Could your mobile phone be the most useful tool of all in the garden?
If you attachment to your phone is umbilical, and you simply can't leave it in the house, perhaps it can even help you garden. Download an app - that's if you can actually see the screen outdoors on a sunny day, without having to retreat to the shed.
Gardening apps come in two main types: ones that try to be mini-encylopaedias, and others that choose a narrow field, and go a bit deeper. iPhone apps have been around longest, and have to pass quality control tests. Landscaper's Companion costs $4.99 and covers 1,400 plants, split into trees, shrubs, houseplants and so on. As there are over 5,500 photos, it takes up memory you might prefer to use for Gotterdammerung or Lady Gaga. Fruit Garden comes in at £1.99 (although it's currently on sale for £1.49), covers 22 sorts of fruit, is UK centric, and good fun. If you only grow veg, then Botanical Interest contains 257 veggie varieties, but is pretty US-centric. It costs $5.99. Most fun is iVeggieGarden, which lists 10 varieties of 50 vegetable species, together with 50 common (American) garden plant diseases, and 40 common (American) garden pests. The website is good too, and free: iVeggieGarden.com. This app costs $9.99.
Phones that run Android in its various forms are coming on fast, and so are the number of apps for that software. Most cater for kitchen gardeners. Gardenate ($2.67, also on iTunes) is a fairly complete guide to growing the most popular garden vegetables, with local planting information for the US, Australia, New Zealand, and UK. With plant lists for planning your garden, detailed growing information on plants, there's also a fun website if you prefer to plan in the office (and communicate with other users). Vegetable Garden Guides (£1.49) is designed as a reference for experienced gardeners and a learning tool for novices. It describes 90 vegetables and herbs.
Some apps deal with just single crops, some as serious info, others taking an edutainment angle. Most Android app stores have no quality control, but it is easy to retrieve your outlay if the product is duff. Few garden apps have big sales, but why not make your own? Increasing numbers of companies will take your text and pictures, and turn them into phone apps. Free, if you just want to make a prototype for free distribution is eyemags.com. Making them is fun. Using Eyemags, here are two of mine: Pepper Trivia and Tomato Trivia. Appsgeyser.com can turn your webpages into an Android app, add advertising and pay you. Others charge often quite small amounts. Try myappbuilder.com, Appbreeder.com, among others.
But best app of all is, of course, Google. In the garden centre? Key in a plant name, and you'll soon know everything about it. A mould on the endives? Ditto. It's free, bar possible connection costs.
--
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2011/aug/11/gardening-apps
~
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment