Gardening is supposed to be about the natural life, right? Well, yes. But that doesn’t mean we can’t let technology give us a hand. Would you have guessed that your smart phone or tablet could be a gardening companion? We have our top 5 picks for gardening apps that you need, today! Seriously, these could change the way you garden, help you create a garden plan you have been putting off, and help you to visualize what it is you want, and how to get it. Got bug, weeds or plants you can’t identify? Need a designers touch? Forget your gardening chores, time and time again? Got you covered… In other words, use these apps, and your view on gardening could totally change right now, today. Who knew?

Number 1 – Garden Compass

Available on iTunes, Garden Compass is a free app to help you identify pests, diseases, plants, and even help with design! Simply snap a photo, send it to their experts, and they will get back to you with identification and how to handle the problem. Oh, and you can design and order plants, or get help finding a retailer near you. Reviewers are raving with 5 star reviews, and we gave it a trial run and were impressed. Did we mention, it’s free? Get more information on the Garden Compass home page and watch the video, or download now from the iTunes store.

 

Number 2 – Sprout It!

Sprout it is also available on iTunes and is another free app. This is a customizable gardening helper, offering you step by step guidance growing vegetables and herbs, based on your location, and on the type of garden you want to grow. Tips on what is the best to grow in your garden for your location, reminders on tasks delivered at the right times for you, design help and reference, weather alerts, with tips on recovery if bad weather does hit… the list goes on! Plus, the photos are amazing, and they even have info on how to store and cook what you grow! This app is sponsored by Miracle Gro, but it does support organic gardening as well. Great app! Check out Sprout It!’s home page and then download on iTunes!

 

Number 3 – Iscape

Iscape is a design gardening app available for both Apple and Android. Iscape 1.1 is free, but for more serious gardeners and professionals, they have IScape Elite for $9.99. This is an amazing design tool, especially for most of us who have a hard time visualizing what a garden will look like after planting. Take a photo of your garden space, then use their drag and drop tools and their immense library to design a realistic photo rendering of your garden design. Many easy to learn but invaluable photo editing tools, and the Elite version goes even further, a true professional quality tool. Check out Iscape Free  or Iscape Elite. You can also visit their home page for updates and support.

 

Number 4 – The New Sunset Western Garden Book App

If you live in the western half of the US, you are probably familiar with the “bible” of western gardening. However, I bet you don’t know they have an interactive app that beats the book a hundred times over! At $14.99 it’s the most expensive app on our list, but let me tell you why it’s worth every penny. (And it’s still less expensive than buying the book!) First of all,  the great gardening guidance in the book is available in the app in videos. Yep, you can actually watch and listen to advice being explained and demonstrated! Slide shows, regional calendars, climate maps…It has an extensive plant library, and my fav… it is like a gardening notebook, built into a reference book! You can make notes on plant cards as to how a certain plant behaves in your garden, things you want to change, etc… than organize and bookmark ideas into personal notebook form.  And if you can’t find it in here, you can search Google right from the app! If you live in the West and call yourself a gardener, this is the app to have. Today. Really. Check it out on iTunes.

 

Number 5 – Landscaper’s Companion

This is a plant database app available in the Itunes store for both iPad and iPhone for $4.99.  With over 26,000 plants in 17 categories, this is one of the top garden plant references around. Great search capability, and if a plant you have isn’t there, you can actually add it to your database. Keep notes, lists, and even email detailed plant info. Also has general reference information on plants such as size, water needs, bloom time, zone, etc… If you need to know plants, then check out the Landscape Companion on iTunes.

 

Remember, if you want to make sure you keep track of this post to reference later, don’t forget to pin this photo (below) on your boards!  Oh yea, and it’s great to share with others too! Let us know in comments if you try one of these apps! Love it? Hate it?