Edible Landscape Design Software

We want to design an edible landscape on our acreage and would like your suggestion for a good software to use. Carole in Zone 4

ANSWER

Hi Carol,
This would depend on what type of design you are looking for and how professional you need it to be.

You might start out with looking at my page on landscape design software

Other than that, it would be helpful when deciding to be clear on the following. I am not sure if you are a homeowner or a professional, but here are some questions.

1. Do you want to do a 2D design (called plan view - a view looking directly down on the layout)? This is very professional as it is typically done to scale where everything can be measured.

2. Are you interested in creating a 3D design?
This is helpful in seeing the big layout and plants, but is difficult in portraying a lot of detailed plant material. It can be done, but the plant components will be more schematic (close) than exact.

3. Are you looking for software that has a large plant inventory? I know LandFX does, plus you can add your own. However if you are looking for information on specific edible plants, you'll have to do some research. Horticopia is a good program.

4. Do you have a budget in mind? Most of the better software can be costly. Sketchup which is mostly used for 3D designs is free, although they do have a professional version.

I hope this was helpful. If you would like to discuss this further, please just continue here in the Comments.