I'm really pleased with the Weatherstaff PlantingPlanner. I wanted to plant up a flower border in my back garden, but I didn't know where to start or what plants to choose. With this program, you can draw out your border shape, answer questions about your soil conditions (it explains how to do this) and then pick a garden style and colour theme. Then it creates a planting plan using all this information.
I chose a Contemporary style in purple and white. My plan looks wonderful with lots of gorgeous plants and I can't wait to start planting.
There are lots of links with useful information, such as how to find out what type of soil you have, choosing a garden style, improving your soil, etc. The plants in the planting plan come with detailed descriptions and beautiful photographs so I can see what I'm getting.
I like the fact that you can keep changing the plan and you can make as many plans as you want. The plant maintenance advice is very helpful. It would be useful if you could print out this advice though. I think this is a great garden design software program - excellent for beginners like me.