 
                                60+ commands to draw
                                vegetable gardens, greenhouse beds,
                                nursery fields, and other row crops. 
                                Print manual below and type 'help'
                                in the program for list of commands. 
                                GPLAN.DOC ASCII format manual for above.
                                Load into any
                                wordprocessor as an ASCII, unformatted,
                                or non-document file. Repaginate, format
                                margins, format page length, and print. 
                                Can be printed from DOS: 
                                  A> type gplan.doc >prn COMMAND.GAR
                                sample garden plan that can be loaded with
                                gplan.exe. Shows basic commands. 
                                *.gar extension for plans saved by gplan.exe

GARDENVIEW 5.1 for EGA/VGA PCs.  Complete plant database plus 32,000
colour 3D design capability. $195.  Free information.  MINDSUN, RD2, Box
710, Andover, NJ, 07821 (201) 398-9557 

CHIP (Computerized Horitcultural
Information Planner) Over 5,000 plant profiles cross-referenced for your
needs for an "Achievable Paradise." Demo disk available for $25.  IBM
compatible Call or write for free brochure:  Paradise Information, Inc.,
P. O. Box 1701, East Hampton, NY 11937.  (516)324-2334 or (800)544-2721

MUM's THE WORD Integrated plant database and garden design software.
Symbol library, colour or B/W. FOR MACINTOSH.  
Terrace Software, P.O. Box 271, Medford, MA 02155 (617)396-0382

Gardenview ($195,IBM): This program has drawing and design function
and a 450-plant modifiable zoned plant list;features ed color drawings
of flowers vegies and landscape plants and shows the landscape changin
colors with the seasons. Mindsun 1-201-398-9557

LandDesigner $89,IBM) This design program has a modifiable zoned plant
list ($34 extra). I calculates how many plants are needed to fill an
area and the approx cost.  Green Thumb Software 1-303-460-8384.

Design Your Own Home Landscape ($99, Mac, IBM) Abracadata Ltd PO Box
2440 Eugene OR 97402

Mum's the Word Plus ($165, Mac) 600 plant database.  Terrace Software
1-617-396-0382. 

Hortis Opis ($250, IBM) A 2k plant nonmodifiable database and journal
program for trees, shrubs, vines and grasses.  J. Mendoza Gardens,
1-212-989-4253. 

Rosebud ($44, IBM) A 700-rose database that lets you search for 50
characteristics such as color, fragrance,size,thpe and disease
resistance.  Rosebug 1-503-245-0546

Perpetual Garden Journal and Reminder System ($29, IBM) A program for
keeping gardening notes. Complete with horticulture tips and a search
function.  Double_Pawed Software 432 Bigelow Hollow Rd. Eastford CT 06242

Plant Doctor ($64, IBM) Diagnoses vegetables, fruit and nut diseases.
Elemental Software 1-802-755-0701.

Gardenfind ($39, IBM) An index of the articles tipss and letters in
six gardening magazines from '89 to '91.  Gardenfind Magazine Index
1-206-743-6605.

To learn more about these products read the March/April issue of
National Gardening 1-802-863-1308.

Retyped from Thursday/May7/1992/STAR TRIBUNE, from the Cox News Service.
Green Thumb Software, Inc. of Boulder has announced LandDesigner-Pro, a
powerful CAD software program developed for landscape design. The tool 
enables landscaping professionals to quickly produce high-quality designs
for landscapes, gardens, walkways and sprinkler systems on a personal
computer. More than 300 pre-drawn symbols for plants and other landscaping
materials are included and 12 layers are available for use as overlays to
keep designs organized. Call 1-800-336-3127 for information.

When I was at MacWorld a couple of weeks ago, I saw a demonstration
of a package by Alias called UpFront.  This has to be the most useful
program I have ever seen (commercially available) for architecture.
It is so flexible, they call it the world's first 3D napkin!  It is
fast, and does shading and shadows.  The commercial price was about 
$800 list, with substancial educational discounts available also.
If you are not familiar with Alias, they are the leaders in 3d 
technology, and their programs are widely used to create special effects
in the film industry (examples being Terminator 2 and the Abyss)

There is also a new program for the Mac called "Sprout!".  I've seen
it for sale in MacWarehouse.  Here's the blurb:
        Sprout helps you plan your vegetable garden graphically
        on your Mac.  It comes with editable vegetable databases
        for seven regions, complete with information on planting
        and harvesting times, normal yields, preferred soil pH, 
        spacings for seeds, rows and plants, and cool vs. warm
        seasons.  A planting tool snaps to the correct row and
        plant spacings, then fills in the row with plant symbols.
        Rulers and guides in various scales simplify designing
        your garden.
Its from Abracadata, and it sells for $45.

From: [email-masked] (Jay Hipps)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Lanscape Software
Date: 3 May 1994 12:13:53 -0700

: >Does anyone know of software that will allow to me select trees, shrubs,etc.
: >and visually represent what they may look like in 1,2,5,10, 25 years.

The latest MacConnection catalog lists two products. The first, 
FLOWERscape, is $48 and allows you to view month-to-month growth. Here's 
their blurb: "Beautiful plant photos and easy to use menus let you create 
a realistic, year-round garden on your computer before spending a cent 
[on plants, anyway ;)].  Simply enter your geographic location and 
FLOWERscape recommends which plants are suitable for your garden. Select 
plants by color, size, scent, drought tolerance, and more." (More stuff 
deleted.) 
Requires color monitor (256 colors), 1.5 M RAM, and *9.5 Megs* HD space.

The second product sounds more like what you're looking for and is (of 
course) more expensive at $75. "Design breathtaking gardens with an 
integrated plant database, drawing program, and landscape symbol library. 
Terrace Software's "Mum's the Word Plus" helps you visualize different 
landscapes and plan healthy, long-lasting gardens. Its extensive database 
of perennials, trees, shrubs, grasses, herbs, ground covers, and annuals 
provides information on plant appearance, culture, uses, drought 
tolerance, and more." (more stuff deleted.)

I haven't used either of these, so I can't give a first-hand review. They 
both come with a 30-day money back guarantee, however.  :)

I'm hoping for "SimGarden," myself. "Month 3: One of your nursery 
purchases contained some Bermuda grass roots which are now sprouting in 
sector H-5. How do you respond?"

Jay Hipps
[email-masked]

-=*=-

From: [email-masked]
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re:landscaping software
Date: 3 May 94 12:41:50 -0230 NDT

I recently purchased LandDesigner for Windows puto ut by Green Thumb 
Software. It has quite a numbero f features, including over 300 pre-drawn 
symbols, an integrated plant database (available plant libraries as well). 
It also has a grow feature which allows you to see what your plans and 
plants will look like in 5 or 10 years. It also has budgeting features and 
can layout a sprinkler system. 

I'm only now getting into using it but I don't find it too difficult at all
. I paid about $80.00 Canadian for it at a local software house so I don't 
think it is too difficult to find. I'd like to now if anyone else enjoys 
this software.

Simone

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: [email-masked] (Jon Meyer)
Subject: Re: garden software
Date: Fri, 27 May 1994 05:36:50 GMT

There is a program called `Sprout!' which is sold by Abracadabra, Ltd.

It is a graphical based program for designing your garden.  It has a
number of plant databases that contain all sorts of info on flowers and
veggies.  You use a mouse to draw plots of various crops.  It will even
tell you the yield of veggies for a given area of planting.  The screen is
scaled in feet or meters (your choice). When you have finalized a design
you can print it out.  It will also produce a seed list (the number of
seeds that you will need for each type of plant) that corresponds to the
size of plots that you drew.

Here's there address:

Abracadabra, Ltd.
PO BOX 2440
Eugene, OR
97402

Jon Meyer [email-masked] |  [email-masked]
          [email-masked]       |  (^.^)

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: [email-masked] (Abracadata Ltd.)
Subject: Description and location of SPROUT! demo.  Design your garden!
Summary: Powerful gardening tool!!!
Keywords: garden
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 1994 06:54:00 GMT

Sprout!(R) is a "ground breaking" program to help you plan your
vegetable garden and schedule planting times.  Its unique planting
planting tool produces a graphic, scalable garden plan with correct
plant and row spacing.

Visualize how your garden will look before it is planted.  Easy-to-use
design tools help you effortlessly draw garden layouts.  There are an
unlimited number of scale choices available for each unit of measurement
(inches, centimeters) allowing for a wide range of plot sizes.  You can
even use it for a small farm!

It's packed with useful growing information.  The program includes an
edible database of over 80 vegetables for seven climate regions,
complete with all the growing information needed to plan next year's
harvest.  A yield estimate, shopping list of seeds, pH chart, planting
and harvest calendar is provided.  In addition to a climate map of the
United States, there are climate maps of Canada and Europe.

Organize your planting information in one handy location each year to
help you plan for successful crop rotations and to schedule successive
plantings.

** SPECIAL OFFER!! **
Take $15.00 off the retail price of SPROUT! when you purchase it from 
this catalog.

This program is available for the following systems, and requirements
are listed.
                                                      Retail:
Windows: Windows 3.1 or higher.                       $59.95
DOS: Dos 3.3 or higher, 640k, hard drive, and mouse.  $59.95
Mac: 1 MB RAM, hard drive recommended.                $79.95

Demo filename: spr(dos,mac).zip
* Macintosh Demo coming soon!  Keep checking in!!

This file is available on anonymous FTP site efn.org in /pub/abra.  Just 
go into the directory with your system type (i.e. DOS, MAC, etc) and the 
demo file will be there!

From: John Hovan <[email-masked]>
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Master Gardener Software
Date: 3 Jun 1994 15:30:29 GMT

PRESS RELEASE
COMPANY: ROSETTA STONE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
DATE: APRIL 1994

INTRODUCING:  MASTER GARDENER, TREES AND SHRUBS v1.0 
for the Apple Macintosh computer:

Master Gardener v1.0...

...allows you to plan your landscape shrubs and trees before you 
head off to the nursery.

...gives you access to over 400 color images with the click of a mouse.

...provides you with Latin pronunciations of more than 600 trees and 
shrubs.

...allows you the freedom of visualizing gardening information in new 
ways by using the powerful search capabilities which even the best 
gardening books cannot provide.

...gives you the power to view trees and shrubs by common name or 
scientific name.  Personally, this is the most exciting features of this 
CD has to offer after the personal disappointment of wading through 
endless gardening books with terrible indexes.

...has one of the worlds most complete greenhouse supplier database 
with vendor phone numbers.

...as an added bonus allows you access to information such as State 
Trees, a compost calculator, common vendors in the gardening 
industry, botanical gardens in the US. and a complete section of 
gardening terms along with definitions.

Imagine being able to....

...create a list of all the trees and shrubs that grow in Zone 5, have 
yellow color, grow taller than 15 feet, are deciduous and drought 
tolerant!  It would take a Master Gardener or nursery expert hours 
to compile such a list that this software will provide to you in 
minutes!

...create the perfect carbon to nitrogen ratio in your compost pile to 
make compost in half the time with an exacting recipe.  The compost 
calculator in Master Gardener  lets you do just that along with 
allowing you to add you own materials with their specific carbon and 
nitrogen ratios.

...teach and show your children or students some of the beauty that 
nature has to offer.

...have at your fingertips the definitions of over 100 gardening and 
botanical terms.

If you are as excited a gardening enthusiast as I am, I know you will 
love this product!   

TO ORDER YOUR COPY AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE INTRODUCTORY 
PRICING:

(Suggested Retail Price is $29.)
Send $18.00 which includes $3 for shipping to:

Rosetta Stone Information Systems
PO Box 1488
Pflugerville, TX  78691

If you would like more information on the Master Gardener Software 
or if you would like to sell Master Gardener in you Nursery Center or 
Gardening Catalog, call (512) 251-9009.

Sincerely,

John Lincoln Hovan
Gardener and President of Rosetta Stone Information Systems

A DOS version may be available in the future.
Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computer Corporation

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: [email-masked] (Cheryl Sue Gatling)
Subject: Re: garden software
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 1994 22:51:23 GMT

The Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication: Garden Products
and Planning Guide (available at newsstands now) has an article called "Go
Green on the Screen".  It lists four software programs.

Sprout!, Abracadata, Ltd., P.O.Box2440, Eugene, OR 97402; 800/451-4871

LandDesigner, Green Thumb Software, Inc., 75 Manhattan Dr., Suite 100,
Boulder, CO 80303; 800/336-3127

Design Your Own Home-Landcape, Abracadata, address and phone above

Landscape, Autodesk Retail Products, 11911 North Creek Pkwy., S, Bothell,
WA 98011; 800/223-3601.

I haven't tried any of these, so I can't comment on if they're any good,
but it's a place to start.

Cheryl Gatling

From: [email-masked] (Karen Fletcher)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Landscape Design Software
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 22:56:04 GMT

>I'm looking for some advice on a software package for landscape design.
>Locally I've seen a couple of programs:
>  Home Landscape  from Autodesk
>  Landscape Designer from Green Thumb

Landscape Designer is a very nice CAD program for home use.  The price is 
right ($32 at Best Buy for mine) and it includes a plant library from White 
Flower Farm.  If you're looking for 3D you'll have to move up into the 
professional CAD programs.  I think there's a Pro version of Landscape 
Designer.  E-mail me if you have any specific questions.  I'm planning to do 
a review of Landscape Designer (in my copious spare time ;-) sometime in the 
next month.

Karen Fletcher                                     [email-masked]  

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: [email-masked]  (Lucius L. Lockwood)
Subject: Re: Landscape Design Software
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 1994  15:43 mst

> >I'm looking for some advice on a software package for landscape design.
> >Locally I've seen a couple of programs:
> >  Home Landscape  from Autodesk
> >  Landscape Designer from Green Thumb
 
I have used Home Landscape from Autodesk, although not the latest version. 
I was satisfied with the results, which printed out a very nice landscape
plan on my old 9-pin printer.  The program was a bit difficult to use, but
after a while noodling around with it, I was able to find my way around it.
  
I was frustrated with the lack of an ability to pan or to selectively zoom
out.  I was also frustrated with the inordinate amount of time the program
takes to "snap to the closest point" when the drawing is farily busy [it
is fast when there is not much in memory].  The user interface needs some
polish, but other than that, it did the job that I wanted it to do. 

Opinions expressed are Mine -   Take 'em or Leave 'em.
[email-masked]   USDA Zone 9 Arid Monsoonal

From: [email-masked] (Margaret Bergen)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Landscaping software
Date: 15 Sep 94 00:11:52 GMT

>Does anybody know of any Landscaping or gardening software for IBM or
>Mac?  I have friend that is about to get into that business and would
>like to be able to design things on her computer.  Any help would be
>greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.
I just graduated form a Landscape Architecture program and the software they
use are Landcadd and Autocad (They work together).  Thats quite expensive
though - I think a couple thousand dollars.  I'm not sure, but I think they
now have a version of Landcadd that will work without Autocad, but I'm not
sure of the price.  I remember seeing a special price for Landcadd for
students.  The # for landcadd is 303-799-3600.  I don't really know about
any other software, but I'm sure that there is some that is cheaper.  I do
remember seeing some in stores.  
-- 

From: [email-masked] (Karen Fletcher)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Landscaping software
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 00:33:22 GMT

>Does anybody know of any Landscaping or gardening software for IBM or
>Mac?  I have friend that is about to get into that business and would
>like to be able to design things on her computer.  Any help would be
>greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

LandDesigner for Windows is a good place to start.  About $35 (I got mine at 
Best Buy).  It has a nice set of features for a small CAD program, including 
a White Flower Farm searchable plant library.  You can graduate to the 
professional version later.  Green Thumb Software.

If you're interested in a review of FLOWERscape, a flower garden design 
program, check out the WWW site - The Garden Gate.  
        http://prairienet.org/ag/garden/homepage.html

There is an illustrated version of the review available under Illustrated E-
reviews.

Karen Fletcher                                     [email-masked]  
==========================================================================
        Logging no computer time until it's too dark to garden...
==========================================================================
     http:www.prairienet.org/ag/garden/homepage.htm, The Garden Gate

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: "curt carlson" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Landscaping software
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 8:24:53 PDT

>Does anybody know of any Landscaping or gardening software for IBM or
>Mac?  I have friend that is about to get into that business and would
>like to be able to design things on her computer.  Any help would be
>greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

I just picked up a copy of LandDesigner for Windows from Green Thumb; I
believe they have a "professional" version as well.  It's easy to use,
contains a database of plants/shrubs from Whiteflower Farms, and additional
DBs are available.  The one thing I wish it did is "grow" a plan over a
single year to show flowering seasons.

Curt Carlson
[email-masked]

Article 44301 of rec.gardens:
From: [email-masked] (Roberta Norin)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Landscaping software
Date: 20 Sep 94 19:36:12 GMT

[email-masked] (Karen Fletcher) writes:

>>Does anybody know of any Landscaping or gardening software for IBM or
>>Mac?  I have friend that is about to get into that business and would
>>like to be able to design things on her computer.  Any help would be
>>greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

Mum's the Word Plus is a landscape design program for the Macintosh.
It combines an object-oriented drawing program with a extendible plant
database (625 plants) and a landscape symbol library (over 100 symbols
to start). Search for plants by color, size, culture, etc. and then
drag the plant you want to your design and click. The plant symbol for
the plant is drawn at the correct scale. It is labeled and a planting
list is maintained. Double-click the planted symbol to view the plant
information. Add your own plants to the database and your own symbols
to the symbol libray. Search the drawing with database search criteria
to highlight all plants of a particular kind and/or color. Many other
features. In full color or Black and white. It lists for $119.00 but
is available for less through MacConnection. For more information,
contact:

					Terrace Software
					P.O. Box 271
					Medford, MA 02155
					(617) 396-0382

Roberta Norin 

Article 44343 of rec.gardens:
From: [email-masked] (Karen Fletcher)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Plant Identification Software II
Date: 22 Sep 1994 00:36:29 GMT
Organization: Prairienet, the East-Central Illinois Free-Net

Several programs have a database feature.  The one I like best is the 
White Flower Farm Plant library that is part of LandDesigner for Windows 
from Green Thumb Software (my copy was $32 at Best Buy)..  

There is a simple program call Landscape and Herbaceous Plant Manager 
Database which lets you select according to a wide variety of 
characteristics.  This is available on Compuserve on the Gardening 
Forum.  I haven't found an FTP site for it.

FLOWERscape by Voudette is a garden design program which allows selection 
of flowers by various criteria.  If you are Web-enabled, check out the 
illustrated online review at the Garden Gate (URL below).  Neat program.  
Has a Mac version, too.

I have heard (but haven't seen) that Better Homes and Gardens (?) has a 
gardening CD out.  No idea what the features are.

--
Karen Fletcher                                   [email-masked]
*      Logging no computer time until it's too dark to garden...       * 
************************************************************************
The Garden Gate         http://www.prairienet.org/ag/garden/homepage.htm

Article 44649 of rec.gardens:
From: [email-masked] (Roberta Norin)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Plant Identification Software II
Date: 26 Sep 94 16:02:49 GMT

>I am looking for a program that will give you plant suggestion 
>based upon certain criteria.  Example - Sunny, well-drained soil, 
>flowering, shrub would be typed in and list of plants meeting these 
>would pop up on screen. Probably would be a CD-ROM.  Oh, and if the 
>people from Sunset read this, the Book would be great on CD-ROM, if it 
>does not exist.

Try Florafile for Windows from Terrace Software. It does just what you
are asking for. It comes with over 600 plants and you can add your
own plants. $49.00.

Terrace has a similar product for the Mac where the plant selection software
is combined with a landscape design program. It is called Mum's the Word Plus
and its retail price is $119.00. I am the author of these two programs.

Roberta Norin
Terrace Software
PO Box 271
Medford MA 02155
617-396-0382

[email-masked]

Article 44568 of rec.gardens:
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: [email-masked] (Brendan Light)
Subject: Re: Software for plants--IT EXISTS
Date: Sat, 24 Sep 1994 18:55:24 GMT

I know of two above average CD-ROMS for plants, that i have and can vouch 
for. 

The first is "The Exotic Garden" from VT productions.  This was a VERY 
hard find that I just happened to luck upon.  I've never seen it in a 
store, anywhere.  Very summary info 
but on many different plants.  Tons of good pictures and good searching.  
Only drawback is that you will be surprised how many plants were not 
included.  Even so, it is incredible.
    
    VT Productions, Inc.
    P.O. Box 339
    Soquel, CA 95703

The second one is the Complete Guide to Gardening by Better Homes & 
Gardens, widely available.  Again, the info is much too encapsulted, but 
another must have.  I feel this one is aimed at the browner, 
less-experienced thumb, and simply won't answer those tough questions 
you're looking for.  I know there is a demand for high level help in 
gardening, but enough to go to ther real effort?  I'd love to hear your 
opinions on what SHOULD be included in a high-end gardening disk.  

These are just a couple of treasures I thought I'd share.

[email-masked]

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: [email-masked] (Don Burns)
Subject: Plant Databases
Date: Sat, 24 Sep 1994 23:33:56 -0400

Recently someone in this group asked about programs that would facilitate
the search of a database given particular plant characteristics.  The
program would then present names of plants approximating the selected
parameters.  I recently received the info below which you may find of
interest. Note the last sentence.

> Landscape Plant Manager
> Version 1.00 Plant Information System by Robert W. Boufford Feris State
> College Ornamental Horticulture Technology program Department of
> Biological Sciences Big Rapids, MI 49307 The Landscape Plant Manager is a
> specialized computer information management program for use in
> horticulture education programs and the landscaping industry.  The prime
> goal of LPM is to be a plant selector to assist you in the selection of
> plants based on design criteria.  LPM was developed as an alternative to
> constantly paging through nursery catalogs and plant manuals when trying
> to find plants for a particular landscape situation.  The Landscape Plant
> Manager will allow you to:  -Add, delete and modify information about
> plants used in the landscape.  -Search for plants based on scientific name
> or common name.  -Search for plants matching one or more design criteria
> for use in the landscape

-- 
Don Burns                     | Motorola E-Mail: epur01
Motorola Inc.                 |        Internet: [email-masked]
Energy Products Division      |           Voice: 305-475-5518
Plantation, FL  U.S.A.        |             Fax: 305-475-6095

From: [email-masked] (Stavros Macrakis)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Plant Identification Software II
Date: 29 Sep 1994 17:57:55 GMT

>   Try Florafile for Windows from Terrace Software. It does just what you
>   are asking for. It comes with over 600 plants and you can add your
>   own plants. $49.00.

600 plants isn't very many.  The American Horticultural Society's
Encyclopedia of Garden Plants covers about 8,000 plants, with
photographs of about 4,000.  Of these, probably over 600 fit the
proposed criterion "Sunny, well-drained soil, flowering, shrub"!

You don't get arbitrary search criteria, but it is well organized and
indexed(*) so in practice you can find plants meeting given criteria
pretty easily.  In particular, there is an index where you can find a
list of recommended shrubs adapted to dry shade, etc.  The price is
about the same as the Florafile program described above.

	-s

(*) Actually, only the 4,000 plants that have photos really benefit
from their full organization; the other 4,000 are only listed
alphabetically by genus and species.  Still, 4,000 well-indexed plants
is almost seven times as many as the Florafile program.

From: [email-masked] (Dave Skinner)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Landscape software for 10 acre planning
Date: 30 Sep 1994 22:33:36 -0400

I just bought a copy of Garden Architect for Windows.  I think it
might cover your needs.  It was only $15 at Software, Etc.  It has a
very small plant database, but it can accept add-ons, and it does
allow you to see what the landscape looks like at yearly intervals of
growthn.  For $15, it's no big investment, and a lot of fun to
experiment with.

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: [email-masked] (Roshini Joseph)
Subject:  LandScape Sofware - Trees Database 
Keywords: Landscape Trees Database
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 1994 14:12:16 GMT

I recently obtained TreeSelect (for Windows) put out by The Larch, Inc. 
It is a database of over 800 trees of the US. It can be searched by 
pointing and clicking from a screen that offers over 50 selections.  
These include Zone, Use, Flowers, Fall color e tc.,
The on-help was pretty useful and extensive.  It has a section devoted 
to the basics of landscaping with trees.
I find it extremely easy to use, I paid around $30 for it mail order.  
The number I called was 1-800-315-SOIL

From: [email-masked]
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Looking for gardening shareware
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 95 17:09:03 PDT

Can anyone help point me in the direction of any of the following?

  The Garden Guide (GARDEN15.ZIP)
  Hortman (HTMN11.ZIP)
  Organize your plants (PLANT560.ZIP)
  Growit MkII (GROWIT2A.ZIP and GROWIT2B.ZIP)

I was told they are all shareware and available on finer computer bulletin 
boards and servers everywhere, but I haven't been able to locate any of them 
through an archie search of ftp sites, a FAQ hunt or a www search (a www 
shareware archive called SHASE looks promising from the outside, but I haven't 
been able to access it).

From: Jeff Martini <[email-masked]>
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Garden/Landscaping Design Software for Windows
Date: 5 Jan 1995 20:35:35 GMT

>Can anyone provide any recommendations for flower garden/landscaping 
>design software for MS Windows

There is a CDrom for Windows that covers everything you asked for. I am
not sure if the program comes on diskette though. The company is called
BOOKS THAT WORK. I couldn't tell you how good it works, I'm waiting for
the MAC version to come out.  I also don't have an postal address for the
company, but I do have an email address of the marketing guy:
Tom Bradshaw  [email-masked]

From: [email-masked] (Paul Postuma)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Plant growing software
Date: 8 Jan 1995 04:06:31 GMT

I don't know any of the software packages you mention.  However, 
One shareware program I do know, called Grow'Em, 'cause I wrote it.  Though 
version 3.0 isn't yet ready for distribution (another few months), I'm 
willing to release 2.1 to the public domain.  It's a vast improvement over 
version 1.0 though it lacks the digitized pictures, and obviously some of 
the information, contained in 3.0.

From: [email-masked] (Scott J. McCue)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Landscape Software
Date: 9 Jan 1995 16:38:44 GMT

  I'm also curious about net-folk experiences with landscape software.
Looking through the Mac sw catalogs (I suspect the original poster
wants sw for an Intel box), I see the following offerings:

"Design Your Own Home: Landscape 2.0"
"Mum's the Word Plus"
"Key CAD Complete for the MacIntosh" includes a symbols pkg.

-

Date: Mon, 2 Jan 95 7:40:01 EST
From: Marwood <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Garden/Landscaping Design Software for Windows

There is, in fact, another package which was not mentioned which I have 
seen for sale locally here.  It is called "3-D Landscape".  It may, 
possibly, be an evolution of one of the packages which was mentioned.
I have found that there is a demo version available from gardening.com 
which gives some idea of its capabilities.

-
 
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: [email-masked] (Dick Gilman)
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 22:46:56 GMT
Subject: Re: Garden/Landscaping Design Software for Windows

There are two programs that I found.

LandDesignerpro - Green thumb software - 75 manhattan dr. ste 100 -
boulder co 80303 - 800-336-3127 - 303499-1388 price 395.00 call
for information

Landcadd for windows - 7388 s revere pkw bldg 900 ste 901-902
englewood co 80112-3942 phone 800-876-5263 - 303-799-3600 This
package works under autocadd as well as windows.  This is a very
high level package. 

They will send demos out of both to show results.  I have ordered
the demos and will let you know. 

-

From: [email-masked] (Melissa C. Hicks)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Best CD-ROM IBM gardening software?
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 95 17:30:16 EST

  Daniel Woodard ([email-masked]) wrote:
>      Can any of you give me an idea of what the best CD software for
>      gardening is?  Thanks!
 
     I don't know which software is best.  But, I did read a review of
   "Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Gardening" (Windows/Mac),
    which recommended it as an excellent source for garden neophytes.
    For more information contact Multicom Publishing (800)850-7272.
     I hope this is helpful.
 
                                      Melissa
                                      [email-masked]

-

From: Bill Terrill <[email-masked]>
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Garden Software
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 95 20:47:53 -0500

 Try "The Gardeners Asst. & Landscape Plant Manager" I got them at Wal-mart
They are shareware. Wal-mart had them on the shareware counter and they were
put there from Goodtimes Software. Goodtimes phone number 212-951-3126.
Hope this helps. BTW, I think I paid less than $10 for the packet but you
should register if you like it and continue to use it.

-

From: [email-masked] (Shawn Wakefield)
Newsgroups: alt.landscape.architecture
Subject: Re: Software suggestions?
Date: 7 Feb 1995 05:29:53 GMT

Green Thumb. For a design program.  Excellent.  $1000.00 for design and 
irrigation program.  Data bases for your zones, Parts inventory, does 
cost break down. Bids your job, changes are easy and re bids.  
Professional.

Call Green Thumb for free demo disk,

Green Thumb Software, Inc
Attn; Bruce Miller
75 Manhattan Drive
Suite 100
Boulder, CO 80303
(303)499-1388 EXT 103

Let him know Shawn Wakefield referred you.  Maybe I can get a free shirt.
I was impressed.  

-

---

From: [email-masked] (Mattison)
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 12:15:29 GMT

Cymraes224 ([email-masked]) wrote:
: My husband and I have just purchased our first home.  I am looking forward
: to landscaping our yard and have, in the past, doodled on graph paper. 
: I've seen several software packages and am wondering which would be the
: best.  The 3D Landscaper seems like it would fulfill our needs but I would
: like input from anyone who has used it.  Can I design my own fencing and
: walkways?  What about ponds.  Apparently there are hundreds of plants in
: the program, are they listed by Zone?  Any feedback would be greatly
: appreciated.  You may respond directly to [email-masked]. Thanks so
: much.  Kate Holgate 

Sounds like a complex project.  Hiring a professional Landscape Designer 
is my reccomendation.  It is a far better insurance policy and investment 
than software.  The software today is very limited and does not stretch 
your design dollar.

Trust me -

We have ripped out many very costly misttakes by owner builders.  Gardens 
are complex it is important to meet many needs an owner may never 
consider on their first project. 

At a minimum invest in a designer as a consultant.

Mattison FitzGerald
Principal 'M' Design
San Jose - Menlo Park