Smartphone a New Source of Info for Gardening Enthusiast
If gardening is more than just a hobby to you -- or if you are starting out and want to learn quickly -- pick and choose from these 10 apps to get the edge that only technology gives.
Guides
Vegetable Gardening. This app is like a helpful book. It's basically an explanation of the Victory Garden concept -- making it a great guide for novice gardeners.
Home Depot. I use Home Depot, Lowes and Menard's apps since all three companies have stores near me. These apps let me quickly search, find and buy garden tools or plants -- saving me time before I get to the store -- and reducing unnecessary purchases.
Garden Insect Guide. This app from Mother Earth News is a set of images and articles describing common insects you will come across in your garden. With the photos you can easily identify whether an insect is harmful or beneficial.
Tools
Plantifier. This app lets you upload a photo of a plant you want identified. Just snap a photo, offer as much info as you have about the plant (for example where you took it) and other users help identify it.
Organic Gardening Planting Planner. This is my favorite app because it lets me create several 'gardens' which works perfect with my gardening situation. Once you sync the app to your location, it will automatically pull in weather information, letting you know optimal planting dates for your vegetables.
Garden Manager: Plant Alarm. This do-it-yourself type application is essentially a to-do list with an alarm clock. This can be extremely handy if you have a variety of plants with a wide range of watering or feeding requirements. App also lets you upload images of your plant so you can share.
Garden Time Planner by Burpee. Similar in concept to the Organic Gardening Planting Planner, this app creates gardens, denotes best planting dates and first/last frost dates. However, an added bonus in this app are the helpful videos.
Garden Squared. With this neat little app you can see what you have planted in a particular garden bed. Because it is a 'double-click' type app you can quickly digitally 'plant' your garden to get an idea of what the bed will hold.
Give and Receive
Ample Harvest. If your garden performs better than expected and you want to donate the surplus, this app finds local food banks and pantries that welcome your donations. Simply choose from the nearby food banks located by the app.
Gardening Design Ideas. As an urban gardener I do not want my lot to be an eyesore to my neighborhood so I use this app as inspiration for cleaner, more aesthetic garden designs . This app is essentially a database of photo galleries, but with its simple navigation, you can breeze through the images until you find one that fits your situation.
If you garden much, download apps like Mother Earth News, Organic Gardening or other gardening publications so you can view digital magazines or purchase gardening guides. Next article about gardening apps! 10 Handy Gardening Apps We Really Dig!
