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Gardening is a truly therapeutic activity that anybody can get involved with. It doesn’t matter whether you have massive grounds or a single window sill with free space, you should be able to plant something, take care of it, and help it thrive – and what better way to do that than by tapping into the wealth of information and tools that are available digitally through your phone? This selection of apps can help anyone start a garden – we spoke with IT support companies that like to engage with gardening, and found out the best mobile applications available to keep a garden healthy and happy.
Garden Tags
This app blends gardening with a social media-style community. Garden Tags is an app that connects users into a network of gardeners across many regions; you can follow other gardeners who’s plants and gardens inspire you. You can build a photo journal of your garden, as well as search built-in encyclopaedias, receive automated reminders for plant maintenance and care (which you can even have tailored to your local climate), and access trends among other users to see what plants or products are popular at the moment.
One of the best features of Garden Tags is it’s photographic plant recognition – simply point your phone’s camera at a plant – it could be a whole flower or just a single leaf – and use the app to find the name of the plant.
RHS Grow Your Own
From the Royal Horticultural Society, this app is great for beginner gardeners who want automated guidance with their growing. With RHS Grow Your Own, you can compile personal lists of plants, flowers and vegetables that you want to grow. The app will then take that list and create a monthly to-do list – it’ll give you reminders for when to sow, when to repot, when to harvest, and much more. It even gives you suggestions on plant varieties with information on them such as when to harvest and what common problems they might have, so that you are prepared for them.
SmartPlant Home
This US-based app has received critical acclaim from users over the years since its release. Smart Plant Home is essentially a troubleshooting and diagnosis app powered by real horticultural experts and garden centers located around the U.S. The app includes a searchable problem solver for all kinds of diseases, pests, and weeds. Its enhanced features include contact with horticultural experts who can work with you directly to help you with your gardening.
My Soil
This UK-based app is excellent for new and experienced gardeners alike. It was developed by the British Geological Survey in order to help gardeners find information on the soil in their local area. The app offers information on the type of soil, the average soil depth, the soil pH, temperature, and even the organic matter content. All of these different fields of data will factor into what types of plants will grow well in your area, and which plants will struggle to thrive. The app will even suggest varieties of plants, fruits, and vegetables that will do well in the soil in your area.
What’s That Flower?
This freemium app is ideal for people that regularly come across flowers in their day-to-day life that they like the look of, and may like to have for their own garden with sequoia bonsai. What’s That Flower? The app works by asking a set of questions about the flower you want to find – the colour, the habitat, the number of petals, and the distribution. With each question answered, the number of choices narrows down – the app has records of over 1,000 different flowers – and once you have narrowed the selection down, you can browse through the results to find the flower you’re looking for. This is all part of the basic features, but to unlock the photo search feature, you can pay a one-off fee of $3.
Moon & Garden
This garden app is for any gardeners that favour a biodynamic approach to their horticulture. Moon & Garden, as you might be able to guess, offers detailed information on the lunar phases throughout each month; it also includes the weather forecast for your area – together, this information provides excellent information for gardeners on when the best time in the month (and the year) it is to sow, repot, transplant, and harvest their vegetables.
Vegetables and plants are complex organisms, and therefore many gardeners like to take into account as many environmental variables as they can when managing their gardens, because it allows them to help their charges thrive – Moon & Garden is an excellent way to start incorporating some extra environmental information into your horticultural plan.
Gardenate
Another excellent digital companion for your vegetable garden, Gardenate offers an excellent calendar that can help you with your planting schedule. The calendar and app has a simple layout that offers detailed information on a number of different vegetables, allowing you to set a schedule for planting vegetables, and planning your garden. You can even use the app to get inspiration on what you want to plant throughout the year.
Gardenate is packed with information on many different popular vegetables, even including information for vegetables common in different countries, such as the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and South Africa.
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