Ever feel the desire to get in touch with your inner Oliver Wendell Douglas? Do you want to plant your seeds and watch them shoot up toward the sun and the sky? If you do, you can access better advice and tools than Oliver received on Green Acres, and you can find them on your smartphone. The 10 best apps for garden lovers feature something for everyone.
Almanac Magazine: Free, but supports in-app purchases
If you want the perfect blend of old and new, you need an almanac on your cell phone. This app taps you into the Farmer's Almanac and contains a combination of weather data, general farming information, and additional factoids on the crops you want to grow.
Garden Compass: Free
Have a sick plant? Garden compass allows you to take a picture of your crop, submit it to experts and get feedback about the disease or deficiency and how to fix it. This app also works for those of you who spot a flower you want to incorporate into your planters but don't know by name.
Vegetable Planting Calendar: Free
The Vegetable Planting Calendar app features a handy scroll down interface that lists fruit and vegetables in alphabetical order. Tap on your desired crop to read everything you wanted to know about planting arugula or thyme but were afraid to ask.
Organic Gardening Planting Planner: Free
This free app goes beyond offering planting advice and allows you to design your garden within the app using your location. You can check weather, keep a journal featuring your planting information, and read up on the crops you are planting. This would be particularly handy if you want to track what you do this year for easy repeats in future planting seasons.
How to Can: Free
After you watch your garden grow, the excellent How to Can app from Mother Earth News downloads a guide from the magazine that breaks down the basics of storing your fruits and vegetables for future meals. It also features numerous canning "recipes" for delicious treats like apple butter, cherry pie filling, and salsa.
The Weather Channel: Free
You need a solid weather app for your phone if you're going to be growing crops. This one lets you check temperatures and the basic forecast. However, its real strength is radar access to help you when the forecast actually gets it wrong.
Moon Gardening: $1.99
If you want to get in touch with your ancestors and the soil on an earth mother level, this app has all you need. It offers full data on moon cycles and also helps you make planting decisions with the Zodiac as your guide.
Landscaper's Companion: $4.99
Have more ambitious goals for your garden? Landscaper's Companion will help you break out into annuals, exotic flowers, and food options you may not have considered without a little nudge. You can also track projects as well as take pictures and notes while working.
Level: $0.99
A good leveling app is handy on a variety of…well…levels. If you're laying borders or stacking concrete blocks in your garden to create barriers or an aesthetic focal point, you need to make sure everything is flat and aligned. Your smartphone can help with that.
Expense Free: Free
Why are you gardening? Is it a fun outdoor hobby or are you attempting to lower your food bill by growing fruits and vegetables? If it's the latter, then you need to track your gardening expenses to get the most bang for your buck. Expense Free helps you do that by letting you input expenses and track them as part of a larger budget. Need more apps ? there are other articles about Gardening Apps
