Frequently Asked Questions

About Garden Sketchbook

What is Garden Sketchbook?

A browser-based garden design app. Drag and drop plants to create a 2D plan, then see the garden come to life in 3D. Change the seasons to see how plants will look throughout the year. It's meant to help you plan a real garden before you commit to buying plants (or digging up your yard).

Who is it for?

Garden Sketchbook is great for:

Homeowners figuring out what to do with their yard
Beginner gardeners learning which plants will work in their conditions
Experienced gardeners who want to experiment with new ideas and colour palettes before committing to plant purchases
Professional designers who need a quick way to iterate on designs and communicate with clients

You don't need any special training to use it, but the results are precise enough to refer to as you plant, and you can take a printed plan to a nursery and buy exactly what you need.

Do I need to install anything?

No. Garden Sketchbook runs entirely in your browser — any recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge will do. There's nothing to download, and your gardens sync automatically, so you can pick up where you left off on any device.

Can I plan my vegetable garden with Garden Sketchbook?

Garden Sketchbook was designed as an ornamental garden planner, so it doesn't support vegetable planning right now. Vegetables can indeed be beautiful! But vegetable planning has different needs around annual sowing and harvest timing. The main problem Garden Sketchbook solves is seeing which plants bloom in which seasons, so you can plan for year-round interest. Vegetables may be supported someday, but for now I recommend trying one of the many excellent existing online vegetable planners.

Can I plan a food forest or permaculture garden?

I'm working on adding more support for permaculture, but right now it's limited. The app includes fruit trees and a variety of herbs, and more fruits, berries, nuts, and perennial food plants are planned for the future. Suggestions are welcome! If there are plants or features that would make Garden Sketchbook more useful as a permaculture planner, please send me a message.

Accounts and getting started

No. Go to app.gardensketchbook.com and a Demo garden opens automatically — no signup, no email. Everything works: you can design, see it in 3D, walk through the seasons. When you're ready to save your designs, the Gardener plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

What happens to my demo garden after 24 hours?

It expires. Demo gardens live in your browser for 24 hours. If you want to keep the garden, sign up before then. Your demo garden carries over into your account automatically.

How do I get started designing?

Start with the Quick Start Guide. If you'd prefer a longer walkthrough with real plant choices, try Creating Your First Garden.

Plans and payments

What does a subscription cost?

Gardener is $39/year with a 14-day free trial. See the pricing page for the current details and what's included.

How does the free trial work?

The Gardener plan comes with a 14-day free trial. You can cancel anytime during the trial and you won't be charged; after 14 days it's $39/year.

Do I need to enter a card for the trial?

Yes. The trial collects a card at signup, but you're not charged until day 15, and you can cancel any time before then to avoid the charge entirely.

What's the $9 export in the demo?

The demo is free and needs no account, but demo gardens expire after 24 hours. If you design something in the demo that you want to keep, you can pay $9 once to download your planting plan and shopping list as a PDF — no subscription or signup needed. (Subscribers never need this: unlimited printable plans are included with Gardener.)

Can I cancel any time?

Yes, cancel any time from your account page (Manage account > Subscription). You won't be charged again. Your subscription stays active until the end of the current billing period. After that, your gardens become view-only.

What happens to my gardens if I cancel or my subscription lapses?

Your gardens aren't deleted. If you cancel (or your subscription lapses), your gardens become view-only: you can still open them and see your designs, but editing and exporting are paused. If you resubscribe later, everything is exactly where you left it and you can start editing again from where you left off.

How many gardens can I have?

The Gardener plan includes up to 10 gardens — enough for multiple spaces on your property, or multiple takes on the same one. You can also duplicate any garden to try out a different palette or layout without committing. The upcoming Studio plan will include unlimited gardens.

What payment methods do you accept?

Payments are handled securely by Stripe, which accepts all major credit and debit cards. I never see or store your card details.

Is the price in US or Canadian dollars?

Prices are in US dollars. If you're paying from outside the US, your card will be charged the equivalent in your local currency at your bank's exchange rate.

Do you offer refunds?

The 14-day free trial is there so you can find out, risk-free, whether Garden Sketchbook fits the way you plan — you won't be charged until it ends, and you can cancel anytime before then. For that reason, refunds are generally not available. That said, get in touch if something's not working out and I'll work with you based on your situation.

What's Studio and when will it be available?

Studio is a plan aimed at professional designers, with unlimited gardens, client-facing share links, branded PDF exports, supplier fields and cost summaries, and more. Pricing and timing are still TBD — join the waitlist and I'll let you know when it's ready. And if you design gardens professionally, I'd love to hear what would make Garden Sketchbook useful in your work — send me your ideas.

Plants

How many plants are in the library?

Right now the library includes 500+ of the most common garden plants, mostly suited to the cooler parts of North America, along with a growing set of UK plants — more regions are coming soon. More plants are being added all the time. All the plant art is hand drawn, so it takes time to add new varieties.

What if I can't find my specific plant?

The library is intentionally curated — I expand it slowly so that every plant's data (bloom time, size, colour, growing conditions) can be reviewed for accuracy. If your plant isn't there yet, you can:

Create a custom plant (Gardener). Start from a similar plant already in the library — say, the same species but a different cultivar — and adjust the details like bloom colour and mature size. See Custom Plants for how it works.
Request it. Send me a message with the plants you're missing. Requests directly shape which plants get researched and added next.

What regions are covered?

Garden Sketchbook's library mainly contains North American garden plants for now. I'm based in Canada, so those are the plants I know best and can verify. UK plants are being added with the help of knowledgeable UK gardeners, and I'd love to expand to more regions. To do that well, I need local gardeners to help verify plant data. If you'd like to see plants from your region, please get in touch. Send a list of your favourites and I'll add them to the research list. I may follow up to ask whether you'd be willing to review them in the app for accuracy.

Does Garden Sketchbook know what will grow in my area?

Yes — set your garden's hardiness zone (USDA, Canadian, and RHS zone systems are all supported) and the plant library will filter to plants that can survive your winters. You can also filter by sun exposure, bloom time, native region (five regions each in Canada and the US, plus the UK), and conditions like drought tolerance or wet soil to find plants that will thrive in a specific spot.

How reliable is the plant information?

Plant data is compiled through AI-assisted research, and I review each entry before it joins the library. I'm familiar with many North American garden plants, but mistakes are still possible, especially with less common plants or plants from other regions. Treat the plant details as a well-informed starting point, and double-check specifics like hardiness and mature size with your local nursery or the plant tag before buying. If you spot an error, please tell me — those reports directly improve the library for everyone. Longer term, I plan to have horticultural experts and more local gardeners helping vet the data as the library expands.

Designing

Can I start from a photo or plan of my existing yard?

Yes. Upload a JPG or PNG in 2D Background mode, scale it to real dimensions, and trace your beds, paths, and structures right over it. Any overhead image works — a satellite photo or house blueprint are the best candidates. It's the fastest way to get an accurate starting point for your real yard.

Can I add buildings or structures?

Yes. Build mode lets you draw building footprints, set wall heights, and add roof sections. Useful for placing a house in the garden's context or planning around a shed. Build mode is desktop-only for now.

How accurate is the 3D seasonal preview?

The 3D view is a stylized visualization, not a photorealistic render — closer to an artist's concept drawing than a photo of your garden. It's built to show the information that matters for design decisions: each plant's mature size, form, foliage, bloom colour, and bloom timing. Change the seasons and you'll see which combinations shine together and where your garden has gaps in the year.

You can export your plan as a PDF — a printable planting plan and shopping list — and share that however you like. Client-facing share links are on the roadmap for the Studio plan.

Devices and browsers

Does it work on phones and tablets?

Yes — iPads and Android tablets work well, and the layout adapts to smaller screens. You can design, browse the plant library, and see your garden in every season, right in your phone or tablet browser. Designing is most comfortable on a larger screen, and Build mode is desktop-only for now. If you start on your phone, you can send yourself a link to continue on your computer.

Is there an iOS or Android app?

No native app — Garden Sketchbook runs in the browser. On phones and tablets, you can add the site to your home screen if you'd like an app-like icon.

Does it work on a Chromebook?

Yes. Chromebooks generally handle the 2D editor without any issue. The 3D view can be slower on lower-end models — see the performance notes if you hit a wall.

Does it work offline?

No. Garden Sketchbook needs a network connection to load your garden and to save your changes.

Privacy and data

Who can see my designs?

Only you. Your gardens aren't public or shared with anyone by default.

Can I delete my account and my data?

Yes. In the app, open your profile menu and go to Manage account > Subscription — the Delete Account option is at the bottom. It permanently deletes your account along with all your garden designs, settings, and any active subscription, so it can't be undone.

Something else?

If your question isn't here, try Troubleshooting or get in touch. Feedback and questions both help me improve the app.