Spring is nearly upon us which means better weather and plants coming back to life. For the average gardener, that’s a blessing and a curse. It means the plants you want to see are growing, but they might end up growing out of control.
Here’s a selection of apps that will help you know when to plant, where to plant and how to tackle overgrowing issues.
1. Garden Plan Pro ($7.99) 
Garden Plan Pro does a little bit of everything. It allows you to design your garden from scratch within the app, placing vegetables, fruit and herbs exactly where you need them. There’s full growing information for over 190 plants with thousands of different varieties catered for. Advice is offered for how to rotate crops successfully, as well as when the best time to plant and harvest is.
2. Gardening Companion (Free) 
Gardening Companion offers thousands of articles on gardening, along with photos and YouTube videos to help you figure things out. Everything from how to plant to solving common problems is catered for here. There’s also a journal portion of the app so you can track your progress and share it with others.
3. Garden Compass (Free) 
With a personalized care calendar, Garden Compass should keep you on top of things, even if you’re a novice gardener. It offers plant identification services, expert advice and monthly reminders that are relevant to your garden. A premium membership makes it all the more powerful with product suggestions and curated guidance.
4. GrowIt! (Free) 
GrowIt! offers information on thousands of different plant types. It’ll help you find the right kind of plant for your needs and location. You can then set up a project showing off your accomplishments and sharing your tips and tricks for how to do best. A social networking side of things enables you to show off your collection and rate other people’s gardens.
5. Homegrown with Bonnie Plants (Free) 
Homegrown offers information on more than 250 vegetables and herbs, allowing you to view a series of guides on how to best grow them. Alongside that, you can track your garden’s progress, such as how frequently you’re watering and feeding your plants. You can check out current predicted weather for your locale too, and adjust plans accordingly.
6. Life (Free) 
Life is a gardening journal and diary. You can organize your plants list, identifying what’s currently in your garden and what counts as a priority. Local weather updates mean you know exactly what’s going on, with Life keeping an eye on when things should sprout and bloom. You can store photos of each step of the way, too.
7. ePlant (Free) 
ePlant lets you keep track of everything in your garden. That means you can keep track of sizes, prices, species and what food you might have used for it. You can easily search for the scientific name, garnering more information via Wikipedia or Wikispecies. There’s support for Parrot Flower Power sensors, too.
8. Permaculture (Free) 
Permaculture offers a wealth of tips, advice and videos on gardening. A mixture of text and visual news, it’ll tell you how to tame your lawn to how to renovate parts of your land. In every case, it’s an interesting read or watch, even if it’s not exactly what you might be intending for your own garden.
9. GrowSquared (Free)
GrowSquared is a simple to use, drag and drop garden planning tool. It lets you plan your bed sizes and select plants before placing them down virtually. You can set planting dates, while checking out information on watering rotas, with the app giving you a head’s up on when is best to harvest. It’ll reduce much of the planning side of gardening.
10. Landscaper’s Companion for iPad ($9.99)
A coffee table book style app, Landscaper’s Companion offers information on over 26,000 plants, backing it up with 21,000 pictures. You can learn everything possible about trees, shrubs, perennials and many more types of plants here. With extensive searching features, it’s never been easier to look up a plant suitable for your area.