About the Landscape Juice Network

Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.

LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry

LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.

For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.

Landscape Design Software

Hi all!

Having spent the previous year drawing designs/ideas for customers, I have decided to get with the times and try some CAD software!

I have read many previous posts on here regarding this subject and there have been some very comprehensive discussions and advice but I am still having trouble finding the information I need. I have even spent hours watching tutorial videos on YouTube for different software. 

There seems to be a variety of available software and understandably conflicting advice so I'm confused!!!

Surely there must be a simple landscape design package which enables the user to draw 'to scale' ariel views of their ideas -something that doesn't involve taking long courses in London. I have looked at Smartdraw, Sketchup, etc but no site which offers a package of instructional videos from beginner to advanced. I appreciate you have to put the time in and willing to do so, but it is limited. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks all!

You need to be a member of Landscape Juice Network to add comments!

Join Landscape Juice Network

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Personally I don't think you can go far wrong with Sketchup. 

    I bought "Sketchup for Dummies" which was a great help. There are many online tutorials on youtube and also an extensive knowledge centre which can be found in the help menu.

    It's a very versatile program and you can create your own textures and fills from images etc. 

    There is a similar program called Vector works but I believe it is quite expensive especially as sketchup is free.

  • Hi Mark, Many thanks for your advice! I think I will give it a try, Especially as its free so I guess I cant go wrong!

  • Hi Simon, I have been self teaching sketchup for a while. I think it's pretty easy to learn - although I am not yet an advanced user. I took a month's trial of Vectorworks, which I really liked but it is very expensive. I have paid for the pro version of sketchup now, so was happy enough with it to commit to it. If you work through beginner tutorials online, then once you are familiar with it, there's a book called Sketchup for Site Design by Daniel Tal which is really useful in advancing your skills. Good luck, Nic
    • Hi Nicola,Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! That's great advice and I am going to download it this afternoon. Like you say, with a little time and patience I should eventually put together something to a reasonable standard. Although perhaps if it doesn't look too good, the actual end result when finishing the garden should be more impressive!!!

      Where do you get your tutorials from if you don't mind me asking!?

      Simon

      • Hi Simon,
        There's a series of tutorials on Sketchup's website which takes you through all the key tools. I used those, and various odds and ends from YouTube. I find it intuitive enough to enjoy experimenting with designs in the early stages - it's good fun manipulating the space in 3D :)
        Nic
  • hi simon dont knwo if any good or how in depth you want the programmes to be but i sent you a link for a design programme i use, i would say that i only use it for quote purposes so client can see plans. but its free and simple to use

  • I have used Sketchup for several years and would never go back to hand drawing. Just upgraded to 2017 Pro and (combined with Shaderlight render package) results are exceptional. Use You Tube for tutorials - although many on earlier versions of Sketchup they are still generally relevant. To start I would advise using your own hand drawn plans and converting them into Sketchup format.

    When evaluated and you want to go further then the Pro verson, with Layout, makes drawing presentation so professional

    • Hi Mike.

      Is shaderlight easy to use and have you tried any other rendering plug-ins. I've only used visualizer with sketchup with mixed results but it was simple to use, just press start and wait for render to complete. This plug-in I believe has been discontinued, so looking for a new render plug-in which does not require too much involvement.

      Cheers

      Mark

  • When I first started rendering my designs, purely as an additional presentation tool I tried several different programs. Many were complicated and not particularly user friendly; my parameters were ease of use and Sketchup compatibility. So, although on a not very scientific basis, I 'played' further with Thea, Brighter3D and Shaderlight. You- Tube videos of most options exist but I was particularly impressed by 'Shaderlight for SketchUp demonstration of features' uploaded to You Tube on 1/2/2011. Take a look,

    I think that a free trial version of Shaderlight is still available. I got this first but have since upgraded to the Pro version. Easy to use, good effects, few problems. Cloud rendering also available, I believe. 

    'Rendering for Sketchup' book by Daniel Tal encompasses rendering in Vray, SU Podium but predominantly covers Shaderlight rendering that seems to reinforce my impressions.

    Renders on my page (photographs on pages 1 and 4) are done in Shaderlight. I use low resolution and quick render times for general use but Pro version gives HD options; this can take time and slow computer down however.

    Hope this helps.

    • Thanks Mike. Looks good, some impressive work on those pages.

      I think that low resolution works better than photoreal. It's just enough to soften the hard edges of sketchup whilst retaining a design appearance.

This reply was deleted.

LJN Sponsor

Advertising

PRO Supplier

Working with an electric loader is now more efficient than ever – even in extremely cold conditions. Avant Tecno presents the renewed e series and the third generation of fully electric loaders, whose unique battery technology further improves…

Read more…