Planting Designer

The Planting Designer is your AI-powered assistant for planning new plantings. It analyses your garden’s conditions—sun exposure, soil type, and existing plants—and suggests plants that will actually thrive in each area. No more guessing, no more dead plants, no more disappointment.

Accessing the Planting Designer: From your garden dashboard, click “Garden Design Assistant” on a completed garden. You need at least one flowerbed or container region defined to use this feature.

Setting Design Preferences

Before getting recommendations, you can set your design preferences to guide the AI’s suggestions. This helps ensure the recommendations match your vision—not just the growing conditions.

Garden styles: Choose from style categories to match your vision:

Category	Styles Include
Traditional	Cottage, Formal, Victorian, Heritage, Romantic
Modern	Contemporary, Urban, Dramatic, Gothic
Naturalistic	Prairie, Meadow, Wildflower, Wildlife, Informal
Regional	Mediterranean, Coastal, Tropical, Exotic, Japanese
Functional	Edible, Kitchen Garden, Cutting, Herb Garden, Container
Specialty	Woodland, Shade, Bog Garden, Alpine, Rock Garden
Display	Mixed Borders, Specimen, Annual Border, White Garden

Colour palettes: Select a pre-defined palette or choose custom colours:

Palette	Colours	Description
Hot Border	Red, Orange, Coral, Yellow, Magenta	Vibrant, warm, energetic
Cool Border	Blue, Purple, Silver, White, Pink	Calming, sophisticated
Pastels	Soft pinks, blues, yellows, purples	Soft, romantic tones
White Garden	White, Silver	Elegant, moonlight garden
Jewel Tones	Purple, Red, Blue, Green	Rich, saturated, dramatic
Sunset	Orange, Coral, Peach, Yellow, Red	Warm autumn tones
Cottage Mix	Pink, Blue, Purple, White, Yellow	Informal, abundant
Mediterranean	Blue, Purple, Silver, Yellow	Drought-tolerant
Tropical	Magenta, Orange, Coral, Red, Pink	Bold, exotic
Woodland	White, Blue, Green, Purple	Shade-friendly, naturalistic

Soil types: Filter recommendations by your soil conditions (Standard, Clay, Sandy, Chalky, Acidic, Boggy).

Using the Planting Chat

The Planting Designer features an AI chat assistant that provides personalised plant recommendations. It’s like having a knowledgeable gardening friend who knows your exact conditions.

How it works:

1. When you select a region, the AI automatically analyses its conditions
2. It considers sun exposure, region size, existing plants, and your preferences
3. You can ask questions and have a conversation about your planting plans

Example questions you can ask:

• “What plants would work well in this shady corner?”
• “Suggest some tall plants for the back of this border”
• “I want year-round interest, what do you recommend?”
• “What would complement my existing roses?”
• “Show me plants with blue flowers that bloom in summer”

Suggested prompts: After each response, the AI may suggest follow-up questions as clickable buttons. These help you explore different options without typing.

Getting Planting Recommendations

When the AI searches for suitable plants, results appear in a “Suggested Plants” panel above the chat.

Plant cards show:

• Photo — image of the plant
• Name — scientific and common names
• Dimensions — height and spread
• Match score — how well it suits your conditions (shown as a percentage)
  • Green badge (70%+): Excellent match
  • Yellow badge (50-69%): Good match
  • Grey badge (below 50%): Possible but not ideal

Loading more results: If there are more matching plants, click “Load More” to see additional suggestions.

Placing Suggested Plants

When you find a plant you like, you can add it to your garden plan.

To place a plant:

1. Click “Place in Region” on any plant card
2. The plant is automatically positioned in your region
3. A confirmation message appears in the chat
4. You can drag the plant to adjust its exact position
5. Use the resize handle to adjust its spread

Getting more information: Click on a plant card or select “Find out more…” to ask the AI for detailed information about that plant, including growing conditions and care requirements, companion planting suggestions, and best placement within your border.

Viewing and Managing Planned Plants

Plants you add through the designer appear as “planned plantings” on your region diagram. They’re styled differently from existing plants, so you can easily see what you have versus what you’re planning to add.

Planned plants show:

• A circular marker indicating the plant’s spread
• The plant image in the centre
• Different styling from existing plants

To manage planned plants:

• Click to select and view details in the sidebar
• Drag to reposition
• Resize using the handle on the edge
• Delete using the trash icon

Converting planned to existing: When you purchase and plant something from your plan, click “I have this Plant” to convert it from a planned planting to an existing planting. This moves it to your permanent garden record.

Buying Plants from Suppliers

Plants in our database include links to UK nurseries where you can purchase them. We’ve done the hard work of finding reliable suppliers—you just need to click through and buy.

Finding purchase links:

1. Select a planned plant by clicking on it
2. In the plant details panel, look for nursery website links
3. Each link shows the nursery name (e.g., “crocus.co.uk”, “farmergracy.co.uk”)
4. Click any link to open the plant’s page on that nursery’s website

What you’ll find:

• Direct links to the specific plant page
• Current pricing and availability
• Options to add to your shopping basket on the nursery site

Multiple suppliers: Many plants are available from several nurseries, giving you options to compare prices, check availability, and choose your preferred supplier.

Note: Prices and availability are managed by each nursery and may change. The links take you directly to the supplier’s website to complete your purchase.

---

Previous: Placing Plants

You’ve completed the Getting Started guides! You now have everything you need to plan a beautiful garden with confidence. Remember: the right plant in the right place is a happy plant—and a happier gardener.