Plants that carry their own facts

Place plants the way designers think

Plants go in one at a time for specimens, or as groups that resolve into individual plants you can still adjust:

• Rows along a path — hedges and screens at a set on-centre spacing.
• Masses filling a polygon — drifts of perennials and grasses, with a mix of species by ratio.
• Grids for formal plantings and groundcover.
• Each plant has an install size (#1, #3, #5, #7, #15, plug, flat, bare-root or B&B caliper) and a status: proposed, existing, retain or remove.

Regional by default

The plant library starts with three U.S. pilot regions — the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest. Filter by region, sun, moisture, form, wildlife value and more. Native range is stored separately from garden suitability: a plant can be native nearby and still be wrong for a wet, shaded corner.

Checks that explain themselves

Each design check has a stable id, a severity and a plain message, and you can override any result with a note (for example, “client accepts risk”).

• OL-HARDY — the site’s zone is outside the plant’s hardiness range.
• OL-INVASIVE — the plant is listed as invasive, noxious or prohibited in the site’s region or state.
• OL-SUN and OL-WATER — exposure or moisture at the plant doesn’t match its needs.
• OL-OVERLAP — two plants’ mature canopies overlap by more than half the smaller radius.
• OL-CLEARANCE — a tree’s mature canopy will reach a building wall.
• OL-ONHARD — a plant was placed on a patio, path, deck, driveway or pool.
• OL-BLOOMGAP — months from April to October with nothing in bloom.

Existing plants count too

Mark trees and shrubs you’re keeping as existing or retain, record measured height and spread and condition, and design around them. Plants marked remove drop out of overlap checks and appear in the plan for the crew.