Is there POND DESIGN SOFTWARE out there?

[Mmathis]

.... something simple, reasonably priced, intended for the hobiest rather than for the professional... I have some HOME & LANDSCAPE software that I think would work to some degree, but it got uninstalled a while back (we got a new computer) and so far haven't been able to find the originals to reinstall it.

This could be really fun as you could actually "dig" your holes, elevate/contour the land area as necessary, draw & play with designs & placements, etc.

I don't think the landscape software I have would let you do things like add waterfalls, etc., but would probably give you a general picture of what the finished project could look like.

If there was POND DESIGN SOFTWARE, I think it would be nice if you could test out things like water flow patterns -- stuff like that.

 

[adavisus]

If there were such thing, no sightings of examples of such schematics have shown up yet other than a few large scale landscapers who have used architects to do their CAD plans

I could well imagine its quicker to scribble such schematics on paper than learn the software, twiddle with details, than the time it takes to make the pond, lol

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com

 

[HARO]

Have to agree with Andy, I like to sketch things out, top view/side view, and go from there. Of course, I didn't grow up with computers, so I'm much more at ease with a pencil. Designed our house, blueprints, everything... all with a few pencils! John

 

[ididntdoit99]

I bet.. I bet It can de done in solidworks, I know it has flow rate analysis, and flow simulation for designing pumps, and things like that. Not really for landscaping, but I bet the software could show you the flow of your pond (minus environmental factor) and show dead spot in the design of your pond.

But I dont think that solidworks is really a cost efficient program to buy, and I have no idea how to use any of those features to test the idea I'm a sheetmetal engineer, I dont deal with that aspect of the software.

 

[Mmathis]

Well, it was worth a shot! I tend to draw stuff, too, but don't have the right talents so that my ideas translate to paper. I end up drawing, then going to one of my "paint" programs where I play around with "insert square, drag to resize" -- that sort of stuff, just shapes. Nothing that gives me that finished product look.

Think I'll keep searching for our lost LANDSCAPE software (if it's not too old by now).

 

[Waterbug]

I don't know of any...wish there were. There's a bunch of free CAD apps out there. I find them pretty hard to use.

Google's Sketchup is free and very powerful. Pretty easy to sketch out blocks, but when it gets down to details I find it difficult to control. There might be add ons that were specific to ponds, I never checked.

I'm currently writing a CAD application for hobbyist wood workers and have been thinking of tweaking it for pond design. I've long wished for an easy to use app that would provide basic water level analysis.

 

[ididntdoit99]

http://www.tucows.co...r-Garden-Studio

i dont know if this is worth a darn, I'm downloading it now.

found it on this site... but had to google it and find another place to download it.

http://landscaping.s....datapicks.com/

checked it out quick... its kind of cool, not a lot of features in the trial version. but you can do some simple landscaping designs, there are a bunch of programs in that list in the second link, you may want to download some and try them out.

 

[sissy]

yeh I use sketchup what a neat 3 d it gives you and love you can add animals and people .You can flip rotate and delete really easy to use after you get used to it .Fun to work with it .That is how I redisgned my sons house inside and out and remodeled it all by myself .Makes it easier to figure out each room layout

 

[Mmathis]

ididntdoit [what's the story behind the name? ], I'll take a look when I'm not on the iPhone.

Tried to download SKETCHUP yesterday, but was on the tablet and wouldn't work -- duh! Anyway, went through a couple of the tutorials and they looked pretty good. New learning curve... Will try the download on the main computer later.

 

[ididntdoit99]

Lol, it was the name I came up with when I was like 12 years old and my parents bought thier first computer, and it has just stuck with me all these years, easy to rember when pretty much every website I log into has the same name.

The one i posted looks like a pretty cool program, if you have the full version (i think it was like $30) you dont have alot of choices in the free version. Full one looks like you can choose different designs to look just like you house, and map out your whole landscape.

 

[Waterbug]

TurtleMommy, I'd be interested in your review of Sketchup if you get to use it. They'll be a competitor of mine. Thanks