If you are a beginner in gardening, using a garden planner will help you plan your garden’s layout as well as the contents. It is one way of staying organized and getting rid of other things that should not be in your garden.
why use a garden planning template?
Most beginners would agree that starting your garden from scratch may seem like a tedious and daunting task. However, a garden planner gives you the ease of learning where to start in your new garden.
Every garden planner gives you the basic knowledge of using various tools that will help you create any plan of action for your garden. You can decide on the shape, terrain, and size that you want. If you want, you can also add boundaries like walls or fences or plan the placements of trees, garden plants, bushes, and other things you want to put in your new garden.
how is a garden bed planning template used?
Most garden planning templates allow you to zoom in and move around so that you can place everything you what their exact places. You get to choose whether you want to start with the design in the garden planner template or start from scratch.
Once you have created your garden layout, you can get a free printable copy of the layout or save the copy on your computer. This will usually come with a list of the garden supplies that you need to successfully implement the design you made.
In this article, we will introduce free printable garden planning templates that beginners and even long-time gardeners can use.
free garden planner templates you can try
1. garden visualizer by marshalls
The name of the free garden planner speaks for itself. You get to visualize just what your garden would look like. It is in 3D and allows you to move it around to get a good view of the garden from all angles. You can choose the shape and size of the garden and set the boundary you want like a hedge in line for your current garden or a fence.
Another feature is that you can upload a photo of your home’s exterior as the backdrop to get a clear idea of what your design would look like on your property.
You get the benefit of creating a range of styles and lets you choose from various garden surfaces, furniture, paving, edging, as well as outbuildings like summer houses. The site allows you to save your designs online.
The program will suggest sending the plan you made to an approved installer so you can discuss the building options to create the plan you made. You also get the option to request the list of materials that Marshalls can supply if you want.
2. plan-a-garden by better homes & gardens
This free garden planner supports the drag and drop feature that makes it easy to use. All of the objects you can add to your garden are in 3D, which makes all items more realistic, unlike other planners that only offers a bird’s eye view.
The garden planner will walk you through a wizard where you can select the background scene and drag the other elements you want like arbours, fences, or benches to make a more customized look. You can then brush a surface on your gardens such as gravel, stones, lawn, tiles, or brick paths.
You can include all vegetables, flowers, or any other crops you want in your garden. There are various shrubs, trees, fruits, bulbs, vines, and other more plants that you can easily add using drag and drop. You can also filter them by light, type, and size to find any plant easily.
The program lets you save your progress online. Once you are done, you can save and download the image of the design and export the list of plants you used in the design you made.
A particular downside in this garden planner unlike other online garden planners is that adding plants and other objects in the garden. You only have one view to check the garden which makes moving plants or objects around the screen can be limited.
3. my garden by gardena
This garden planner is among the free tools that you can use as a beginner in gardening. This gives a bird’s eye view of the garden for you to plan and design.
Its style is unique as it gives you a sketch or a type of visual similar to an artist’s impression instead of a lifelike creation. It allows you to start from scratch or you can also upload your choice of pre-designed plans. You can get inspiration from that or make any changes that you think will work for your garden space.
The program allows you to add anything to your plans like ponds, garden furniture, trees and shrubs, greenhouses, paving, fences, and gates. The garden planner lets you design your own garden irrigation system to keep your plants healthy and happy without the need for watering them again manually.
You can also print the finished design you made and take it with you in the garden to keep your inspiration accessible. Use it as a guide when buying plants.
4. vegplotter
An easy, interactive, and feature-packed browser-based garden planner will help any gardener to sow, grow, take care of, and harvest any crop. It is a free tool for anyone who will sign up and will give you unlimited access to all features. This is exactly what starters could use in garden planning.
It has an intuitive interface and is user-friendly. This garden planner also uses the drag and drop system for choosing and placing any crop you want to include in your garden plan.
Unlike other garden planners, this one is more than just an ordinary garden design tool. It helps you follow through planting to growing seasons and provide helpful tips and reminders when to plant or harvest every crop you chose.
This will provide more information on managing your herbs, fruits, and vegetables and more information on reducing waste and helping people to feed themselves. It will also provide information on other gardening jobs you need to complete. This means that you can keep track of all the plants and gardening tasks that you need to accomplish regularly.
Another advantage in using this garden planner is that the combination of complexity and simplicity in using it does not only help grownups but even school children. They can get started in growing vegetables even at an early age.
You get to save the designs that you made on the website and lets you continue with it when you need to.
5. online kitchen garden planner by gardeners
This is a quite simple garden planner that you can use. You just have to scroll through different plants and then drag and drop the garden plants that you choose. Beginners can learn how to use square foot gardening techniques in creating raised bed gardens.
You can drag and drop garden plants that you like on the grid. There are diverse options on the grids that you can choose. You can create up to 5 by 12 grids that will cater to various plants.
There are pre-planned garden plans that you can use for a quick start or use as an inspiration. You can draw inspiration from the pre-planned garden designs and have an idea of what is most convenient to be used in your garden space.
Once you think that your garden design is good, you get the choice to print only the image or include the other planting information in the design. The planting information will include lots of valuable information like how you should plant the seeds, enough space for your garden, how often a new crop should be planted, the number of days until the crops are ready to harvest and even hints in sowing seeds successfully.
These garden planners will help you figure out where to start when it comes to garden planting. You just have to choose which one is suitable for your needs and which one is more convenient to use.
