16:00 EST, 17 May 2014
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16:01 EST, 17 May 2014
Having finally run out of excuses not to do the garden, I turned to an app, not a person.
My garden is almost indistinguishable from a council rubbish tip, bar a few near-dead trees, and one frighteningly aggressive fox – who seems to be the garden’s real ‘owner’.
It’s a big job – and the problem with real, human gardeners is that they’re terribly demanding and expensive.
You’d think gardening would be the very last hold-out against hi-tech – but smartphones and tablets are actually staging a quiet, and very polite, revolution
Garden designers quote prices for which I’d expect the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, whereas iScape and Garden Plan Pro let me try out my own ideas, in 3D, using pictures of my garden, for just £6.99.
My iPad is no good with a shovel, but when it comes to planning, or reminding me when (and where) to plant bulbs, it’s perfect.
Turn to my PC, and for a little more outlay, I can buy something very similar to the design software that the ‘creative type’ who rattled off words like ‘pergola’ and ‘gazebo’ as she pitched for the job (in an effort to overcome my natural Scottish reluctance to part with money) would have used herself.
From weather apps that warn of coming frost to sensor spikes that pair with apps and remind you to bring out the watering can, or warn against over-acid soil…
…technology has arrived in the garden. Crochet and origami must be the only non-digital hobbies left
Then hardware steps in to help. You’d think gardening would be the very last hold-out against hi-tech – but smartphones and tablets are actually staging a quiet, and very polite, revolution.
From weather apps that warn of coming frost to sensor spikes that pair with apps and remind you to bring out the watering can, or warn against over-acid soil, technology has arrived in the garden.
Crochet and origami must be the only non-digital hobbies left.
Even if you actively loathe gardening, I can’t recommend Garden Plan Pro highly enough.
It’s designed for idiots (like me), and improved the yearly survival rate of my seedlings from something around the level of a Soviet labour camp to the rate in an ordinary suburb. From one app, that’s good going.
GARDEN PLAN PRO
£6.99
This app pinpoints your location using GPS, then you plan your plot on a grid pattern (the app gives advice on where, say, broccoli grows best, and what to put next to it). A calendar keeps you busy, with dates to plant bulbs, sow and harvest, and warnings of first frost, all tailored to your location. ★★★★★
ISCAPE
£6.99, iPad
For an instant insight into whether an idea is good or bad, few apps beat this – it lets you take a photo of your garden, render it into 3D, then add in virtual objects, with 1,000 features from ponds to cacti to walls to tinker with. You can save designs and compare and share with friends. ★★★★★
CHIEF ARCHITECT: HOME DESIGNER
£50, PC
This is a consumer spin-off from the 3D software used by the professionals – and if you’re planning a truly epic redesign, you can create a near photoreal version of the garden of your dreams. There are 3,600 plants (with tips on where to plant them), and the app even estimates cost. ★★★★★
KOUBACHI PLANT SENSOR
£80, amazon.co.uk
Help is finally at hand for those who have whatever the opposite of green fingers is, and kill off their plants. The Koubachi has a sensor that pairs with an app via Wi-Fi, reminding users when to water their plants, and contains a light sensor and a temperature sensor so that the plants don’t go thirsty, or drown.
HONDA MIIMO
£1,990, honda.co.uk
Robot mowers don’t come cheap, but then you don’t want cut-price circuits in an autonomous machine that reduces cuttings to dust, and which can climb 24-degree slopes on its own. You have to wire off your lawn with steel wire first, or Miimo will drive into the distance, mowing everything in its path.
MICRO POD
£14,220, pod-space.com.uk
The idea of a home office is lovely, but the reality is more like being under siege from your own family. Micro Pod is the dream: it has underfloor heating, electricity, is clad in Siberian larch and requires no planning permission. Peace at last – but we suggest adding a deadbolt lock, just to be sure.
OREGON SCIENTIFIC BAR 208
£55, oregonscientific.com
Previous generations had to tap at the glass on a barometer, hoping for some vague prophecy about the weather; this has an outdoor sensor and warns of coming ice (so you can protect plants). A window display unit shows you trends in pressure – and predicts if storms, fog or wind are on the way.
SHEEN X300 FLAME GUN
£160, mowers-online.co.uk
We’ll admit it, there is not a single microchip inside this, nor does it pair with an app, but when it comes to redesigning a garden, no one should be without a flamethrower. The paraffin-fuelled gizmo delivers a blast of flame at 1,000°C, killing all weeds pretty much instantly.
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Nuttynitta,
Romford Uk,
4 hours ago
There are loads of apps for crochet. Do your research
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