Hardscape design software reviews

And with more than 3, different garden items to choose from, you can build your dream landscape. You can also add water features and see the final product before you start the actual construction phase of the project.

Professionals who want more features can choose from one of the company's advanced products. Landscaping design software programs make the landscape design process much easier and more accessible to a variety of users.

While many of the software options on the market are still only compatible with one operating system, some can be used across multiple devices.

If you own an Apple mobile device or tablet and want to be able to build on the go, your best choice is iScape. Landscape design software programs are computer, web, or mobile device-based programs that allow users to visualize landscaping projects.

The shrinking cost of landscape design software has made these programs more affordable to more people beyond architects, professional designers, and landscapers.

The higher end of that spectrum is aimed at industry professionals. We looked at more than 15 landscape design software platforms and narrowed down our choices based on the software's usability, price, device compatibility, user experience, customer satisfaction, and industry expertise. We also considered whether anyone buying the software could easily learn how to use the program without prior experience.

For instance, we picked SmartDraw as our best overall as it's useful to a wide audience, compatible with mobile devices and desktops, and user-friendly. We chose PRO Landscape as best for contractors for its large design library features, availability for use on tablets and computers, lifetime support, and online demo.

Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors.

Gardening Landscaping. With easy-to-use tools and simple navigation, this software also has a good library of plants, branded items, and it benefits from good drawing tools. This version is also only available for PC but more basic versions are available for Mac.

However, this is a 'plant encyclopaedia' rather than an object library of an equivalent standard to those other packages. You'll find useful information about the different plants to help you choose, but when added to your landscape design they are flat, blocky and pixelated renditions. The Smart YardBlock tool, for instance, uses drag-and-drop functionality to add entire lawns, decks or pools to your landscape design.

Whereas some landscape design tools include an immersive 'walkthrough' function, iScape enables you to simply walk around your garden carrying your device, exploring your design proposal from different vantage points. A fully searchable library of trees, shrubs, flowers and other plants and garden accessories can be found within the app, complete with info and planting tips to help you make the right decisions. Although the basic version of the app is totally free to download and play with, the restricted functionality may make it worth taking out a subscription to iScape Plus if you find it useful enough for your needs.

The AR mode is an enjoyable extra, although the app overall is much more limited than the other specialized landscape design software in this guide. Before making a decision about the right landscape design software for you, you need to consider exactly what you need it for. Here are a few useful questions to ask yourself as a starting point. Are you planning a total redesign of your garden, and if so, are you doing it yourself or hiring a professional?

Do you need to be able to work out the costs of each aspect of your plan, in order to meet a budget? Does the plan you create with this tool just need to help you quickly visualize how your idea might look before you head to the garden center, or are accurate dimensions important?

Do you need to recreate the topography of your garden, for instance, or get the angles of your boundary walls or fences spot-on? And when it comes to planning a planting scheme, do you need a tool that can help you select what to plant and where — based on your local climate, the available sun, soil type, and other factors? And how much choice do you need? All of these factors — and more — will help determine which landscape design software is right for you, so pay attention to their feature-sets carefully.

As our guide above shows, landscape design software can vary enormously in price depending on the capabilities of the tool, the desired realism of the final result, and also whether certain functions are necessary. SketchUp Free or the basic iScape app are completely free of charge, of course.

Both enable you to experiment with your landscape design ideas, and see how certain plans could look in situ. But when you get to business end of the design process, these free options may not suit your needs for an actual project. Both offer tiered subscription options tailored to your needs.

However there are also cheaper versions of these packages, with correspondingly fewer features. The best part is that the programs will set out your design in a photorealistic landscape, meaning that you get to see your design in 3D and catch any potential problems in the design stage.

Produced by brands such as Realtime Landscaping, TurboFloorPlan and Total 3D Landscape, most landscape design software is designed to be pretty user-friendly for the average person through interactive tutorials. However, there are also more advanced programs that have been designed with professionals in mind. Pro software such as SketchUp Studio have extra features such as cost estimators, import tools and photorealistic rendering to deal with every stage in the design process.

As well as an extensive library, you should be able to search for specific props and objects to make your design as realistic as possible. The resulting landscape should also be as photorealistic as possible to help you fully visualize your dream backyard in 3D. Certain basic features should be available in any landscape design software. More advanced features include topography designers to sculpt the terrain to match your garden; cost estimators, to ensure your design comes within budget; and import tools to customize your design with your own photos.

These are less common, and may help you make your choice if they're important to you. When you complete the project, you can share it on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. It is possible to save your projects for future use. It will help you implement your design ideas by approaching the experts in this area.

If you prefer to do everything yourself, you can contact a local garden center to get some recommendations on what materials to choose. Lands Design is a perfect solution for those who want to create 2D and 3D presentations.

The software allows you to create different virtual tours and apply various effects to present awesome projects and impress your clients. Another distinctive feature of this program is that you can search and insert plant species, each one with its own specifications and characteristics.

Thus, you can easily figure out which plants can grow on the specific territory and make your presentation even more realistic. Besides, the program has a large library of various trees. If you want to get a more natural-looking effect, you can place 3D trees with shadows. The library is fully customizable, so you can adjust all the necessary parameters as you want.

Lands Design is especially useful when it comes to the watering system layout design. You can find irrigation pipes, sprinklers and other watering system objects in the library and add them to your project. This landscape design software offers 2D and 3D modeling, Blueprint mode and other remarkable functions that are necessary for completing amazing projects. You can even insert 3D models into your presentation to get a more realistic and unique design.

This free 3D landscape design software has a rich online object library that includes various materials, so you can easily complement your design presentation with any desired item. For example, you can choose plants, patios, textures, furniture, decorations and more.

Terragen is one of the most powerful landscaping programs which is used to create realistic renderings and animations of landscapes. With the help of Terragen, you can produce spectacular outdoor views and complement your project with any element from the diverse object library. It is possible to adjust shadows and other effects for the scenes with weather, sun, moon, clouds, lakes, terrains, textures. Also, it is possible to add grass, plants, trees, garden furniture and other objects to your presentation.

It is worth noting that Terragen has been used for creating visual effects in more than 30 movies, TV products, game development, etc. However, it requires an advanced laptop for AutoCAD to cope with all the processes smoothly. It is suitable for both experienced users who do the landscape designs professionally or homeowners who want to share their vision of how their house should look like with designers.

It is possible to collaborate with landscape specialists as well as use the application to share your ideas and make them real. Another distinctive feature that makes iScape the best free landscape design software is the Augmented Reality world that allows doing the designs together in real-time.