Once you’ve selected your plants, the app places them in a two-dimensional view of your garden, arranging them in the best order for companion planting. Based on your location, the amount of sunlight your garden receives and the square footage of your garden, you’re given a list of suitable crops to choose from. The app features a simple mapping tool based on the square foot gardening practice, which is dividing a garden space into small square spaces. My Green Space by Green Space Solutions Inc., available for iOS and Android devices, is a free app designed for planning vegetable and herb gardens, and it has mostly good reviews. It costs $38 to download, with a 15-day free trial. While the program’s objects are sized to give you an idea of how much space they need, the program doesn’t offer any information about how much space each plant needs. In mapping out your garden with this program, you’ll need to research how much space each crop requires. You can also add pathways, fences, gravel and more. The mapping tool allows you to create gardens of various shapes and sizes, then fill them with pre-made objects, including a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers. Garden Planner by Artifact Interactive, available for Windows and Mac OSX computers, allows you to plan out gardens on a two-dimensional space from a birds-eye view. However, if you’re the type of person who enjoys creating diagrams and recording information on a screen, there are a few gardening apps and websites that may interest you. When it comes to mapping, the tried and true method is with pencil, paper and ruler.

Visualizing these places is key to ensuring each plant has enough space and sun. A great way to prepare for the growing season is to carefully map out your garden spaces, whether you plan to tend a large vegetable patch or a tiny planter on your patio.

Interactive garden planner