Virtual gardener
Gardeners unable to afford expensive designers used to rely on their own imaginations.
Not any more. A number of garden design computer programmes now exist - some of them free.
And one allows you to upload a digital photo of your garden, so you can see all the new plants in situ before planting them.
Before getting started, check to see if there is a snap of your own garden stored on your PC. (No Macintosh version of Showoff exists but one is promised).
If there is no available photo - and you own or can borrow a digital camera - upload one. Alternatively you could scan a print and upload it.
Without a snap of your own garden, you can still use a Showoff sample picture to practise.
One drawback we should make you aware of is that Showoff is American and the selection of plants reflects that. Like all things internet, Showoff works much better with broadband than dial-up, as you will need a live connection.
To use Showoff
1. Point your browser to www.showoff.com and click the ‘Download Now’ button. That will take you to a form. Fill this in and click ‘Submit’. You will see a download link – in a small, inconspicuous font - saying ‘Showoff Landscape Design Software’. Click this link and save the file to the Desktop. Double Click the resulting Showoff icon and install the programme. Click ‘Finish’ and the programme will install automatically.
2. If no webcam is attached to your PC, you will see a warning screen. There is no need for a webcam, so click on ‘Close’.
3. The opening screen is an interactive demo of Showoff. You might want to view this – if not, close it by clicking ‘Skip’.
4. Now to get down to business. At the top of the screen is a row of buttons. Click ‘Open’ and you will get four options.
5. We recommend you select ‘Open a Picture from my Computer’, if available. Browse to the picture and double click it to load. If unavailable, select ‘Open an existing model picture’.
6. To set a hardiness zone, see the column of buttons down the left hand side of the screen. The fourth button up from the button sets the zone. Click the ‘Hardiness Zones Map’ button. You may get a message saying: “Re direct this page to hardiness zone map... Reason: in case the link changes over time you can make the changes here instead of the application.” In that case, don’t worry - use the following address: www.uk.gardenweb.com/forums/zones/hze.html
As you will see, most of the UK is in Zone 8. Enter the correct number in the box and click ‘OK’.
7. To start adding plants to the picture, click the ‘category’ button on the toolbar and make a selection - for example, ‘Annuals’. Scroll through and click on your chosen plant – e.g. ‘Tulip’. Without a broadband connection they make take some time to appear. Thumbnails of plants suitable for the hardiness zone are tagged ‘HZ’.
8. Clicking the thumbnail will pop the plant onto the middle of the screen. Click on the image and a box will appear around it, enabling you to drag it to the required location, rotate (click arrow at top right corner) and resize (click at bottom right corner) if wished.
9. When correctly sized and positioned, click away from the plant to remove the box around it. You may adjust the plant later, by repeating the above procedure.
10. To place more of the same plant, use the Make a Copy button from the column at the left of the screen. Drag the new plant next to the original and repeat your earlier steps until you have as many of that plant as you want.
11. Continue to add different plants. To place a new plant behind an existing one, there is no need to move the foreground plant. Just place the new plant over the existing one and click the ‘Send back’ button (left hand column).
12. To remove a plant, simply click to select it. Either press the ‘Delete’ button on your keyboard or click the on-screen ‘Delete’ button.
These are the basic principles, then – you can try out the other features as you wish. Remember to save regularly - and avoid pressing the Escape key on your keyboard. It exits the programme instantly and will cause you to lose unsaved work.
You can print out your design if you wish.
To use Showoff you need an add-on called Flash Player. If it is not installed you will get a warning message when trying to run Showoff. In that case, download Flash from www.adobe.com/shockwave/download
The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not held by Saga unless specifically stated. The material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal, medical or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.