Quick start guide

Logging in

When the app is first opened (or you've logged out) you'll be presented with the start screen.
Follow the 'Get started' or 'Log in' links at the bottom of the page.
Log in is handled by Google. On successful log in you'll be taken to the home screen - the Garden List.

Viewing Gardens

The home screen is the Garden List. Here you can see all of the gardens you can view, which are:

Gardens shared publicly, which all GardenMap users can see
Gardens that friends have shared with you
Gardens that you have created in GardenMap

Tap on a garden in the list to explore!

Screenshot of Garden List screen - Image

Details for the selected garden are shown
TIP: Swipe the header image to view the garden photo slideshow, tap the image to view the slideshow full screen
Switch to the garden map view from the bottom navigation bar

Screenshot of Garden Detail screen - Image

Logging out

Note: It's not necessary to log out, it's fine to remain logged in between sessions
From the garden list home screen tap the settings button in the top right to open the settings screen
Select the log out option

Editing the garden map

Good to know

The garden map structure is constrained by some simple rules. The interface enforces the rules, but it helps to understand what they are:

The map starts with a boundary
The map is built up of a nested structure of objects, Objects can have child objects within them, they are contained within a parent object, and there may be other sibling objects within the parent
Objects must remain within their parent object
Objects may not overlap sibling objects

GardenMap splits plants into two groups, based on how they are displayed on the garden map:

'Feature Plants': Plants that are plotted on the map individually, because of their importance (structural or emotional!)
'Plants': Plants (that are still important), but would take too much time (and would clutter the map) if plotted individually.

The garden map is built up using the following types of objects:

'Boundary': This is the first object in the map - it matches the real world outer boundary of the garden. Only 'Areas' can be placed inside the Boundary
'Areas': Areas of the garden that contain plants. Areas can contain other Areas, Structures, Plants, and Feature Plants. So, Areas might be 'Front Garden', 'Back Garden', 'Lawn', 'Bed' etc.
'Structure': Areas of the garden that don't contain plant, like paving, the shed, or the house
'Feature Plants': Plants that are plotted on the map individually, because of their importance (structural or emotional!).

Editing the map

Enter edit mode: tap 'Edit' in the top right of the Garden Map view.
Exit edit mode: tap 'Done' in the top right to confirm changes, or tap 'Cancel' in the top left to discard all changes in the current edit session.

Editing with the Toolbar

Clear Selection

Deselects the currently selected garden object. Can be useful before selecting a new garden object

Edit Content

Shows the edit contents sub-menu. Contents are the object details, and any objects it contains

Details

Edit the details of the selected garden object. As well as details like name and description this is also where photos are added to the garden object

Add

Shows the add object sub-menu. To add new objects within the selected object

Feature Plant

Drag this button onto the map to add a new Feature Plant within the selected object

Plant

Opens the plant list of the selected object for adding (non-feature) plants

Planting Area

Drag this button onto the map to add a new Area within the selected object

Delete

Deletes the selected object, and all objects it contains

Edit Outline

Shows the edit outline sub-menu. The outline is the position and the shape of the object on the map

Move

Toggles object move mode. Turn on then drag the selected object to move around the map. All child-objects within the selected object will also move

Stretch

Toggles object stretch mode. Turn on then drag the side or corner 'stretch handles' of the selected object to stretch. Child-objects will not be stretched

Rotate

Toggles object rotate mode. Turn on then drag on the 'rotate handles' of the selected object to rotate. All child-objects within the selected object will also rotate

Point Edit

Toggles object point-edit mode, and shows the point-edit sub-menu. Point-edit mode allows individual corner points of the object outline to be move, added, and deleted

Add Point

Drag this button onto an edge of the selected object to add a new corner point. Once added the new point can be dragged to position it

Delete Point

Toggles point-edit delete mode. Turn on then select a corner point on the selected object to delete it

Minimise

Toggles minimizing the toolbar. The minimised toolbar shows icons only (no text) which can be helpful when working on devices with small screens

Closes the toolbar. Working without the toolbar may be helpful on devices with small screens - all the menu actions can also be performed using tap and long press gestures on the garden map. If the toolbar is closed it can be re-opened from the options menu, opened from the more icon (...) in the garden map screen top right