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From:Chief Architect
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![Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer 7.0 [OLD VERSION]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ZVQG5PLoL._SL160_.jpg)
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User Rating: Amazon Sales Rank:#1468 |
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22 of 22 customers found the following review helpful:
 Landscaping Made Easy!, 2007-06-07
I am enjoying this product. It was not hard to get the basics set up, except for the elevation levels for the terrain. However, with some experimenting and some reading, I was pretty much "designing" within a few days (I work, so this was play time). I am not terribly computer savy, but was able, through trial and error, to use the software in a relatively short period of time.
Main drawback is the limited number of plants in the menu. Most of the standard plants are available, but I am looking for a download that would bring in additional plants.
All in all, I feel that if I can do this, and enjoy it as much as I have, just about anyone can feel confident about buying it. I am pleased.
15 of 15 customers found the following review helpful:
Good software for basic designs, 2007-05-16
The software has good tutorials and is fairly easy to use. It was difficult trying to layout a non-square plot plan. I would have liked a larger tree / plant selection for my area (Colorado) as I live in a covenant controlled community that only allow certain types of landscaping. Overall a good piece of software.
95 of 99 customers found the following review helpful:
 Pedestrian Software for Pedestrian Landscapes, 2007-04-02
I picked this up in the hopes of visualizing some possible landscape options for our front and back yard without having to pay a professional landscaping firm for a consult.
First, the good. The tutorial videos are straightforward, easy to follow, and easy to learn from. The user interface is also pretty good, and I managed to make a reasonable approximation of our house in under 20 minutes. There's also a ton of trees, plants, shrubs, and so on, and the "zone finder" is very helpful in narrowing down what will grow in your particular area.
Now the bad. If your yard is at all hilly in an unusual way, that is, if it's not perfectly flat or gently sloped, you're going to have a nearly impossible time getting your yard laid out with this software unless you have a degree in cartography. I consider myself pretty bright, and pretty adept with maps, and I still cannot manage to lay out my yard correctly with this software. Given, I have an unusual yard. The driveway slopes down, but the front yard remains level until it hits a 5' retaining wall. The back yard has at least three distinct levels. Still, this software claims it can handle odd yards, but it does a poor job at it.
Second, if your tastes in landscaping run to the extreme, hire a professional. There's plenty of "garden variety" gardens in this software, but if you're looking for unusual water features, perhaps asian-inspired accents (very popular here in the Pacific NW), look elsewhere. While heavy on plants, decks, and lawn furniture, anything unique or slightly out of the ordinary isn't included here. My own design called for a basalt fountain. Not to be found, even for download on the website. And oddly shaped stone patios? Don't even try, unless you want to individually model every stone. You may as well just skip the software and get right to real landscaping.
For a vast majority of people going with very tried and true, non-experimental and non-extreme landscaping designs, this will probably be very adequate software. Want to arrange some flowers, trees, and bushes on your mostly flat yard? This is money well spent if you have no talent with pen and paper. However, if you're looking for a solution to unlock your hidden creatvitiy, look to a professional, or stick with your existing artistic skills in the medium of your choice.
26 of 35 customers found the following review helpful:
 Good modeling tool for the money, 2007-03-08
Good modeling tool with great 3-D graphics which allows the user to view from any direction. The component selection is adequate and the tutorial was informative allowing me to get started designing within the first hour of installing the product.
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