Recycle & Reuse: Using digital tools to get the perfect garden

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Gardening is one of the oldest hobbies you can start today. While you may not starve without your own garden as you might have in the past, getting out in the dirt may have you feeling like you are taking a step back in time.

The modern gardener today has many digital tools they didn’t have back then that can make planning and maintaining a garden much easier. Whether you are just gettting started or have been gardening for years you can find a tool that can help you during planting season and beyond.

I’m in the process of moving and, of course, the first thing I’ve worked on is planning the layout of the yard and garden. For this I turned to Gardena.com. This online program will allow you to draw out your lot and place down your house, pavement, trees, shrubs and more so that you can determine the layout. It is a great way to visualize your lot before breaking ground and can save you a lot of time attempting to rearrange things. It may be a little difficult to use if you struggle with technology but if you are tech-inclined it can be an incredibly useful tool.

Gardena may be for those that are familiar with technology, but Vegplotter.com is incredibly simple. While you won’t be planning out the layout of your whole yard here, you can plan out your garden beds. All you need is to measure how big your garden bed is and Vegplotter will help you determine how many vegetables you will be able to plant in it and then you can drag and drop vegetables into squares to plan where you will plant them. This is a great way to make sure you are maximizing your space and not lose veggies to overcrowding.

When you are just getting started with gardening vegetables it can be difficult to know how much of something to plant to feed your family. You may end up with more zucchini than anyone is willing to eat or you could end up fighting over the few carrots you planted. Smartgardener.com has you put in how many adults and children are in your family and can then calculate how much of the vegetable you like you should plant. This can save you a lot of trial and error over the years.

If you are constantly looking at other yards for inspiration Leafsnap or Google Image Search are going to be your best friends. If you put the Google search widget on your phone there is a little camera icon next to the microphone. Clicking that camera will allow you to snap a picture and search the web for it, and many plants can be identified this way.

I find Leafsnap, a free app, to be a bit easier to use for this, however, because it is built specifically for identifying plants. This makes it easier to identify plants in all seasons including winter and it will give you multiple images to compare to as well as tips like looking for fuzzy leaves. After you’ve identified the plant you can do more research and decide if you’d like to place it in your garden, too.

Another great app is Gardenize. This app is great if you have a lot on your mind or you lose track of time often. With it you can track your plants and add notes. For example, you can mark if you used a certain pesticide, when you last fertilized or if you spotted a new bud. You can also set reminders for yourself like when to garden or weed.

The app Garden Manager is only available on Android but has such a great feature I have to mention it. While many garden apps let you set reminders, it actually ties into weather stations so it can even help alert you when to protect your plants from frost.

Embracing digital tools to plan and maintain your garden opens up a world of possibilities for gardening enthusiasts. Whether you use the detailed plans of Gardena or the simple calculator from Smartgardener, these platforms make it easier than ever to cultivate your green paradise.