Landscape Architect Articles

Plant Palette Software10-23-17 | Department

Plant Palette Software

The Plantium software allows designers to filter plants by over 70 design and environmental criteria, including sun exposure, plant type, height, flower color, native, noxious, salt and clay tolerance, smog resistance, fragrance, leaf size and even brands and certifications.

Planting plans and sourcing plant materials are integral to the work of landscape architects. Design software has made that job easier and more streamlined. Two software resources that you might want to take a look at are The Plantium Company, and ShrubHub.

Designers can also compare plants side-by-side with the one-click comparison tool, view high-resolution plant photography and find plant substitutions with the "find similar" tool.

"Searching for days through innumerable sources to select plants the contractor says are not available is now a thing of the past," says Heather Henry, who heads The Plantium Company (www.theplantium.com) in Carbondale, Colo. "The frustration of looking for hours to find images and build image cut sheets for your clients is finally alleviated," she adds.

According to Henry, The Plantium's cloud-based software brings plant selection, design and sourcing into the technological age. There's never anything to install, no more emailing plant availability, and every update to the data, images and software is immediately available to subscribers.

Analysis tools help designers evaluate and communicate their designs in seconds. Automated graphs include water use, flower color, seasonal interest, exposure graphs and pH. The interactive graphs can be edited, exported as a PDF or just viewed on the screen.

The software, Henry says, was built by landscape professionals for landscape professionals and born of the necessity to simplify and streamline plant selection. Years were spent designing and perfecting the software to meet the challenging needs of plant design, installation and maintenance. With this cloud-based plant database software, plants can be filtered by over 70 design and environmental criteria, in addition to availability. Designers can also compare plants side by side with the one-click comparison tool, view high-resolution plant photography, and find plant substitutions with the "find similar" tool.

With ShrubHub, designers can search, create, organize and share Pinterest-like plant boards with clients. With a tap, the client can get all the information about the plants. Clients can make comments, add plants and instantly share with the designer.

The software helps you organize plants for an unlimited number of projects. You can add multiple plants at one time to any list, make notes on the projects, and even invite clients to make notes. Analysis tools help designers quickly evaluate and communicate their designs. The automated graphs are interactive, editable and can be exported to as a PDF or viewed on the screen. Plants lists can be exported with high-resolution imagery, or as a spreadsheet for import into drafting programs to finalize the plant schedule.

ShrubHub (www.shrubhub.com) exists to "automate the plant supply chain," connecting landscape architects with local nurseries. It is a hybrid of landscape architects, growers, horticulturalists and software developers with the goal to make it easy to find and procure plants using technology. Aggregating plant data with highly curated plant pallet designs is the inspiration behind their mission.

The software automates the plant supply chain by connecting landscape architects and contractors with over 200 local nurseries to find the required plants, get a quote and have delivery within 24-48 hours.
*Graphics: ShrubHub*

Landscape architects can upload their garden theme images. Similar to Instagram, ShrubHub tags the plants in the themes, which are then tied to the  plant database. The user can save, share or purchase plants in those themes. Suppliers, through the web form, submit pricing on plants they have in stock, and submit substitute plants if not available. A quote is made, including delivery within 48 hours.

Accessing plant information and quoting has never been easier, says the company. Input the Shrub Spec short code in the app allows one to pull up the Pinterest-like Plant Board on your smart phone to view images and horticultural plant information for each plant. Swipe right if you like it, left if you don't.

As seen in LASN magazine, October 2017, Technology.