Who hasn’t found a strange weed in their garden and wondered what it could be? Or walked past a beautiful flower and were curious if you could grow it in your garden? Unless you’re an horticulturist or visiting an arboretum or botanical garden there’s usually not an easy way to identify plants but now there are a number of apps that can help. Hortibiz lists the following as the best apps – some are free/some are not; some work only on Apple/some are for Android/a few will work on both. Here goes:
Top 3 free apps: PlantNet, iNaturalist, PlantSnap
Top 3 paid apps: PictureThis, FlowerChecker, Garden Compass
Apps don’t so much definitively identify plants as suggest what they might be. You may need to complete a few extra steps and go through a selection process. I’ve been using PlantNet with good results, perhaps better when identifying flowers than leaves. PlantNet is also a great citizen science project: all the plants you photograph are collected and analyzed by scientists around the world to better understand the evolution of plant biodiversity and to better preserve it.
New apps with additional features are coming online all the time. Some provide users with an individual care schedule and will notify you when your plant needs to be watered, needs new fertilizer, help you identify plant health issues and recommend treatment plans, or you can ask gardening experts for advice through the app.
Which plant ID app do you recommend?
The Woodlands Garden Club 