Garden design plant planner

[rainydogday]

Has anyone used an online planner? We want to redesign a flower bed/boarder. I always seem to buy stuff and bung it in and end with it either dying or being too big or too small! I can’t really afford a garden designer but wondered if there was anything out there that can help. I am
rubbish at spacing!

I feel your pain!

I tried online garden planners, but couldn't get them to do what I wanted. Admittedly I am impatient.

I also tried doing it in PPT, and even resorted to crayons after taking careful measurements and transferring to graph paper!

Basically I am shit at planning a garden and ended up just printing off info about each plant (ultimate height, shade/sun preferences, etc) and then putting things where I hoped they "should" do well.

But like you I am anticipating it all going wrong. I'm willing to bet nothing grows the way I expect it to, if it grows at all.

I dream of being a well-organised gardener with admirable design flair, and this wonderfully harmonious garden with all the plants at the right height and in gorgeous colour schemes, but it never seems to work out that way.

After beating myself up for years I am now leaning towards just accepting this about myself and trusting that a decent garden takes a lot of trial and error to get right over time. I just hope I can achieve it eventually wthin my lifetime!

Have you seen garden on a roll?

https://www.gardenonaroll.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=TEA%3A+Search+-+Brand&utm_term=garden+on+a+roll&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22195224677&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhO3DBhDkARIsANxrhToz7mnuN-hejZPPEaSDXTjzMr3WOVYvFdk7CKLFVHXoTM9VYoiECl0aAmdiEALw_wcB

Buy yourself a soil tester and then look up What grows well in that type of soil. I Started a new boarder in March and it’s doing pretty well. I’ll take a picture and list what plants are lasting, growing well.

I have planted garden on a roll this year because I have been unsuccessful trying to make it look good by randomly buying plants. Plants look amazing, it was expensive but worth every penny.

I did garden on a roll but I’m quite unimpressed. I love the shady border, but the sunny and cottage borders I’m disappointed with. Going forward, if you take a photo of your bed, you can ask chat gpt for a mock up and plant spacing. It can also give you a visual mock up. My ‘self made’ flower bed is much nicer than the one from garden on a roll.

Crocus does borders you get the plants and a plan, rather than on a roll. I am planning one next year though I already have a garden designer to design my main bed. worth looking for one the one I am working with is £30ph.

@rainydogday You don't actually want/ need a garden designer for what you're asking. You want a knowledgeable gardener who can help you. It's what I do, self employed, and can do remotely if you want to drop me a message

Hideously expensive though - use the plans as an idea and source elsewhere