Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer Bundle

by Chief Architect

Product Details

Data Sheet [1.73mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0007ZF3FA
• Item model number: 045-200L-BNDL-IN
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 9, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,924 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #73 in Software > Home & Hobbies > Gardening & Landscape
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Your yard has always been good to you, giving you space to play with your kids, barbecue, and even sun-bathe on those lazy summer days. But now you're ready to bring some creative elegance and flair to your outdoor living. And you don't want to spend a mint just to have a landscape designer or consultant tell you what you want. If you know what you want, but you just need a little help turning that vision into reality, the Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer software package is just for you.

Design your new deck with Home Designer's tools that let you visualize and design with realistic 3D models.

Better Homes and Gardens, the number one home and garden publisher, has partnered with leading software designer Chief Architect to bring you the Landscaping and Deck Designer. This program can help you transform your yard space into the landscape of your dreams, at a fraction of the cost of what a professional would charge. Using the software's fun, intuitive, and easy-to-use tools, you'll quickly be on the way toward becoming the envy of your neighborhood as your backyard barbecues in the sun turn into elegant moon-lit affairs on your new deck.

With the Landscaping and Deck Designer, you don't need any design experience to plan your new landscaping, deck or patio areas. In a few easy steps, you'll be able to take care of site planning and cost estimating. The software will give you everything you need, from conception to planning to pricing.

With a huge library of over 1,200 plants at your disposal, you won't have to be stuck with the same old options the local home and garden shop offers. You can create beautiful landscaping with trees, shrubs, water features, and flowers of your own choosing. You can even import your digital photos and add your own custom landscaping features to your plans. To keep those plants thriving, you'll want to install a sprinkler system. The "sprinkler designer" feature can help you lay out sprinkler zones for optimal watering. A "furniture" feature allows you to project a wide variety of backdrops, objects, images, and textures onto your designs. It's never been easier to select the right patio furniture for your new deck or out by the swimming pool.

The software includes a library with a wide variety of backdrops, objects, images, and textures that can be used in your designs.

As you plan your new outdoor living area, the software can project 3D models of your plot and perimeter designs, giving you realistic images of what your designs will look like. A "terrain" feature can help you build fences and driveways, and the software will help you choose the best materials for the pathways you design through your gardens. You'll even have a special "fence tool" at your finger tips that will help you to choose from several different custom fence and gate styles.

In addition to the software, you also get the latest edition of The Better Homes and Gardens New Garden book -- a wonderful way to inspire and provide ideas for your outdoor living spaces. With over 600 pages of great ideas and glorious color photos of more plants and landscaping arrangements than you could ever need, this book will provide you with an endless fountain of inspiration.

In short, with the Landscaping and Deck Designer software at your fingertips, you can say good-bye to all those cookie-cutter yards that populate new developments. You can finally say hello to an outdoor living area that not only reflects your dreams and visions, but that also reflects how your outdoor area should be experienced, day in and day out, for years to come.

Features:

Get invaluable design ideas from The Better Homes and Gardens New Garden book. Landscaping templates designed by Better Homes and Gardens help you to quickly place your landscaping beds. Use the Better Homes and Gardens Design Planning Center to guide your designs with tips and advice. Choose from a library of more than 4,000 items for your designs, including over 1,200 plants. Plant Hardiness Zone reference maps helps you choose the most appropriate plants, and a Plant Chooser feature helps you search for plants based on climate, drought tolerance, deer resistance, and much more. Layout sprinkler zones quickly and efficiently. Design single or multi-level decks with Deck Designer. Assign the materials you want for your new patio design. Quickly lay out your deck, add stairs, then place and arrange furniture. Deck foundations automatically generate to match sloped lots. Design and visualize your areas in 3D. Import your own photos of houses, plants, people, and more. Produce realistic images of your outdoor projects. Easily create hills and valleys for custom landscapes. Automatically generate materials list to estimate costs. Includes free How-To Tutorial CD.

A database of more than 1,200 plants offers both detailed information and photorealistic models for your visualizations.

Terrain Tools help you create topographically detailed views in 2D or 3D.

What's in the Box
Landscaping and Deck Designer software on CD and instructional CD, The Better Homes and Gardens New Garden book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Using Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer, August 1, 2005

By 

M. Carley (Cheshire, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer Bundle (CD-ROM)

I am a novice to landscape design. I have in the past used a drafting table, drafting machine, and created a plan view that was almost professional looking thanks to a course I took by mail several years ago. My problem was that I did not have the drawing skills to create an elevation view, and I felt that was a vital missing skill.

I had looked at several brands of software (CAD) that would give me the ability to create what my gardens should look like if I were standing looking at them. Some that were too simplified were not able to allow me to get the exact picture I wanted. Others that were even more expensive than this one were not as sophisticated in their look. I did not have the money or the inclination to spend thousands of dollars on programs that were probably meant for professionals.

I am a master gardener and I get my satisfaction from designing for schools, retirement centers, and others who are looking for perennial gardens, bird, and butterfly gardens. I am a retired educator and only want to use the program to help me give back to my community. The way I can do this is to help them design a garden.

I found this program relatively easy to understand as I first read it. The quick start guide and tutorial is excellent and touches on all that I need to get started. It also has a variety of plant material in the zone that I live in. This is something that I also looked for in the design software. I can also import photos of plants that are not listed in the Better Homes and Garden encyclopedia. This program also lets one know how many plants of a certain kind are needed in a certain area, and how they will look in 0 to 10 years.

Although I donate my own time, it is important for an institution to know how much they are going to spend on plant material, mulch, pathway material, etc. This is done in the project cost estimating portion of the program.

I got the bundle because I am always looking for new garden books to use and add to my library. This is a thoughtful, well written one. I just wish it were in hard cover rather than soft cover.

Anyone who takes the time to follow the tutorial can create a design of their liking within a relatively short period of time. It is well worth the money and cheaper than other products I looked at that did not give as sophisticated a picture of what you want your design to look like.

2.0 out of 5 stars Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designe Bundle, March 11, 2007

By 

CeeGee "Cathy G" (Little Falls, NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer Bundle (CD-ROM)

I bought the software for the landscape design portion. After working with it for several hours I decided it would be easier to cut out pictures and use my trusty architect scale and work with pen and paper. The program was cumbersome to use and was limited with plantings which were not to scale.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent design software!, February 4, 2010

By 

R. Karnes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer Bundle (CD-ROM)

This software was extremely helpful in planning my deck and landscaping. I have an extremely large yard and with this software, it looks like something from a magazine. It does take some time to use, but when you consider if you build a deck or do any amount of landscaping, you're spending quite a bit of money. Isn't it worth putting some time into it so it looks great? I would recommend this to anyone that wants the best yard on the block.