20 gardening apps and plant identifiers to make you a better gardener
Whether you’re a seasoned green-fingered professional or a gardening beginner, there are a range of gardening apps, plant identifiers and digital garden planner tools that can improve your knowledge.
If you come across an unknown flower or weed and are unsure what to do with it, or need to troubleshoot why one of your shrubs isn't growing as it should, there's an app to help. If you need help to plan and design your garden, there's an expert gardening app for that too.
So, including everything from garden planning tips to care calendars and plant identifiers, here the best gardening apps to make you a better gardener all year round.
1. Candide
More than just a plant identifier, Candide opens the garden gates to a whole community of fellow plant enthusiasts. Use it to share your garden highs and lows, ask for plant advice from the experts (of which there are many) or browse the extensive plant library. But what makes Candide stand out is it has caught onto what every gardener really wants: to be whiling away the hours in a garden. The app doubles up as a booking platform for the UK’s beautiful network of public and private gardens, just use the garden map to find one that catches your eye and remember to pack a picnic.
2. Moon and Garden
Ideal as an organic gardener’s companion, Moon and Garden’s most exciting feature is a nifty calendar, which tells users exactly what to sow, transplant and harvest according to the phases of the moon. Days are divided into ‘root’, ‘leaf’, ‘flower’ or ‘fruit/seed’ with advice on what to do depending on if the moon is waxing or waning. It also provides exact weather /humidity conditions for your location and you can map out your garden using the app’s simple grid feature. Plus there are handy articles and tips exploring biodynamic gardening and a community forum so you can bond with other budding lunar gardeners.
3. myGarden
Up your gardening knowledge with this app from garden tool experts Gardena, which offers free step by step gardening tutorials. Track your garden’s progress using the journal area, plus you can add tasks and set reminders, so there’s no excuse for thirsty plants. The extensive library of flora and the handy bee-friendly filter will turn your patch into a wildlife magnet in no time.
4. Plantnet
Ever been abroad and spotted a plant you’d like to identify? This encylopedic app gives you instant access to plants from across the globe and is available in at least 27 languages. It’s particularly useful for identifying toxic or wild plants and its community of plant enthusiasts have even helped with conservation projects by identifying invasive species. Every picture on PlantNet builds a better picture of plant biodiversity so get snapping!
5. Google Lens
If you want to make a quick plant ID, you can now use Google Lens to identify flaura and fauna. On desktop just right-click a photo and let Google do the rest. The latest Apple products also have this feature built in. Not an apple user? Download the Google Lens app (you can use it to identify photos in your phone’s gallery.)
6. Garden Answers
One of the most useful apps for any gardener is a plant identifier, helping you become a walking encyclopaedia of all British garden plant species. Garden Answers is an easy-to-use and incredibly popular identification app that can instantly define over 20,000 plants, coming with some very useful information. Take a snap of the plant you want to identify, press 'submit' and you'll have the answer.
7. SmartPlant
The SmartPlant app can help you identify plants and includes a ‘Digital Care Calendar’ to reveal everything your garden, and the plants within it, need. You can personalise the app by adding the specific plants you have in your garden and the app will notify you of their requirements.
8. Gardening Companion
The Gardening Companion app can help you track your garden's progress, care for your plants and access a wealth of gardening knowledge. It also allows you to set reminders for things you need to tick off your gardening to do list. It's certainly a useful friend for the green-fingered.
9. Leafsnap
You know an app must be good when the Natural History Museum uses it, which is the case with Leafsnap. Helping you with identification, the gardening app – first developed by the University of Maryland, Smithsonian Institute and Columbia University – contains lovely high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, fruits, petioles, seeds and bark. As the app's name suggests, the plant species are identified by their leaves.
10. My Soil
This gardening app is all about soil. It comes from the British Geological Survey and enables you to check the soil in your local area, in terms of soil type, depth, pH, soil temperature and organic matter content. This can help you work out which plants will flourish in your garden.
11. Garden Plan Pro
Gain expert knowledge with the garden planner app, Garden Plan Pro. It will help you decide where to put a vegetable patch or a herb garden. The simple tools aid layout designing, plant arrangement, and tracking garden progress.
12. GardenTags
Offering plant advice, inspiration and gardening tasks, the GardenTags app allows gardeners to share helpful information and tips between each other. Your plant care will be sorted with this app, which can also suggest ways to deal with weeds and pests. This is a good for a sociable gardener who like a community.
13. Into Garden
Designing a new garden layout and need a garden planner app? Into Gardens app, created by a British garden designer, is ideal for those wanting a more sustainable way of life as it encourages you to eat what you grow. Summer fruit and vegetable patch anyone?
14. Flower Checker
There are a few apps on this list that offer a plant identification service. But the Flower Checker app is perhaps one of the most accurate, using the expertise of real botanists, who are able to identify more than 90% of all plant species. A plus is that the app has no adverts.
15. Plantifier
Unlike Flower Checker, Plantifier uses the masses rather than the experts to help with plant identification. All you have to do is upload a photo of the unknown plant, and other users on the app can help you work it out. The app can also assist with caring for your garden, while tracking the growth of your flowers and plants.
16. Garden Manager: Plant Alarm
Brilliantly, the Garden Manager app allows you to set alarms so you never miss a care step when it comes to your plants. One of the main causes of plant death is down to people forgetting to feed or water them so this app is perfect for helping you keep track of your progress. You can even track a plant's measurements on a graph.
17. iScape
A garden planner app from Apple, this paid-for app is great for people designing a garden from scratch. It allows you to visualise how your garden would look with different elements by taking photos and super imposing different layers. The end result is a virtual 3D garden to explore.
18. intoGardens
This is a digital gardening magazine for tablets, created by garden designer James Alexander-Sinclair. It features garden inspiration, shopping ideas, beautiful imagery and entertaining garden reads.
19. Garden Journal
This app lets you track what you've planted and when and how often you need to water, prune and care for them. Brilliantly, it also has a pest advice section to help you keep any unwanted visitors at bay. It's free but you can upgrade to a Garden Planner package which sends email reminders and allows you to draw up plans for a veg garden.
20. iNaturalist
This app focuses more on the nature you might find in your garden and helps you to identify it. Created by the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic, iNaturalist works like a social network, allowing you to take a photo and get instant identification of plants, birds and animals.
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