Gardening
Masterclass
Use free software to design a garden
Work out what to plant and where in your garden and see the results immediately
There are plenty of garden design programs around, but the one used in this Workshop is rather different. Called Showoff Virtual Designer, not only is it free but it also uses a digital photo of your own garden instead of forcing you to create a virtual garden from scratch.
We should point out that this program does suffer from two drawbacks: its American origins mean you're faced with a rather different selection of plants than you'd find in a home-grown program; and your PC needs to be connected to the internet while using the program. However, its cheerful approach, colourful interface and quick results mean there's no reason why you shouldn't completely remake your garden in less than an hour.
To download Showoff, start your web browser and direct it to Showoff.com. Hit the link marked 'click here' to be redirected to the download area of the software developer's website. We're focusing on the PC version of the software, though Mac users can download the alternative version of the software for the Mac and follow this Workshop just as easily. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the download. We recommend saving the download to the Desktop.
As noted in the introduction, a live internet connection is essential when using Showoff because the images of all the objects placed or planted in the garden cannot be viewed correctly until they have been downloaded. The file you downloaded to the Desktop will be named something like 'ShowOff2005LANDSCAPEUnlimited_setupVA.exe'. Double-click on the file to install the program.
Click through the installation screens, responding to all the suggestions as to where and how the program should be installed. When you click on Finish, the program will start itself automatically.
If there is no webcam attached to your PC, you'll see a warning message saying as much (don't worry, you don't need a webcam). Click on Close to remove this dialogue box. The opening screen is nothing more than an interactive demonstration of how plants are selected within the program. For now, click on the Skip button to ignore the demo. To load a picture of your house and garden, click on the Open button on the row of tools running across the top of the screen.
The first of the four options in the Open menu loads one of 15 sample pictures of houses and gardens supplied with the program. The second option opens a picture of your own house if you have one stored on your hard disk, and the third opens a picture of your house if it is stored on a personal web page. The fourth option, to take a picture of your garden using a webcam connected to your PC, seems rather unrealistic unless it's on an exceptionally long cable.
Click on the second option - to open a picture of your home that is stored on the computer. If you don't yet have such a picture, jump straight to step six where you can practise using the program with one of the supplied sample pictures. If you do have a picture, browse to wherever on your computer's hard disk it is stored, and then double-click on the file to load it.
From this point on you can either work with the picture of your own home you've already loaded, or you can load the same sample picture that will illustrate the remaining steps. To load the sample, click on the Open button at the top of the screen and from the menu that appears, select Open an existing model picture. Click on the middle sample on the middle row.
Setting a 'hardiness zone' for the area where you live allows the program to select the plants it knows are likely to survive a winter in your region. To set a hardiness zone, click on the sample picture, then on the HZ button on the left of the screen. Select 7 as the zone number and click on OK (most of the United Kingdom is in zone 7 apart from the most northerly parts of Scotland, which verge on zone 6).
To place some French marigolds in the picture, click on the Categories button at the top of the screen, then click on Landscape Plants. This displays the sub-categories of landscape plants. Click on Annuals to view a list of all the examples known to the program.
Be patient if you don't have a broadband connection, as selecting plants requires the program to periodically retrieve information from the internet, and this could prove slow via dial-up. Use the scroll arrows on the right of the list to locate French Marigolds, and then click to select them.
Thumbnail pictures of the selected plant and its alphabetical neighbours are now displayed on a scrollable panel. Without a broadband connection you may find yourself waiting many seconds for the thumbnails to appear. You'll notice that French marigolds are tagged with HZ icons to show that they are suitable for the selected hardiness zone. Of the two pictures depicting French marigolds, click the one on the right to select it.
The handle at the bottom right-hand corner of the plant can be used to resize the image, and the handle at the top right is for rotation. To affect these changes, hold the mouse pointer over the handle, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse.
To move a plant, place the screen pointer (a hand) over the centre of the image, then hold down the mouse button and drag the plant into position. Try this now by resizing the marigolds and dragging them to one of the flowerbeds near the front door. Once they're in position, click on the Make a Copy button (it's the top one of those running down the left of the screen), and drag the copy next to the original. Repeat this process to create two clumps of marigolds.
Using similar techniques, plant roses at the side of the house, and Japanese iris and Delphinium Pacific in the corner flowerbed (these are all in the Perennials sub-category). On occasions when you want to add a new plant behind an existing plant, you don't have to move the foreground plant out of way.
For example, to add a clump of goldenrod behind the delphiniums, first place the goldenrod over the delphiniums, then click on the Send Back button on the left, to place the clump behind the existing plants.
To remove a plant you've placed, first select the plant and then use the Delete key on your keyboard, or click on the on-screen Delete button (a red X at the left-hand side of the window). It's also possible to delete plants and other objects from the original photograph, though this requires a different approach. Let's say you want to remove the tall plant growing near the garage door. Use the Zoom button to magnify the picture and then click the Cut Out button.
Using the default settings of Brush Size 15, Brush Shape square and Paint with: the background photo, click to place the square selection area over a blank area of the garage wall above the tall plant.
A copy of the selected area will apparently float around for a few seconds before settling back in its original location. Hold down the mouse button to drag this copy into position over an area you wish to obscure. Click anywhere off the object to fix it into position. Repeat the procedure as often as necessary to paste a patchwork of squares over any offending objects. It's fiddly, but effective.
Now that you know the basic principles, you can experiment with the other features of Showoff Virtual Designer for yourself. Get into the habit of using the Save button regularly and be careful about pressing the Escape key. It does not cancel the current command, as you might expect it to do; instead it exits the program without further ado, which is extremely annoying if you haven't made a recent save.
Flash player
Showoff Virtual Designer relies on the presence of an add-on program called Flash Player. Most PCs already have it installed because many websites use it, but if needed you can download it free of charge from www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer.
You'll know if Flash Player is not installed because trying to run Showoff Virtual Designer will leave you looking at a warning message in the centre of a blank white screen.
More gardening
- How to add value to your property by improving your garden
- How to move a shrub
- How to start a vegetable garden
- How to grow herbs
