Mar 11th, 2010
Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer 7.0
Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer 7.0
Price: $26.88
- Find your plants with a newly designed search tool – Search according to shade/sun requirements, growth attributes and more
- Import a photo and add landscaping, create an outdoor living space or design the exterior of your home
- Add water features to your landscape such as pools, ponds and streams
- The Growth Slider tool shows what your plants will look like in 0-20 years
- Choose from a Library of more than 4,000 items, including over 1,500 plants
Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer 7.0
Product Description
Better Home and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer 7.0 provides even more tools for all outdoor projects including Landscaping, Decks & Patios, Water Features, Outdoor Living, Site Planning and Cost Estimating. Find your plants with a newly designed search tool. Import your own photos and arrange plants exactly the way you want. Landscaping templates quickly place pre-arranged landscaping beds. Terrain Wizard imports the specifications of your terrain. Choose from a Library of more than 5,500 items for your designs, including over 2,000 plants. The Exclusive Better Homes and Gardens Plant Encyclopedia and Plant Hardiness Zone Reference maps are included.Amazon.com
Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer 7.0 is the latest in outdoor design software by Chief Architect. Planning the perfect outdoor living space has never been easier with powerful tools for landscaping, decks and patios, site planning, and cost estimation. Choose from a variety of over 1,500 plants with Plant Chooser and start designing today!
Plan and design the perfect outdoor living space Watch Product Video |
Outdoor living designs |
Over 2000 plants |
Deck and patio design |
Plant hardiness zone maps |
Garden and landscaping templates |
Powerful Design Software
Plan and design the perfect outdoor living space! Landscaping and Deck Designer makes it easy to quickly design the virtual look and feel of your backyard, deck, patio, pool or any outdoor project. Just point-and-click to add pre-arranged landscaping beds and any of over 4,000 library items to your design. Choose from an array of terrain feature and design tools. It’s quick and it’s easy!
When you need inspiration and ideas for your design, just turn to the Design Inspiration Gallery for help. Look through a collection of beautiful photographs to spark your creativity. Or get expert advice, tips and techniques from the editors of Better Homes and Gardens magazines. We’ve gathered all the information and inspiration you need!
Landscaping and Deck Designer makes it easy! Use valuable resources like Plant Chooser, Design Planning Center and over 2,000 plants, trees and shrubs to place and arrange in your outdoor living space.
Landscaping
- Plant Chooser–Find the plant you want with this newly designed search tool! Search according to shade and sun requirements, growth attributes, deer resistance, ease of growth and, much, more!
- Exclusive Design Planning Center for expert design advice, tips, and guidelines.
- Landscaping templates designed by Better Homes and Gardens quickly places pre-arranged landscaping beds.
- Terrain Wizard imports the specifications of your terrain.
- Choose from a Library of more than 4,000 items for your designs, including over 1,500 plants.
- Design and visualize in 3D, including Virtual Tours.
- Import your own photos of houses, plants, people, and more.
Decks and Patios
- Design single or multi-level decks with Deck Designer tools, complete with automatic deck framing.
- Patio Design assigns materials like concrete, brick, or Cultured Stone.
- Create retaining walls that follow the shape of your terrain.
- Layout your deck, add stairs, place and arrange outdoor furniture.
- Deck foundations automatically generate to match sloped lots.
- Quickly add water features to your landscape with round and kidney shaped ponds and stream tools.
- Automatic deck railings with height adjustments.
Outdoor Living
- Use the Design Inspiration Center with a gallery of images to help plan your landscaping and outdoor living space.
- Create custom landscaping plans in 2D and 3D.
- Choose from a Library of more than 4,000 items.
- Material Painter allows you to apply materials to individual items–change the color of your patio set, texture of your flooring, and more.
- Fence Designer tools let you click-and-drag to follow the shape of your yard.
- Design the exterior of your home or import a photo and add landscaping.
Site Planning & Estimating
- Landscape design tools easily create hills and valleys for custom landscapes.
- Use the Growth Slider tool to see what your plants will look like in 0-20 years.
- Use powerful Fence, Garden, Driveway, Path, and Terrain Feature tools.
- Create plot and perimeter plans; automatically generate a 3D model of your actual terrain.
- Automatically generate a materials list to estimate costs.
- Sprinkler Designer tool easily lays out sprinkler zones.
No Design Experience Needed!
Design it and enjoy it! Use over 3,000 integrated tools:
Create custom landscaping plans in 2D and 3D |
Use over 3,000 integrated tools |
Automatic Building Tools
- Create automatic framing for decks
- Automatically generate roofs, dimensions, foundations, stairs, railings and new floors
- Automatically create a full 3D overview of your landscaping plans
Library Content
- Over 4,000 items in the built-library including furniture, fixtures, lighting and more
- Over 2,000 realistic plants
- Brand names such as Benjamin Moore paints, Cultured Stone and more
- Additional plants can be found in the Bonus Plant Library
Dimensions
- One-Click automatic dimensions
- Dynamic Dimensions–displays dimensions as walls or decks are drawn
Landscaping
- Pre-Designed garden beds
- Over 2,000 realistic plants
- Import photos of your own plants
- Plant Encyclopedia–for detailed plant descriptions
- Plant Chooser to quickly locate and learn about plants
- Plant Hardiness Zone maps
- Advanced plant searching by sun, shade, watering, deer resistance and more
- Grow your plants 0-20 years!
Terrain Tools
- Automatic Terrain Perimeters–customize to define your specific plot
- Add elevation points and elevation lines for custom contours
- Create Terraces with retaining walls
- One-Click hill and valley tools
Sprinkler Design
- Sprinkler Design tools help you lay out sprinkler systems
- Show sprinkler coverage areas
- Adjust sprinkler coverage area
- Choose from a library of sprinkler heads
Project Cost Estimating
- Accurate materials calculations for concrete, lumber, plants and more
- Automatic cost estimations and materials list
- Assign costs for materials: descriptions, quantities, unit costs and more
Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer 7.0
Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer 7.0
the sofware is pretty easy to use, but does not have many of the plants we use in our area.
Star Rating: 4 / 5
This program gave me what I needed in the end but the frustration with it is never-ending. Some of this frustration is certainly due to my lack of understanding about how the product works best. In other words, I’ve watched few of the tutorials and read nothing. However, I do try to problem-solve with the products training and help options when necessary. Here are a few examples of my frustrations. 1) the plant list is not adequate and often inappropriate (you can’t plant a common garden plant like lettuce but you can find a cranberry plant!), 2) You have little flexibility in designing the shape of objects like a patio or walkway, 3) If you have a 10′ x 10′ deck and try to cut and paste a 10′ x 10′ gazebo onto it you will have to downsize the gazebo first because the program does not allow for the gazebo to overlap the deck so you’re paste would have to be perfectly centered for it to work, 4) I could not size a pergola so that the roof crossbeams would extend out over my deck, 5) sometimes items overlap and the item on the bottom cannot be moved unless you uncover it, sounds simple but it can be a big headache.
So that all said I gave the product 3 stars because it got me what I needed, a landscaping plan that my wife and I can agree on. I’ve spent countless hours working with it and knowing the limitations up front can save time along the way.
Star Rating: 3 / 5
The landscaping software has a steep learning curve, and it’s somewhat difficult to navigate. It took me hours to try and build my back yard, and when all was said and done, it didn’t seem worth it. This product seems well suited for people who will use this software for a business, not a personal yard project. It’s too complex for the average homeowner who just wants a simple and quick application.
Star Rating: 3 / 5
I have mixed feelings about this software. On one hand, it’s a bunch of fun to play around with your landscaping and this software does a great job of allowing you to put virtually anything in your yard and then view it in either 2D or 3D. There’s a ton of plants and yard “stuff” to use. The interface is fairly easy to understand and use. Where I lose some interest is, I found the feature to duplicate your house and yard fairly difficult. The concept of putting a picture in and the program using that didn’t work well. That part of the software was pretty disappointing for me as you really want to see your actual house in the plans.
Star Rating: 3 / 5
The application has just about everything I was looking for and more. The views are great! Comparing to other systems, construct of the plans is much easier. My only concern is that to date, I haven’t been able to figure out how to add my own plant library items.
Star Rating: 4 / 5