Quick Start Guide

Open the app

Garden Sketchbook runs in your web browser — no download, no install. Go to app.gardensketchbook.com and you're in.

Two ways to start:

• Demo — a demo garden opens automatically. Everything works, but the garden expires after 24 hours unless you sign up.
• Gardener — sign up (14-day free trial) and any demo work-in-progress carries over into your account. You can save as many gardens as you like.

Place your first plants

You'll land in the editor with the plant library already open in the left sidebar. Type in the search box or click Filter to narrow it down — for example, filter by your hardiness zone so only plants that can survive your winter show up.

To add a plant, do any of these:

• Drag its card onto the 2D canvas.
• Click the plus button on the card.
• Open the card's info modal and click Place in garden.

All three drop you into add mode, where every canvas click drops another instance of the same plant. Press Escape when you're done.

To move something you've placed, click it and drag. To select several at once, drag across empty canvas — a selection box appears.

For everything else the 2D canvas can do (drawing beds and paths, tracing a background image, adding buildings), see 2D Design Tools.

See it in 3D

The 3D preview sits below the 2D canvas and updates live as you work. Drag to orbit, right-click and drag to pan, and use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out. If you lose your bearings, the Reset view button in the 3D toolbar brings you back.

Use the 3D view to sanity-check spacing (at mature size, not planting size) and to see how colours will actually sit next to each other. See 3D Visualization for the full toolbar.

Step through the seasons

The season bar along the bottom of the 3D scene lets you step through the year. Use the arrows to step forward or back. Flowers appear and disappear as you change the season. Foliage colour shifts; some plants disappear entirely during their dormant period.

This is the fastest way to spot "nothing's happening" moments in your design. See Seasonal Planning for tips on designing a garden that performs all year.

Save and print

Your work saves automatically as you go — there's no Save button. Gardens stay in your account until you delete them.

When you're happy with the design, click Create Printable Plan (the printer icon at the top of the editor). A dialog opens with a few options; the result opens in a new browser tab where you can print it or save it as PDF using your browser's Print dialog.

See Printing & Exporting for the full breakdown, including how printing works on the demo tier.

Where to go next

• Creating Your First Garden — a longer, design-focused walkthrough with more strategy
• Interface Overview — a tour of every panel and button
• Plant Library — search, filters, and custom plants
• Keyboard Shortcuts — every shortcut in one table

Stuck?

If something isn't working, check Troubleshooting, or get in touch. Feedback is welcome.