Have you ever thought about using landscape design apps to help you with your landscape design project? When you begin the journey to transform your landscape, it is often hard to imagine the full picture. You are left with many decisions to make. For instance, how do you want to use your space? Perhaps you want a place for entertaining, quiet Sunday mornings, or a beautiful garden to gaze upon and appreciate.  

Once you have an idea, formulating the actual layout can be difficult. You have a feeling and purpose, but how will you place certain elements, will the elements work together, and as plants grow from year to year, how will the landscape change?  

Using a landscape app is a great resource to help you plan out the space you want to use. Landscape apps can help with the placement of elements such as pools, firepits, pergolas, different plant varieties, and the overall feel of how your space will be experienced. Below we review the top five home and landscape design apps to help you envision your perfect outdoor space before hiring a landscape designer.

Landscape Design Apps

Houzz

This is perhaps the most common app that is used for home design ideas. It has received a 4.8 out of 5 reviews for the many options it provides. The most appealing offering in this app is it's more than 20 million photos to choose from. Using your camera, you can take a picture and place elements from the app right on to your image. Therefore, allowing you to view items within your space at the exact dimensions.

You can share photos and design spaces with family and friends, getting options and suggestions. Not only can you use the plethora of photos offered, but there is also a sketch option that allows you to draw an element just the way you envision it.

Houzz offers a unique element in its app. If you absolutely fall in love with that perfect outside lounge chair, or you must have the perfectly sized fire pit, you can buy it right through the app! More than 10 million products are offered on the site, and you can save up to 75% during sales periods. There are hundreds of articles and a great collection of media, including specials on DIY projects.

This is a great app, to begin with as it includes a wide range of offerings to get you started on your project.

You can find our Houzz profile here.

iScape

While Houzz is known as the number one home and outdoor living design app, iScape is the number one app specifically designed for outdoor spaces. You can plant an entire garden and watch it grow through the app. You can create different designs ready to show your landscape designer.  

The app allows you to take a photo of your outdoor space and convert it into 2D or 3D layouts to begin designing. The user can overlay thousands of different pictures, including outdoor elements, walkways, and many more components.

The app also lets you share ideas with friends and family and allows them to collaborate. You can also plan ideas with your landscape designer. If you want to create an entire landscape design on your own, the app will create quotes, timelines and connect you to a landscape designer through their service.

The New York Times also endorses this app stating, "When you're planning a new garden or considering a change to an established one, it can be difficult to visualize the results. This is where iScape comes in handy." 

This app received a 4.6 out of 5 stars. A subscription for the service is $29.99/month or $299.99/year (which gives two free months of service).

Home Outside

Home Outside is a great all-around app that allows you to design your own garden beds or an entire property plan. There are hundreds of pre-drawn images that allow the user to touch and drag for placement. The images include plant material, furniture, fixed elements, fences, and whole patio sets.  

Another great element of this app is taking pictures of the space you want to transform. This includes being able to plot out your entire property—a great feature for those with large areas of usable space that need function and unity.  

Two elements within this app aid in transforming your space for entertaining. First, there are fifteen different colors you can use to bring your preferred theme together. In addition, you can also incorporate the number of guests you generally entertain, and the app will then keep track of this information when it comes to design and planning.

This app received a 3.7 out of 5 stars and can be purchased for a one-time payment of $2.99.

Landscaper's Companion

Landscaper’s Companion is touted as the "number one reference guide to all plants," including trees, shrubs, grass, perennial and annual vegetables, and flowers. With over 26,000 different types of plants spanning seventeen different categories, this guide has everything you need to research and choose the plants you want for your landscape.

This app's main benefit is the wide selection of plants to explore, expansive education provided, placement and balance advice, how to plant on your own, and the best plants for your location. If you are a novice in planning a green space, this is a great app to start with because of the "rich search features'' the app offers.  

This app is definitely a go-to resource for learning more about plants you are interested in incorporating into your landscape design.

The app received 3 out of 5 stars based on customer service issues. You can buy the app for a one-time payment of $9.99.

PRO Landscape Home

Like many of the other app offerings, PRO Landscape Home has many of the same features. What sets this app apart is taking pictures of outdoor elements, plants, and other design features and adding them to the library of pictures that the app already offers. For example, if you’re visiting a friend, family member, or at your local garden store and you find a plant or fixture you like, simply take a picture and have fun placing it around your design space!

The app also allows for a command bar that can easily move an element to the front, back or side. Each element added to your design will be perfectly proportionally sized so you can see a real-life visual of your new space.

A really great feature is adding a "before" picture and comparing it side to side to the "after" picture that you personally designed.  

Due to this app's new launch, there are not enough reviews to give a star rating. However, the app is free, unless you want a larger library of images to design from, a one-time payment of $14.99.

Apps are a wonderful way to start exploring themes, interests, functionality, and overall experience you want to feel in your home, office, or large property. These apps can help you identify landscapes you love and plants that really don't suit your taste. Apps are a wonderful tool to help explain your vision to a Landscape Designer. 
We’ve listed a wide range of apps that serve all those from the beginning gardener to a motivated homeowner. Whether you are improving a new garden or implementing a new landscape design, apps are a great resource to start planning. If we can be of service in any way, please feel free to contact us.