Landscape architects, Landscape Company Owners, landscape designers and homeowners often use landscape design software to plot the layout of plants (softscapes)and hardscape features before constructing a landscape. There are two levels of software available, amateur and professional. The former is usually aimed at simple visualisation of a garden design while the latter provides tools that allow stylistic representations of a design to be accurately labelled and dimensioned. Since the advent of the personal computer, several software packages have come into existence.

There is some free landscape and home design software available that can be useful for some basic yard or garden design. They are limited in what they can do and their graphics are not as sophisticated as products you pay for, but they may provide what you need in some cases. Here is a couple of them...

SHOWOFF Landscape Design Software

GOOGLE SKETCHUP Software

**WARNING - BE CAREFUL IF YOU DECIDE TO DOWNLOAD OTHER "FREE" LANDSCAPE OR DESIGN SOFTWARE AS SOME CONTAIN SPYWARE, TROJANS, ETC. THAT COULD HARM YOUR COMPUTER!!**

Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 8.0
Bestseller.

Features

* Powerful deck and patio tools allow you to design and visualize your new deck with 3D models and can help you estimate the costs
* Design single or multi-level decks complete with automatic deck framing
* Quickly lay out your deck with stairs and arrange furniture
* Deck foundations automatically generate to match sloped lots
* Exclusive Better Homes and Gardens Plant Encyclopedia
* Choose from over 1,500 plants with the Plant Chooser
* Pathways--Use the Pathway tool to design curb-appealing landscaping using stone, pavers or sidewalks--line with trees, shrubs, flowers and more
* Identify your costs and materials for your next project before you begin.

Price: CDN$ 99.99

Punch! Professional Home Design Platinum V12

This garden and landscape design software allows you to create multi-level or multi-story decks with 3D photo-realistic textures, stairs, railings, object placement, and color capabilities.

Helpful deck design wizards walk you through railing, baluster options, and more. Choose a basic shape or create one from scratch and watch the program draft a beautiful 3D rendering of your new deck design.

Your deck and landscaping designs come to life with photo-realistic 3D--complete with shadows--giving you a stunning, true-to-life representation of your home design.

Our plant database provides extensive information for a wide plant species including botanical name, soil and moisture requirements, mature height and other facts so you choose exactly what you want for your garden and landscape design. Use PlantFinder to easily locate plants that meet your requirements. Tap into information for over 4,000 selections of flowers, shrubs, trees, ornamental grasses, ground cover, and more. The Plant Inventory Bar helps you keep your favorite plants handy to drag & drop into

Price: CDN$ 99.95

Turbofloorplan Landscape & Deck V12

Create beautiful landscaping with plants, terrain, gardens and decks for the perfect outdoor living experience for you and your family. Select from over 7,500 plants, flowers, shrubs and trees to create the look you want ¿ then watch them grow by changing their age ¿ or see what they¿ll look like through the seasons. Complete Outdoor Space Design - Landscaping, Decks, Sheds, Terrain, Pathways, Fences, Gates, Arbors and more. Over 7,500 Realistic Plants - Plant Encyclopedia and Selector - Visualize Plant Growth through Seasons or by Years - Import Photos of Plants, People and your Home - 3D Models and Virtual Tours - Site Planning and Cost Estimating

Price: CDN$ 49.99

Better Homes and Gardens Picture Painter Home and Landscape

Visualize It Before You Remodel--Use Your Own Photos to Visualize New Ideas for Interiors, Exteriors and Landscaping. Choose from popular name-brand products and apply to your home photo. Import your own item images and quickly apply to your home photo. Over 6,000 items to help you visualize your home's new look. Wonder what your house would look like with a new color, material or texture? With Picture Painter Home & Landscape you can!

Price: CDN$ 69.99

3D Home Architect® Landscape Design V9

Create Your Outdoor Oasis
Create a ready-to-build landscape and garden plan that complements your home's terrain. With the Landscape Design Deluxe, the process of designing a completely new outdoor oasis or simply adding a deck to your backyard will be an enjoyable experience. A new easy-to-use interface provides you with the tools to plan, visualize and execute your design ideas.

Program Features & Functions

* Create framed deck plans with the Deck Tool.
* Use terrain modeling tools to create natural slopes and grades
* View your plans onscreen in lifelike detail with 3DTrueView
* Boost your gardening expertise on growth zones, sun exposure, and more with the plant encyclopedia

Price: CDN$ 29.99

If you are looking for a truly professional product then I would recommend any of the Punch! Landscape and Home Design programs. They have a good range of software depending on your needs and budget.

One in particular is the Punch! Home Design Architectural Series 3000. It combines the power of Master Landscape Pro and the strength of Interior Design Suite to give you their most versatile home and landscape design software ever! One Single Interface Puts a Wide Range of Powerful Tools at Your Fingertips.

Beginners will appreciate the built-in home and landscape design video tutorials - it's like having an architectural home designer by your side. Simple drag & drop functions for windows, doors, furniture, texture, color, and landscaping make producing top-notch designs a snap.

Landscape and home design professionals will appreciate the more complex features such as extensive framing and estimating, mechanical design, and CAD functions to name a few.

Architectural Series 3000 is a landscape and home design software suite designed to grow with you as you become more proficient with the program. From beginner to pro, Architectural Series 3000 makes designing a home and yard easy. This Home Design Package has Over 75 new enhancements and features!

You'll be amazed at the realism of this extraordinary software. You can create multi-level deck designs in stunning 3D, plantings, sprinkler systems and much more. When your are done, you can view your creation with a recordable Hollywood-style fly-through video.

Click below to visit Punch!



#1 best-selling home and landscape design retail software brand for seven consecutive years!

Are you interested in becoming a Garden/Landscape Designer? This program from The Institute of Garden Design is a complete home study Garden Design Program that is accredited by the Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC). Click below for more information and to request a free prospectus.

The Frame It All system is an easy to assemble, all-season durable, warp-resistant landscaping solution that is ideal for building raised bed flower and vegetable gardens, sandboxes, playground borders, water gardens and landscape edging. Designed to look attractive and offer endless creative design options, Frame It All has set a new standard in do-it-yourself landscape design delivering professional quality at an affordable price from your friends at Scenery Solutions