I wish I was aware of these free gardening apps when I planned my first garden.
I used a spreadsheet to plan mine. After 8-10 hours of manually adding plants, their planting dates, harvest dates, and plant notes in different tabs, I was ready!
Technology is fantastic! A simple downloaded app could be one of the best tools for you as a new gardener. These apps are useful for people who don’t have a ton of time on their hands to research what plants to start with for their first vegetable garden. Quite simply, they’re great if you’re lost and have no idea where to begin.
This list of 9 free gardening apps cover everything from how to start your first garden, what seeds to buy, how to design your garden, and even bring pollinators to help your space thrive. The apps will also identify weeds or bugs eating away at your veggies. Lastly, there’s an app that will give you information on toxic plants, helping to protect your furry friends from danger.
If you’re the type of person who really wants to garden, you would benefit from downloading some of these free gardening apps for beginners.
Here we go! These are some of the best gardening apps for both iOS and Android OS.
Table of Contents
FROM SEED TO SPOON GARDENING – GARDENING APP FOR BEGINNERS
Created by new gardeners struggling to find all the right information for growing their first garden, the From Seed to Spoon Gardening App offers new gardeners everything they need to know to get started.
It’ll teach you how to grow vegetables, fruit, and herbs through their garden planning guide.
The app estimates sprout/harvest times based on planting dates. It provides companion planting information so you know what grows well together and what does not grow well together. This can often be very overwhelming for newbies, so the app does a great job of guiding you through it.
Best Features Of From Seed To Spoon Gardening App
- Filter plants list based on their associated health benefits you want
- Customized planting date reminders based on your gps location to ensure you’re planting at the right time
- Avoid pests & diseases with proven companion planting strategies
- Encourage and attract beneficial insects
- View varieties & purchase seeds / transplants from burpee, one of the most trusted names in seeds
Download From Seed To Spoon Gardening App on Apple & Android
SUNCALC – SUN FINDER FOR GARDEN PLANNING
The first step in planning out a garden is to find the best location for the sun. You need at least 6-8 hours of sunlight per day for vegetables to thrive.
Don’t waste time looking out your window mapping out where the sun hits your yard or where the shadows fall.
SunCalc is the best tool for understanding what is going on at your location relative to the compass grid and sun’s path across the sky.
Based on the home address you enter into the tool, you can alter the settings by calendar month and see how much direct sun to expect during all seasons. This is important because you get less light during the winter months.
Best Features of SunCalc
- Quickly and easily detects path of the sun, sunrise, sun peak, sunset
- Combines data with compass and time, and weather.
- Displays azimut, altitude, shadow length for each location and each time
Download SuncCalc on Apple & Android
HOMEGROWN WITH BONNIE PLANTS – VEGETABLE GARDENING APP
Are you just starting out with your first vegetable garden and don’t know what to plant?
This is a beginner gardening app that allows you to learn about 250+ veggies and herbs, track your progress, and see current and forecasted weather for your exact location.
As you plan out your garden, you can also create tasks for yourself within the app reminding you to sow, water, weed, fertilize, etc.
This app comes from a seed and plant supplier so when you’re ready to make your purchases, you can do so easily.
Best Features of Homegrown With Bonnie Plants Gardening App
- Take Notes – Track your progress like planting, watering, feeding, and harvesting.
- Track Your Garden – Plant, fertilize and harvest details for more than 250 veggies & herbs.
- Learn to Grow – Read articles to help you plan a garden.
- View the Weather – See current and forecasted weather for your location. Don’t ever scorch or freeze your plants again!
- Take Photos – Create a visual history of everything you grow.
- Share with friends – Post photos and notes to Facebook and Twitter.
- Help Me Choose: Helps you pick what to grow from vegetable type and variety.
Download Bonnie Plants App on Apple & Android
SEEK BY INATURALIST – PLANT & ANIMAL IDENTIFIER
When you’re outside exploring nature, you want to really explore what’s around you.
SEEK by iNaturalist uses image recognition technology to identify the plants and animals all around you.
If you like gamification, you can even earn badges for seeing different types of birds, amphibians, plants, and fungi and participate in monthly observation challenges with Our Planet on Netflix.
Best Features Of Seek By Inaturalist
- Take a picture of any living thing outside, plant or animal
- Identify wildlife and plants you see and take pictures to earn badges
- Learn fun facts about the organisms all around you
- Keep record of what you’ve found on your explorations
Download Seek on Apple & Android
LAWN TO WILDFLOWERS – POLLINATOR HABITAT
This app is all about showing you how to convert your outdoor spaces to pollinator-friendly wildflower habitats.
Beautify your land and give bees and butterflies an environment to thrive within.
Lawn to Wildflowers helps you understand the types of plants and insects native to your region. Learning to identify different native plants and the types of pollinators they attract will be a major benefit for you.
Someone living in the southeast region of the US will have a very different group of pollinators than someone living in the northwestern part of the country.
Best Features of Lawn to Wildflowers
- Pollinator ID Game: Build your knowledge about plants and pollinators in your area.
- Pollinator Count: Provide data about your progress in converting your yard into a pollinator-friendly place. Data helps understand pollinator patterns throughout the regions.
- Pollinator Guide: Study different pollinators with full-color images and details that help you understand and identify the pollinators you come across in your backyard and throughout the local environment.
- Purchase Seeds: Find seeds for indigenous wildflowers that will thrive and boost pollinator populations in your area.
Download Lawn to Wildflowers on Apple & Android
APCC (ANIMAL POISON CONTROL CENTER BY ASPCA) – ANIMAL PROTECTION
If you have a dog, cat, horse, or bird, this app is a must-have for pet owners. The app helps you quickly identify over 275+ toxins from common household hazards, toxic and non-toxic plants, potentially harmful medications, as well as warm or cold weather hazards within the searchable database.
Information in the app comes from expert toxicologists at the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center. They handle more than 180,000 cases each year of pets exposed to toxic substances.
Here’s a short list of poisonous plants toxic to pets:
- Aloe
- American Holly
- Lilies
- Rhubarb
- Shamrock Plant
- Spring Parsley
- Johns Wart
- Tomato plant
- Tulips
- Yuca
Best Features of APCC By ASPCA
- Searchable database of hundreds of different substances
- Details for each toxin including: scientific name, common names, sample images, severity of exposure and potential symptoms for at-risk dogs, cats, horses, and birds.
- Color-coding helps you identify the toxins of most concern.
- Chocolate and rodenticide poison calculators to determine severity level.
- One-touch speed-dialing to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.
Download APCC By ASPCA on Apple & Android
ISCAPE – GARDEN DESIGN APP
You’re intent on starting a garden but don’t know the first thing about designing one. iScape is a wonderful garden design tool that helps you visualize your project on your property.
It’s not just suited for vegetable gardening. You can find plants, trees, mulch and shrubs to fences, brick pavers, water features and fire pits.
If you really don’t want to lift a finger, hire an iScape Pro Designer to help you get started.
Best Features of iScape
- Visualize – Whether you’re going to do-it-yourself or hire a pro to help, you’ll know how it should look before the project even starts.
- Design – Seamlessly blend your physical and digital living spaces using augmented reality 3D or traditional 2D designs.
- Share – Collaborate with your spouse or a landscape pro on the project and use iScape to share your vision and make it a reality. Now, you can even design in the same Augmented Reality world.
- Hire an iScape Pro Designer to help you design your garden
Download iScape on Apple & Android coming soon
PICTURETHIS – PLANT IDENTIFIER
Ever go for a walk, and see a plant or tree you want to know the name of? Perhaps, you’re gardening and see one of your bushes starting to wilt or white mold appearing on the leaves. You then wonder how to take care of it.
PictureThis allows you to take or upload a photo of any plant, and get instantaneous and accurate plant ID results with our artificial intelligence technology.
Best Features of PictureThis
- Plant care tips
- Watering frequency to pest and disease control
- Identify 99% common species. 10,000+ species in our searchable database
- Accuracy rate of 95%
Download PictureThis on Apple & Android
GARDEN ANSWERS – PLANT IDENTIFIER
Garden Answers is a plant identification app. You have garden and horticulture experts right at your fingertips.
The app identifies over 20,000 plants and answers over 200,000 commonly asked plant questions.
Never confuse yourself researching plant disease or insect infestation. This app has you covered.
Best Features of Garden Answers
- Simple interface that is point-and-click easy to use.
- Identify almost any plant within seconds.
- Keyword searchable database to find even more information about a plant.
- Get Expert Advice and recommendations
Download Garden Answers on Apple & Android
FINAL THOUGHTS
Don’t delay in getting your garden started. It’s always the right time to start planning your first garden.
The 9 apps featured are free, easy to use, and will give you the information you need at your fingertips.
Use technology to your advantage and start growing some of your own food.
If you really want to save a lot of time and have a manageable garden layout, download a copy of my first vegetable garden here. You’ll get started with 20+ plants to pick and choose from. Don’t plant them all. Start small.
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Let me know in the comments what your favorite gardening apps are to use. If you downloaded a new one based on this list, let me know how you like it!