There are two very common types of software that people refer to as design software. One is the photo manipulation type (photoimaging). The other is the plan drafting type (cad). Neither does any design as many have already said. The photoimaging programs are the latest rage because they wow the client and often the user. You can find several online "design" services that will decorate your photo and call it a design. Please note that they almost never have actual pictures of completed landscapes that were built by using the "design". The few pictures of built work only vaguely resemble the "design" on the few that you might find. This software does almost nothing that will allow a landscaper or homeowner to layout and construct a landscape. It is most valued as a sales tool. It is a marketing tool. It is the equivalent of showing a picture of a thin person in order to get someone to lose weight. It excites people and makes them feel good, but does little to get the job done. CAD, or plan drafting programs, to assist in the creation of a plan that is to scale that can be laid out by a contractor or homeowner. It is what it is. This goes exactly here, that goes exactly there, the plants and other elements can be drawn at sizes that are reasonably close to what is specified. When you have, or produce a plan, it becomes a construction document and should be referenced in any proposal that contractors submit as a bid. There is little ambiguity in scaled plans, whereas a doctored photo often shows deep layering of plants that simply do not fit the space, individual plants stretched at different scales than the others in order to make a good looking picture, plants shown at varying states of maturity, retaining walls that look like they fit the site (yet the site is flat), and all kinds of believable nonsense. These even convince the software user that things fit that simply do not. In the end, you hand it to a landscaper and he has little idea where to dig the hole to plant the first plant. When you use photoimaging as a designer, you leave so many variables to those who are to construct the work that you fail in what your job is. Your job is to produce the guidance for those who are to construct the landscape that will accurately result in a built landscape that was your vision and the vision that you sold to your client. A layout plan is necessary to do that. It does not hurt to use photoimaging to represent what your layout plan will look like, but that image does not stand on its own. That is my opinion and it is an accurate assessment. That is something that I have no doubt about. If you want to be a salesman, use the photoimaging to make your pitch. If you want to design something for construction, produce a layout plan (by hand or by cad). You can combine the two, but be sure the image is a representation of the plan and that you are not fooling yourself and others by fudging a plan after the photo. That will make you a good salesman and designer at the same time. There is nothing wrong with that.

I thought that the design software would help us set limits on numbers of plants per area but since it has yet to arrive in the mail perhaps Martie is right we should continue on so we dont loose too much momentum. I still however would like to plug our choices into a digital design and will share my attempts and ask for guidance with that as we go along. Below is the list of chosen plants for the vegetable beds although still in the kitchen garden lets move on to herbs (again another area of gardening that I know nothing about). This game is a creation of mutual effort so if you feel strongly about one thing or another or have a different vision please let us know. Should we move the fennel, garlic, and onions to the herb garden or are they considered veggies? The herb garden is 30 x 30 which will allow for nice wide pathways and easy access to plants. Clematis 'Polish Spirit' - Vtskier Turnips - Cady Rhubarb - Mad Gal Spinach 'Prickly-seeded ' - kt Carrots 'Early (Scarlet) Horn' - Bug Tomato 'Early Cascade' - Nhbabs Peas 'Sugar Snap' Tee Pee - Cady Beans - green, yellow and purple with Dill - Mad Gal Basil 'Lettuce leaf' - nhbabs Fennel - Florence - kt Asparagus - Vtskiers Apple 'Golden Russet', espaliered - Martie Eggplant - Bug Swiss Chard 'Ruby Glow' - Cady Onions - Martie Cherry Tomatoes - Vtskier Garlic Nhbabs Globe Artichoke - kt half-dozen sweet bells if they have freezer space for winter use, 4 'Mexi-bells' if seed were still available (slightly warm, wonderful for salsa which I put up in dozens of pint jars each year), 2 Jalapeños, a 'Cayenne' and 3 'Thai' peppers for both heat and their beautiful, compact size. - Solana French Breakfast Radish - Bug Red Leaf Lettus - Mad Gal Cady its your turn to choose an herb.

Most people can change their own oil in their car if they are at all remotely handy. Some could even venture to diagnose why it was making a certain sound. Very darn few will have the knowledge and ability to repair their own transmissions or replace a fuel pump. The knowledge is just too esoteric, even if you have driven a car every day for 40 years. It takes a specialist. Using a designer doesn't add to costs. In fact, it can save you a lot of money. They know all of the cost effective ways of putting together cabinetry to get the look you want. There are so many choices that you don't know what you don't know, and you have no idea what's you're missing by getting the input from someone who's done this hundreds of times before. Even a small semi-custom cabinet line has a spec book with thousands of choices in it. There just is no way that any lay person will be able to fully utilize the capacity of a cabinet line, while still being mindful of a budget, without having that specialized knowledge. Using a designer is not an adversarial relationship. It's a collaboration that lets your kitchen be more yours than you ever thought possible.

Whatever software you find, a computer monitor will not accurately display colors, especially true for light wall colors.