Interface Overview

The big picture

The editor is where you spend almost all of your time in Garden Sketchbook. It has a single screen with four design modes, and looks slightly different on desktop and mobile — this page walks you through both.

If you'd rather skip ahead, the 2D Design Tools, Plant Library, and 3D Visualization pages cover individual tools in depth.

The editor on desktop

The editor is split into three regions:

• Header (top): Your garden name, the four mode buttons, and the Create Printable Plan button.
• Sidebar (left): Changes based on the active mode. In Edit Plants, it's your plant library; in Draw Shapes, it's stroke and fill controls; and so on.
• Canvas area (right): Your 2D plan view on top and a 3D preview below. You can collapse either one to give the other more room.

A small season bar overlays the 3D scene so you can step the whole garden through the year without leaving your work.

The four design modes

The four buttons in the header control what your sidebar shows and what clicking on the canvas does.

Edit Plants

The plant library opens in the sidebar. Search and filter to find a plant, then drag it onto the canvas to place it. On the canvas, click an existing plant to select it; double click to see detailed plant info. See Plant Library for filter details.

Draw Shapes

For drawing garden beds, paths, lawn edges, and any other freeform shapes. The sidebar gives you stroke colour, fill colour, opacity, and line width. You can draw rectangles, polygons, lines, ellipses, and curves.

2D Background

Upload a reference image — a site plan, a property survey, or an aerial photo — and trace your garden over it. The sidebar lets you resize the image, and adjust its opacity so it stays out of your way.

Build

Add buildings and other structures. Draw a footprint, set a wall height, then add roof sections (gable, hip, shed, or pyramidal) to give it shape. Use rectangle footprints for simple structures like sheds, or draw a polygon to build your house to scale.

The editor on mobile

On a phone, switch between editor views with the three full-screen tabs along the bottom of the screen:

• Plants — search and filter the plant library
• 2D Plan — the main design canvas, with the mode switcher tucked inside (Edit Plants, Draw Shapes, Background)
• 3D View — the 3D preview with the season bar

To save battery, the 3D preview only renders while you're on the 3D View tab — switching to it for the first time may take a second or two to warm up.

The season bar

The season bar lets you flip through the garden's year. It sits at the bottom-left of the 3D scene.

Step forward and back with the arrows, or tap a colour-coded segment to jump straight to a moment in the year — there are eight in total, across Spring, Summer, and Fall. (There's no Winter view yet; see Seasonal Planning for why.)

Display and layout preferences

Theme

A theme toggle in the site header switches between light and dark. Your choice is remembered.

Measurement units

Set during welcome, and changeable any time from Account → Preferences. Switching units changes dimension labels and the scale legend on your printable plan.

Resizable panels

The 2D and 3D panes share the canvas area. Drag the divider between them to give one more room, or collapse either entirely.

Where to go next

• Quick Start Guide — your first garden, end to end
• 2D Design Tools — a deep dive into each mode
• Plant Library — search, filters, and custom plants
• Using on Mobile — the full mobile picture
• Keyboard Shortcuts — every shortcut in one table