The Garden Answers App, with over three million users, and Armitage’s Great Garden Plants App have recently joined collective forces. This collaboration will ultimately benefit the budding home owner, new gardener, an inexperienced garden center employee or "green" novice landscaper on the job, by providing the ability to instantly identify a plant from a picture via Garden Answers and also offering detailed plant information through a combination of written word, photos and videos.
The partnership
Both Garden Answers and Armitage’s Great Garden Plants have created links on each app to drive traffic between the two to increase the level of information that the end user has access to. For example, if a user is on Armitage’s Great Garden Plants App and wants to identify a plant, they will take a photo of it and click a link that takes them to the free Garden Answers app where they can upload the picture for identification. Conversely if a user is on the Garden Answers app and wants or needs more detailed information about a plant the app has identified for them, they can watch a video about the plant and/or click a link that will take them to the Armitage App. They can then refer to Dr. A’s content on his app as well as download customized plant specifics and success tips, from a seasoned garden professional, for growing the plant in their own garden.
How does the Garden Answers App work?
The user snaps a picture and uploads it to the app to instantly get a list of potential plant matches (identification) along with basic care information. The advanced image recognition technology can instantly identify flowering plants from the database of more than ten million photos. The app has been the #1 ranked gardening app since it launched in the app store and has received thousands of 5-star reviews. Millions of questions have been answered on plant identification and other plant issues. In 2018, sixty thousand questions were answered per day on peak weekends for more than 1.5 million active users.
The goal is to help customers bring their virtual gardens to reality. Garden Answers provides end-users with a tool to discover plants, add them to a wish list, and provide gardening tips year-round - resulting in happy, healthy plants that bring joy to customers. Two new features have been added for 2019. There is now a question and answer community-based group where users can ask their gardening questions in addition to plant ID. There is also an explore button that shows a user the plants that have been identified within a ten-mile radius of their location.
Helping people become more successful gardeners
Alex Shah, owner and architect of the Garden Answers App, said about the collaboration: "Our users are brand new to gardening; they don't know the difference between a weed or a flower. In fact, most are new homeowners with all these plants in their yards. They want to know, 'Which ones do I keep, and which ones need to be pulled out?' Garden Answers gets them from first to second base in identifying their plant, and Armitage's Great Garden Plants app takes them all the way to home base with detailed information they will need to grow and care for their plant. Together our two apps are a great educational tool."
Helping young industry professionals
The app is like having Dr. Armitage in your pocket. “I love sharing plant knowledge with gardeners, rookies or veterans,” says Professor Armitage, its creator. “The industry understands that we must make our expertise much more easily available and simple to understand. The more information consumers have, the more they appreciate the products we grow.” He continues, “Combining forces with Garden Answers now provides users of the Armitage App the ability to identify plants through photos taken from their phones. This will provide one more stepping stone to help gardeners, designers, IGC staff, and landscapers who need help with plant use and identification.”
Both apps are available on iOS App Store and Google Play
For further information on these apps, visit www.gardenanswers.com or www.allanarmitage.net. The cost for Armitage’s Great Garden Plants is $4.99 and Garden Answers is free.
Questions are welcomed at [email protected] and [email protected].
