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10 iPhone apps help new gardeners plan, design and troubleshoot.
I’m new to this whole food growing thing. And this year is my first with a proper yard with beds waiting to be planted.
Having come from a long line of gardeners, you’d think I would know what I was doing, but alas I didn’t pay attention when I was younger, and now I live too far away from family to really take advantage of that wealth of knowledge.
But maybe that’s where a handy lil’ iPhone app can help. 10 in fact. Mashable recently compiled a list of 10 Great iPhone Apps for Growing a Garden (thank you, Emily Jubenvill, for the link!), which include tools for:
>> Fruit growing: For those of us who are totally intimidated by the mechanics of growing berry bushes (iPhone apps: Fruit Garden)
>> Harvesting schedules by zone: So you know when you can finally call the folks over for that asparagus dinner you’ve been promising (iPhone apps: iGarden USA and Botanical Interests)
>> Pest control: Finally an answer to what’s been nibbling at your tomatoes (iPhone app: Bugs and Insects)
>> Tree and shrub identification: So you can build some privacy into your yard for those rare topless gardening days (iPhone app: Botany Buddy)
>> High-yield herbs: Herbs are the cornerstone of any kitchen garden; the trick is to grow them in abundance (iPhone app: Herbs+)
>> Garden design: For turning the mayhem into a zen garden haven (iPhone app: Gardens)
>> Plant 9-1-1: When there’s something strange in your garden bed, who you gonna call? (iPhone app: The Plant Doctor)
>> Gardening tools: Know where to get a good pair of gardening gloves when you spring a hole in your old ones (iPhone app: iLocate – Gardening Supplies)
While I haven’t tried any of these apps out yet, I plan to do some testing when I get my iPhone (crossing fingers it’s this week!).
Important gauges for determining if these tools are useful are: whether the app makes me feel more confident in the garden; whether the information is accurate and definitive, versus being general and unhelpful; whether the information is suited to my specific climate (Lower Mainland); and whether I keep coming back to use the app again and again.