I have been using landscape architect for about 5 years and I never get tired of it. if your object isn't in the database it can easily be imported through google sketchup. I have worked with all the top landscape architecture programs and this is by far the best (and affordable)!
Cons
I have no complaints
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Pros
The plan and 3D views are excellent. There are many choices for hardscaping, and the tools were relatively easy to learn and manipulate.
The product states they have a large plant database. What the program has are multiple pictures of the same plant, so the actual number of DIFFERENT plants is limited to somewhere between 2000 and 3000. There are also multiple misspellings of plants.
Summary
I enjoyed the ability and visualization of the slope and hardscape designing. The plant database seems to be the least developed, but their advertising for the plant database promotes flexibility and an extensive plant database. As I stated above, there are multiple misspellings of plants. There are also a lot of plants listed under multiple categories, sometimes incorrectly. There are multiple pictures of the same plant. Their "extensive plant database" is based on the amount of listings, not the number of species.
I have been searching for decent landscaping software that allows me to create a realistic base map first (property line, driveway, house, raised garden, storage shed, etc), then design/modify existing landscape in realistic 2D and 3D. I wanted a program that is powerful and flexible, yet simple to use. Some other programs that I used didn't meet my expectations. They are either too complicated, slow 3D graphics, limited functions, difficult to learn otherwise so basic.
Then, I found this one. This program is very powerful and flexible. It is so intuitive that you don't need to spend a lot of time to learn this program. Within a day, I was able to duplicate my property. My 2 story house looks so real in 3D (dimensions, shape, color, material etc). 3D rendering is so fast and efficient that even my old XP desktop pc works well. It comes with a huge library of design objects including lots of plants. It also has nice 26 landscape samples so you can get some idea
You can switch between 2D or 3D view with a simple click. In a 3D walkthrough, you can set a time of day setting. For example, you can see all your security and landscaping lights automatically turned on at night. It also has a plant growth setting too. You can also create a multiple layers. I put all my property lines and house in a base map layer, created a new layer for the existing landscape features. Then another layer for proposed/modified. You can lock/unlock or hide/unhide each layer so that you don?t accidentally select/remove wrong design elements.
Whether you are a professional designer or a home owner, this program produces a professional quality output. You can create/print a 2D or 3D landscape plan with material list that gives you the total project cost. By the way, I want to say that their tech support is great. I contacted them both by phone and e-mails. Each time, I got a same day response that actually helped resolve my issues.
Overall, this is an excellent program and I am very happy with it.
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I own a landscape contracting company in which I employ several designers. I have thoroughly researched the current software offerings in the landscape design market and I can say this without hesitation: nothing else comes close to this for landscape design. It not just the best at what it does, it's the only one that does what it does. You can spend ten times this price on other landscape design programs and still come up short.
With this program you can make beautiful 2D color plans, lifelike 3D presentations, and realistic photo-based designs. The software contains an enormous amount of images, models, and features and couldn't be any easier to use. Don't let the low price fool you - Realtime Landscaping Architect is by far the best dedicated landscape design software on the market.