I mean: I draw on board and take photos in project place.but clients demand to feel every suggests include small leaf,small flower,tree prune shape,exact colour and change...draw board don't work well. I have to continue to work.I use software improve to draw board: I import draw pics,project photos into CAD system,get arc,wide,long,height data,handman,DIYer need them.do it,other software not work well. I put cad pics into 3dsmax,change 2ds pics into 3ds mock up. import 3dsmax system file into maya soft ware,improve 3ds small leafs,small flower... dimension.it is important that many clients need to feel designer' suggests before project.here,some people often misunderstand a same tree different size,different distance decide it. import maya file into photoshop, there is a wrong about photoshop,think it can do everything.photoshop is just 2ds software than 3ds.I master it.but I only use it to improve everything color and light.creating mock up,leaf,flower shape...it don't work well. I am searching a software it to work well do everything,but I never successful This forum is a venue.but it is a online designer too.some members tell me,they get their designing from me here.I know many member get their designing from other member's suggests,ideas too.

Depends on the type of work that you're doing... from what I remember of Punch was that it was all pretty standard fixtures for decking, paving, and the remainder of landscaping. If you're doing a lot of custom, atypical structures or pieces, I would highly recommend Sketchup. It also depends if you actually want to create a proper 3D model of the project (from which the program can take snapshots of elevations, sections, perspectives, etc) or if you just want a program to do 2D mockups. 3D models can provide the most automation (i.e. in the production of multiple graphics), but basically you have to put in any information you want shown which is typically a huge time investment. It's after the long run, multiple revisions and versions, updates, and the production of a large number of different views that the upfront time investment starts paying off. Fastest version of creating decent presentation graphics? Probably doing a hand-sketch over a good photo (or photos) of the site, scanning it in, and doing an overlay over the original photo[s]. That would be my first choice. - Audric

You might want to visit the Landscape Design forum and search the archives for this topic........it comes up frequently and various products have been suggested. And with varying degrees of recommendation :-) Some are very workable and user-friendly, others much less so. Generally the free programs are less flexible and efficient than those that are purchased. Like the graph paper/pencil route, design software is only a tool and will offer the best results with a good understanding of basic design principles and the plants and their requirements. Some find the pseudo 3-dimensional aspect many programs offer easier to visualize than just plan views created on paper. But you need to be cautious about some of the photoshop aspects, which can distort scale and spacing and alter perspective. And show everything blooming at the same time as well :-) Personally, I prefer the graph paper and circle template, but then I was trained in hand drafting and feel very compfortable with that method. Another handy tool is to take photos of the area in question, blow them up to a workable size and then do tissue paper overlays sketching in the appropriate plants at the appropriate sizes. That combined with a layout to scale on graph paper should get you a long way. There are also various DIY landscaping texts that would be helpful. Sunset's Western Landscaping, the companion to the Western Garden Book, is pretty good. My library is still packed or I'd suggest others but Lowe's and HD usually have a decent selection in their book/magazine area. Look through and find one that presents a reasonable discussion of design principles and a step by step method to preparing a design. That should help a LOT!

What exactly do you want it to do for you? LD software is really just a graphics tool - it doesn't actually "design" :-)) Unless you already have a working knowledge and understanding of landscape design elements/processes any LD software is no better than just using graph paper and pencil. But if you just want to chart out what you already have, any of the Paint applications, SmartDraw or Google Sketch Up will work fine. btw, the Landscape Design forum would probably be a better location for this request but be prepared to receive similar advice :-) It's a topic that comes up routinely there.