Angie, I am not aware of an app that is free but there may be one somewhere. I use the from Territorial Seed Company, which will give you 30 days for free and then the fee is maybe $25.00/yr. Good luck and post here if you find a free one.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/garden-planner/vegetable-garden-planner.aspx

Similar here - free for 30 days

If you know what you want to plant, how many of each you want to plant then , it will be much simpler. For example, give each tomato plant 4 square foot(2 x 2') , peppers 2.5 (1.5' x 1.5), ..son one.

You can go to "Square Foot Gardening" forum and ask for help. This doe not mean that you adhere to the principle of SFG, but get ideas about space requirements.

If you have a layout (say x ft by y ft) , how that plot is situated , then you can get more accurate suggestions.

All above are good suggestions. I'd add using a spreadsheet approach to the list of options... I use Excel but other spreadsheets would work well also. I define a yearly layout in sheet #1 and keep expanding it (adding rows) to show new Spring/Fall yearly layouts. If you desire, additional sheet pages in the file can include yearly notes & comments, seed planting dates, varieties which performed well or poorly, etc.... Paper would be my last choice. I used the paper method about 35 years ago.

The spreadsheet sounds way, way, way beyond my excel abilities. At least I know how to operate a sheet of paper, even if I usually end up messing it up! :)

There are lots of software options. I just hate to pay for the software when I'm probably going to use it once and then never use it again. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and use pencil and paper. Grumble grumble.

Angie

Angie, once upon a time my wife had the same issue with spreadsheets. About a year ago she decided to give it a shot. Although still a novice/newbie, she has continued to do quite well... If you eventually go this route, I'd suggest getting a free spreadsheet program ... I noticed just recently that there are a couple of choices for this..

PS: I've posted this (and also my first reply) as an option because others may have a similar need as yours.

Angie, the Territorial Seed Co. and the planner rina mentioned are the same and really offer a lot of great information. For example, It has plant descriptions, spacing, companion planting, nutrient needs. The plant guide feature is a color chart showing when to plant seeds, when to plant in the ground, and when to harvest. Garden features like low tunnel will change the plant dates to show how much it might extend your growing season including plenty of space to make notes. It will alert you of plant rotation based on the previous year garden layout. It really is worth looking into with a 30 day trial period. If it isn't worth the cost, you don't have to buy it. I print mine when I think it is what I want and refer to it constantly. Give it a try as you might be surprised how much information is available.

I would buy a tablet of graph paper. Fact is I have about 4 tablets. When you screw up start over.

Laying out a garden in Excel is not that difficult, really. One of the keys (at least for me) is setting the column widths and row heights so that the cells appear as squares on the screen. The values I use are 12 for height and 1.57 for width. Then it's just a matter of fills and borders and labels.

I've included a link to a screen-shot of my 2014 garden layout as an example. With more advanced work you can actually get the spreadsheet to calculate how many plants you need/can fit in the space you allot. I don't bother with that, but have built such a sheet for a friend.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:15741}}

I use http://www.smartgardener.com/

It's a web site, so you can access it from your iPad (and it looks good and is functional on that size screen).

The Web app has a large variety of plants to choose from and allows you to build custom garden layouts. It's pretty handy and free (for the most part; there are addons you can buy to increase functionality, but the only one I ever needed was the one for Square Foot Gardening, and that was only a one time charge of $5). It also gives you a weekly to-do schedule based on your zone and what's in your garden. It's definitely worth checking out if you haven't yet found an app you like.

Farmers Almanac also has 30 day free garden layout program. I used it just to visualize my garden a little better, even though I already drew it out in the ol' notebook.

I really like www.sfgplanner.com. I planned my whole garden, when things get planted, days to harvest, notes about the varieties, and I can save and go back later.

I use smartgardner.com as well. It is easy to navigate, build beds of different shapes, find plants and all the rest. Good luck.

The company which produces territorial seeds web application has a version for the ipad... check out growveg.com I have been using spreadsheets for a few years and this year I started the free trial with territorial seeds and boy is it easy.... and I will say I am pretty proficient with spreadsheets and I still found it nice to use the app.

My friend uses gardentracker which is also available for the ipad/iphone crowd.

(I am a android junkie so I am waiting for these guys to come out with a android version.)

Tended App is a free option: https://www.tendedapp.com/ It's web-based, so works on computers, tablets, and phones. It lets you visually design a garden (including across different seasons, so you could keep track for crop rotation purposes), track your inputs and outputs/harvests, and lets you see other gardeners' layouts as well. There's also basic task management on a calendar view, the ability to upload photos, etc. Check it out!