According to Ofcom 66% of the UK population are now using smartphones. What’s so great about this stat if you’re a gardener? The accompanying apps and websites of course! They can provide much help from identifying weeds to providing guidance for growing crops and fruits.
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Although working the soil and the world of technology may seem far apart, apps are incredibly useful to us gardeners and so are gardening focused websites.
Horticulturists from days gone by will be more than familiar with books such as Hillier’s Manual. Times have now moved on and the truly committed will refer to the RHS plant finder, which offers information on over 70,000 plants either in the form of a paperback or online.
Other exciting developments in the area of technology have been taking place. For example, the addition of QR codes to the AGM (Award of Garden Merit) plants at the RHS flagship garden, Wisley. Scanning these QR codes with a smartphone will automatically display relevant information on the species at hand. So far over 7000 plants have been labelled with codes, with many more in the pipeline.
Another useful piece of technology can be found on the smartphone in the form of the mySoil app. It’s particularly useful if you’re moving home and need to know whether you can take certain plants with you, the app will provide information on soil type in any given area – just enter your postcode. You can find mySoil app on Apple or on Google Play.
An excellent website that provides some terrific ‘how to’ information and demonstrations is the YouTube video site. You can quickly understand how to use a scythe, how to cut a hedge or how to feed strawberries amongst other gardening related topics. Fortunately, most gardeners like to deliver some true down to earth information rather than trying to look flash.
Another app you may find useful is the Bug iD app. You can identify which bugs are frequenting your garden through the National History Museums bug identification app.
You can find any of the websites or apps mentioned by performing a search on your favourite search engine. ‘App-y gardening!