Online applications have exploded in popularity recently helping to ease or replace software costs for small businesses.

Specialty applications exist for all business types, including landscape professionals.

One online application professional landscape designers may want to consider is Landscapedia.info.

Designers can leverage Landscapedia for two primary purposes:

1. As a plant database

This feature allows you to create individualized plant lists (including photos) for client proposals/presentations as well as plant "maintenance reports" to provide clients after a planting installation is completed.

It can also be used to build your own personal online plant database of plants you commonly use in your landscape designs.

2. As an online portfolio of past projects to share with prospects

You can upload pictures of past projects and create your very own online portfolio. This is an absolutely free service.

Here are some other benefits to using Landscapedia:

• Free service versus buying plant database software
  
• Less time consuming versus building and maintaining your own plant database
  
• It's web-based so your information is accessible from any computer with an internet connection; no disc required
  
• The Landscapedia community of designers contributes to the plant database. You can upload your favorite plant images and information, while others do the same.
  
• Compatible with the Apple iPhone which allows access to Landscapedia.info when on a job site.
  
• Landscapedia is compatible with Windows and Macintosh, unlike other plant software.
  

At the core of Landscapedia is the "Projects" function. Projects are the starting point for everything from printing reports to displaying your portfolio.

Let's take a tour of how projects work.

(You will first need to register for a free account to Landscapedia.info. You can register here.)

From the menu, select "My Stuff", this will change the submenu below. On the submenu, select "Create New Project". This will take you to the project form.

The project form captures the basic information about your project. Fill in the form as completely as possible. This information determines what plants are popular in your area.

There are 2 other key fields on this page. The first is "Publish to Portfolio" which publishes the project to your personal portfolio. Set this to "No". You can edit your project later to publish it to your portfolio.

The second key field is "Share with my Work Group". This field allows co-workers to see your project. Set this to "No" if you have not setup a Work Group.

After completing the form, select "Submit" to save your project details.

Use the "Search" function to easily find the plants you want to add to your project. Plants are searchable by over 40 fields specific to landscape design.

Once you find your plant, click on "+ Bookmark" to add it to your bookmarks. These are shortcuts to your frequently used plants.

Click "+Project" to add the plant to your current project.

From the "Project Details" page, click "Add Image".

This allows you to browse and locate a file on your computer and upload that file to your specific project.

Repeat these steps to upload multiple images.

Once you have uploaded your images, you can change the order in which they display or delete them from the Project Details page.

Once you have added the plants to your specific project, you are able to create print-ready project reports. Here's an example:

You can view more extensive tutorials by visiting Landscapedia here

Michael Franklin

Michael Franklin is founder of Landscapedia.info and a professional landscape designer from Louisiana. With over 10 years of experience in corporate technology, he decided to return to his first love of landscape design after Hurricane Katrina. He splits his time between landscape projects in Ruston and New Orleans.