GardenCAD (aka Garden CAD) is a powerful, easy-to-use, entry level landscape design software tool for landscapers. Imagine being able to quickly produce CAD landscape designs for your clients using Windows or Mac* computers. Incorporate photos of your previous design jobs into landscape plans to save drafting time. Consider the possibility of visiting with your client and together altering the concept ‘on the fly’.
*A Windows emulator such as CrossOver, Parallels or Fusion is required to use GardenCAD on a Mac. Typical design shown below.
GardenCAD is affordable – $AUD 49.50 – approx. $USD 35.00.
Note: We have stopped future development of GardenCAD and developed GardenCAD Plus (aka gCADPlus) and we would encourage you to take a look at it. We offer special pricing for gCADPlus. Email us info@designcad.com.au and ask for details of our special gCADPlus offer.
GardenCAD in action
Complete a landscape design in 5 minutes. Add to the design.
Click the YouTube icon to watch GardenCAD in action in a design with mm as the base unit.
Watch GardenCAD in action in a design for a courtyard working with feet (and inches) as the base unit.
Another design for a site using feet/inches as the unit of measure.
Plant tagging.
Dimensions & Pages.
Redefine a symbol.
How to print a landscape design to a PDF file
Tip: Type GardenCAD in the YouTube search box to find more examples of the use of GardenCAD.
Try GardenCAD
GardenCAD is now free for testing and
available for download here. If after trialling
GardenCAD, you want to convert your demonstration copy to allow file saving, please visit our ‘
e-Shop‘ page and the ‘buy now’ button in order to create a user name and get an activation (license) code. That will enable you to save design work.
GardenCAD features
Some of GardenCAD’s many features include a comprehensive library of symbols, great snapping tools, an ability to open several drawings at once, precision control over layers, line types, colors, line widths, layouts (pages), automated plant scheduling, dimensioning and text styles and more.
Requirements
GardenCAD takes a small amount of disk space and makes little demand on computer resources. Any computer running Windows should work comfortably with GardenCAD. To confirm that GardenCAD runs well on modest equipment, please download a trial copy of GardenCAD and try it out on your intended CAD computer before purchasing.
Here is a link to the GardenCAD user guide.
Add your own landscape symbols to GardenCAD
While we include more than 200 symbols in GardenCAD, you can create your own. These are not part of GardenCAD, but have been created by GardenCAD users for their own landscape practice and donated for download on this site. Symbols downloaded and placed in the appropriate GardenCAD block library automatically become available for new designs.
Here is a link to more information on creating and naming your own GardenCAD symbols.
One design – many sheets
It is possible to print a GardenCAD design on any size sheet (in color or Black & White). The figure below shows a design as a high resolution PDF file by TooKoo landscapes and printed from the GardenCAD Pages palette onto an A1 sheet using the (free) PDF writer from CutePDF.
And another where GardenCAD has been used to assemble 3-D views from a SketchUp model on a page layout.
GardenCAD and broadscale work
The examples above showed GardenCAD in use on relatively small scale projects. You can however use GardenCAD for broad scale work. The figure below shows some data from an extensive survey of trees surrounding a constructed wetland. Here we have stored attribute data about the condition of trees growing in and around the wetland. Data on the condition of an individual tree can be accessed simply by clicking on the symbol – GardenCAD displays attributes hidden behind the symbol relating to tree health and canopy diameter.
Drafting aids
Not only are there many planting symbols supplied with GardenCAD, but the software also contains numerous general purpose symbols and tools to help lay out site boundaries, locate buildings, take dimensions directly from the design (the model), set up design grids, apply hatching to entities (objects) such as paths, paved areas etc. etc. Our downloads page also provides some useful resources for using these tools.
The figure below shows dimension applied (automatically) to the drawing by picking (snapping) to control points (ends of lines).
Lettering styles
Many users configure GardenCAD to use a custom font to give their drawings ‘personality’, thus moving their designs well away from typical CAD drawings (which can be rather stilted and mechanical).
Automatically build plant schedules
GardenCAD also allows the storage of much non-graphic information with its symbols. You can store botanical name, common name, plant name, size, code as hidden attributes with each symbol.
Printing plans
Your plans can be printed to any size sheet of paper in full color and can be printed to the printer attached to your computer or in PDF form for emailing to your clients. Alternatively, designs can be sent to copy centers for professional printing and laminating on larger sheets.
GardenCAD design philosophy
We have consulted with many professional designers during the development of GardenCAD and have tried to make the software work in a visual and intuitive way, mimicking the classical approach to hand drawing. We encourage users to provide suggestions for future releases of GardenCAD.
Note: We have developed GardenCAD Plus (aka gCADPlus) and we would encourage you to look at it. We offer special pricing for existing GardenCAD users to upgrade from GardenCAD to gCADPlus.
