I’m a fan of Inkscape for this sort of thing. It is an open source, multiplatform vector graphics package which is powerful and not too hard to get started with. It is a lot like Adobe Illustrator, though different enough that you will be frustrated at first if you already know Illustrator. There are lots of tutorials and online resources. It runs very well on Linux, a little less smoothly on Mac.
You can import DXF too if you have a plot plan in Autocad or something. Colors and text are way easier to deal with than in Autocad. Export back to Autocad is not always issue free but usually workable.
I did lots of versions of a plan for landscaping our small urban yard in this package. Here is one version (already badly out of date):
My orchard is truly micro sized; about 15 square meters, or roughly the area under one mature M111 tree, so it’s not hard for me to remember things. I do intend on putting some metal labels out too at some point but haven’t gotten to that yet. I like the idea of GPS for tree locations!
Here is a drawing I did in Inkscape for the micro-orchard:
I finally found a way to make permanent orchard labels at home.
I have tried aluminum, soft brass strips, antifreeze plastic container strips with markers etc. They all failed me over the years. I settled on the two ply ABS material used to make all those outdoor plastic signs you see all around. Material: Microsurfaced ABS, two ply colors.
Matte, non glare, 2 ply, 1⁄16" thick, sheet size 12x24" or 24x24."
I get the sheet from: Google: Johnson Plastics. Their site is a little hard to navigate.
Click ‘start shopping’ on the far right:
Engraving Product / Engravable Plastics / Rowmark Plastics / Rotary Engravable
then on the left side, find: The Mattes w Value Mattes / 1⁄16 Inch Thick 2-Ply
actual link complete: http://www.johnsonplastics.biz/category/M37/1/1/1646
you have to create and account and log in to purchase.
Many colors are available: I chose #222744V, yellow on black, 24"x24", 1/16" sheet. I cut the sheet on a table saw, with a fine tooth blade, into 1 1⁄4 x 2 1⁄2" strips, and then drilled 5⁄32" (.156) diameter holes. I engraved them with a cheap hand rotary engraver, which I had sharpened the tip very very sharp. I gave em two coats of floor polyurethane, and I hung em with 14-Gauge Solid THHN Wire indoor home AC circuit wire.They have been in place on sixty trees some, for well over five years. Some of the polyurethane overcoat is peeling, but it was an indoor floor grade, and had no UV protection. See the Afghanistan label below. I am working on a suitable overcoat. Perhaps Marine Varnish?
Can we revisit this topic for 2022? I have been trying a few ideas found here and elsewhere on Growingfruit and am not finding a solution that really works yet.
I have an overhead view via GoogleMaps, and when the weather clears a bit, can get a drone photo of current. Google is a bit out of date, but fine for N/S/E/W and finding buildings and trees kept. What I can’t easily do is drop correctly sized/labeled shapes over the image and move them around, then continue to move them as I find the spacing I want. I’m trying to plan where I am going to plant, so I don’t have to keep dragging out the cardboard shapes to see what fits.
Then this will be a record of what I did and space available going forward. I do have a spreadsheet of plants, but that is more for info and dates.
There’s a close solution from smallblueprinter, but awkward. Any ideas?
I know about that thread, and posted in it. I want something more for gardening/orchard /landscaping. The circles on a GoogleMap are just markers, can’t be customized to plant size. So if I have a blueberry at 24", a ground cover at 12" and blackberries planted at 36", they look the same. Trees are all the same size as well. Thinking that I may need to pay up for a CAD program to do this. I don’t need or want over half of what they do though.
A member suggested Google Sheets and it’s working great for keeping track of hundreds of varieties. Not fancy but, if you think about it, everything is laid out on a X, Y axis. I just leave squares blank relative to size of footprints / Spacing. I’m sure there is amazing software made for landscape engineers but K.I.S.S
I screenshot an image from google maps, then opened it in GIMP (free image program) and added circles for each tree (trying to approximate final canopy size of each), then added a text label numbering each circle.
I put a big text box as key on the same map on it’s own layer so that it can be kept updated in future without affecting the other layers (unlike in mspaint where the text is final once added). The key lists species, cultivar, and roostock.
I can export the image at any time and keep a backup in my email. I plan to print and laminate it too. I use the same numbering scheme for any spreadsheets I keep with further details and ongoing observations.
I forced myself to use GardenPlanner from smallblueprinter. My lot is oddly shaped, so using a spreadsheet or grid does not work, but i do have a spreadsheet of plants and possibilities for later. I took the Google maps photo and put it under, made it close enough. At least i know where the driving area and well are in relation to the trees.
I’ve not looked at it, but a friend last year was extolling the HuntStand app for orchard mapping and mapping locations of interesting trees ‘in the wild’ for later collection of nuts/acorns/scionwood.
It was developed for hunters, but what I thought I understood from was that you could assign precise GPS coordinates to a particular tree, bush, etc.
This site and members’ knowledge…whew! Just this week I have been working on an idea to document the land form changes (cables, culverts, plantings, etc.) on the farm in the past 50 years. Might help the next poor farmer in this place when I check out.
There are a bunch of diggings/pushings/buildings, one signal tree and some other stuff needs documenting. Was considering a moving picture camera. I know nothing of how to choose a video camera and more importantly, how to store or transmit the images.
I could spend a couple hundred bucks to get started. We have no cell service, no dsl, no cable, no fiber here. My learning curve needs to be abrupt and easy for an old guy to learn. (that may be asking a lot, haha)
Any guidance is greatly appreciated. Camera that is old age friendly, storage capacity easily loaded and saved are what I need to learn.
Along with GIMP there many free 2D drawing programs… LibreCAD, QCAD, etc. These programs are not image editors like GIMP/Photoshop which is just pixels, you can move resize delete any individual element. Basically Adobe Illustrator kind of thing as opposed to Adobe Photoshop.
I did my orchard map many years ago when I had an Illustrator license. These days it is nose bleed expensive so no more Illustrator for me.
I have let my appraisal software go inactive or could sketch it there. I will try and learn something new, but still need a moving picture camera suggestion.
I use Google Earth because I can easily position markers at the exact spot for each tree and bush. You can include grafts as popup details so they show when you click the markers. I actually used GE to plan my orchards before planting anything. I do use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of details but for recording position so that down the line someone can figure out what’s where I haven’t found anything that beats it. Plus, it’s free.
I have created an iOS app for orchard mapping - I needed a tool for myself, to map my own orchard. If anyone would like to try it, please drop an email to support@tapmints.com. It is not yet released, but it is ready. I’d love to get a feedback, whether the app is helpful, what could be enhanced etc. More info about the app, and about me is in #general - “Orchard mapping app” topic.
I missed this before. You can get a GoPro 9 or 10 for $250 and downloading can be done from it’s micro-SD card. You can also look for a used GoPro and likely find something for less.
