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Plan my garden

Planting calendars, layouts and companion plants.

Planting calendars, layouts and companion plants. The tools below run on your computer. Most of them are free, and the work stays on your machine.

ChatImages

Works offline · Free options

Easiest way to start

Ollama + Qwen3 8B

The simplest app for a local chatbot. Pick a model, then talk.

Will it run on my computer?

Check my computer
Local or cloud?2 shown

Most tools here are free.

HONEST COMPARISON

Local AI or cloud for plan my garden?

Reviewed Oct 2026

  • Privacy: Local winsGarden notes stay local
  • Cost: Cloud winsA planner subscription replaces a lot of guesswork
  • Quality: Cloud winsSpacing and dates are the planner's job
  • Ease: Cloud winsYou see the bed, not a paragraph

Local AI

A local chat can draft a planting idea. A garden planner draws the bed.

  • Your garden notes stay on your computer
  • Good for a plant list and a rough calendar

Where it falls short

  • It does not draw a bed to scale
  • Frost dates and spacing are easy to get wrong
See local tools for this task ↓

Cloud & apps

Garden planners know spacing, sun and the calendar for your climate.

Our take

Use a garden planner for the bed. A local chat is only a first list of plants.

Choose local if…

  • You want a private first list
  • You already know your frost dates

Choose cloud if…

  • You need spacing and dates
  • You are laying out beds

Some links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no cost to you. It never changes our verdicts. How we make money

How to do it in 3 steps

  1. Install Ollama from its official guide: Ollama's download page.
  2. Open the Qwen3 8B page and check the traffic light for a few kinds of computer.
  3. Follow that official guide. This site does not add its own install steps.

Questions

Does this upload my files?
No. The tools on this page are meant to run on your computer.
What does it cost?
Most options are free. A few apps are a one-time purchase, and a few models need a computer with more memory.
What if it will not fit?
Use Check my computer, or turn on the lighter memory filters. A red light on the model page means the file is too big.

Not into local AI? Try these instead

Ordinary apps for home & garden. The links use a placeholder referral code and may pay us.

  • GrowVeg

    A garden planner for beds, spacing, and planting dates.

    GrowVeg · #ad

  • Gardenize

    A garden journal for plants, photos, and what you did today.

    Gardenize · #ad

  • RHS

    Plant profiles and growing advice from the Royal Horticultural Society.

    RHS · #ad

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