We live in a technologically advancing world where a program can easily simplify tasks and operations. Fortunately, landscape designing is not left out in this digital movement.
Landscape designers use programs to ensure that every project is perfectly executed from beginning to operations and finally to submission. These programs will help landscape designers get creative with ideas, save time, and monitor processes for the best project outcome:
The top 7 programs landscape designers use are, Sketchup, iScape, Smartdraw, VizTerra, AutoCAD, PRO Landscape, and Revit. These programs are usually subscriptions of one month or one year and range from $119 to $2,995.
Sketchup
This program contains a combination of subscription products that allows for a broad scope of drawing and designing. For example, landscapers can use Sketchup to create architectural, industrial, product, interior, and landscape designs. The type of subscription you choose depends on the level/type of landscape design you want to create. The various subscriptions are:
Sketchup Studio
Used by both professionals and beginners, this program is used in creating a variety of landscape designs while promoting advanced workflows. It is advised that you learn to use SketchUp studio before purchasing other SketchUp subscriptions, as it opens you up to the versatility and understanding of the program. With this subscription, you can run daylight visualizations to analyze the factors that affect your project. It will cost you about $699 to purchase a yearly SketchUp studio subscription.
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Sketchup Pro
This is the most popular SketchUp subscription. The Sketch Pro subscription allows for more professional work. It also gives quick insights for design research, ensuring accuracy from the beginning by enabling you to design, define, and plan all stages of the product. Most importantly, with SketchUp Pro, you can experience reality headset viewing to ensure that your landscape designs are professional and realistic. It will cost you about $299 to purchase a yearly SketchUp pro subscription.
Sketchup Go
Formerly known as SketchUp shop, the SketchUp Go subscription will enable you to design your landscapes and collaborate on the go. This subscription is available to iPads and web browsers only. You can purchase this subscription for $119.
Sketchup Free
You cannot use this free version of the SketchUp program for commercial purposes. However, it is a great way to practice landscape designing on SketchUp to see how well you adapt to the program.
iScape
This program consists of rich features to professionalize your landscape design. The program also helps you envision and plan your landscape designs to evaluate your ability to proceed with the project or advise hiring another professional to bring your project to life. Furthermore, with iScape, you can easily share your designs for opinions and adjustments from networks, friends, and professionals. Most importantly, with iScape, you have access to a community of designers and professionals to guide you into better use of the program and improve your landscape designs.
The iScape program has three subscriptions- free, pro, and enterprise. However, as a solo landscape designer, you will need the iScape Pro to create professional and beautiful designs.
The free iScape subscription is used by homeowners and hobbyists, while large companies use the enterprise subscription due to its multiple license features. The enterprise solution carries all the features of the iScape pro, only that various users can access it.
Full access to this program will cost you $299 per year with two months of free added subscription.
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SmartDraw
SmartDraw is a web-based program that provides quickstart landscape templates of over 70 designs from start to finish of the project. SmartDraw will help you build diagrams from data with built-in extensions to create better features. You can also enhance any other landscape design with SmartDraw. The SmartDraw program has three subscriptions, namely:
SmartDraw Individual
This subscription allows only one user and will give you a personalized and professional design experience. It will cost you about $119.4 for a yearly subscription. Here are some features of the SmartDraw individual subscription:
- More than 4500 templates with about 34,000 symbols.
- Integration with personal workspaces such as Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, clack, etc.
- Allows access to Dropbox, Google Photos, and One Drive to save and import designs.
- Visio import and export.
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SmartDraw team
This subscription allows for a minimum of 5 users. It is a cost-effective way to create landscape designs while collaborating with other professionals. It will cost you and your team about $71.4 annually to purchase this subscription. Here are some features to interest you about SmartDraw:
- Every feature on the SmartDraw individual.
- Team administrative controls.
- One shared team folder
- Premium support
- Accessibility to consolidate accounts.
- Professional results
SmartDraw site
If you have a landscape design organization, this is a great tool to ensure professionalism while maintaining a standard of beauty in designs. It will cost your organization $2,995 to purchase this subscription allowing access to every permitted member of your organization.
The features of this subscription are:
- Every feature on the SmartDraw team.
- Single sign-on
- Multiple shared folders
- Custom company theme
- Widespread collaboration
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VizTerra
This program offers a smooth and straightforward interface with intuitive tools and a 3D library that allows you to create 2D landscape designs and transform them into 3D with instant dimensions. Additionally, VizTerra will give you detailed visualizations of your landscape designs. If you want to subscribe monthly for VizTerra, it will cost you $97. However, a yearly $1,008 annual subscription gives a discount of $156.
Auto CAD
Landscapers use this computer-aided design program to create precise 3D and 2D landscape designs. This program helps you create designs with solids, surfaces, and mesh objects, with the unique feature of enabling annotations on your designs for reference or correction purposes.
As a landscape designer, AutoCAD will also help you compare drawings, calculate objects and shapes, and create schedules to maximize productivity. AutoCAD also provides web and app versions to enable you to work from anywhere.
It will cost you $220 to subscribe monthly for AutoCAD and $1,175 for a yearly subscription.
PRO Landscape
This program, unlike many others, was created specifically for landscape design. The program provides an extensive library of pavers, walkways, plants, walls, mulch, and irrigation designs via its computer-aided feature.
The PRO Landscape also helps you create a bid and a professional sales presentation of your bid while curating price estimates based on your prices and tax rates. With this program, you can see your designs’ aesthetics at night and day.
The program is also internationally translated into Spanish, German, and Italian.
It will cost you about $1,495 for an annual subscription, with a free lifetime of technical support and a 60-day money-back guarantee.
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REVIT
Revit is a modeling program landscape designers use for producing, annotating, production, and scheduling. You can use it to coordinate all data inputs and produce unified project deliverables.
This program is a 4D landscape modeling tool built to track different stages of landscape designing, helping landscape designers produce higher-quality landscapes.
Some of the key and distinct features of Revit are:
Parametric modeling
This feature will help you automate repetitive changes using pre-programmed rules and algorithms.
Automation
Whenever you make a change in your landscape design, the database gets updated, and the changes are carried out throughout the entire model.
Collaboration
Revit allows multiple users to work on a landscape design simultaneously. In addition, users can create a central model design where they can pull changes into their design.
Advantages of using a landscape design program
- Landscape design programs are more economical to use than hiring professionals.
- They are easy to use
- They are a perfect representation of your creativity as a landscape designer.
- They help you achieve timeliness when producing a landscape design.
- They allow you to market your design easily.
- They promote teamwork
- They provide a variety of template designs to help spark your creativity as a landscape designer.
- They help forecast methods to help with strategies to achieve a great project.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How easy is it to use a landscape design program?
Realistically speaking, if you are accustomed to creating analog landscape designs, these programs can appear to be user-hostile. However, with continuous practice and use, you will see that in no time, you will be able to understand how to use these features to create better designs than you did with analog. It is advised that you should be patient as a new user, seeking help from other professionals and the program support team.
Can I use more than one landscape design program on a project?
Absolutely! You can. However, it is not advised that you do, except when you seek a specific feature from a program you cannot find in the current program you have purchased/subscribed for.
In addition, when you are using more than one program, ensure that you have all your changes tracked and documented for future reference. This will help eliminate confusion, misunderstandings, and mistakes for you and your team members.
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Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Landscape Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a landscape business owner at a job site, driving down the road or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Landscaping Business Boss: I want to help landscape business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.