Yes, these new smartphones will survive out in your garden.
I’ve been using a protective cover with a clip to keep my phone protected out in the elements since running retail garden departments over a decade ago. It fits nicely in my pocket with the clip facing out and even the headphone jack and other ports are covered up – so no dirt.
Look for a phone with an IP rating of 68 or higher.
Cell phones are rated by a measure of durability called IP that describes how well these phones protect against dust, dirt, and water.
During the intense Spring pruning in the hard weather of January or February, I’ll use a tool pouch on my belt for the phone & extra tools like garden scissors and my blade sharpener. Just take off the cover once in a while to clean off the screen with a cloth like you would your glasses.
Why Carry a Phone in the Garden?
For many of us, time spent in the garden is an escape, a chance to immerse ourselves in nature. But there are some good reasons to consider taking it out in the yard with you.
The #1 most important reason is safety.
If you have an accident and are out of earshot of another person, you can use that phone in your pocket to call for help – whether it’s a spouse, neighbor or even 911.
#2 is that your phone can be your virtual assistant. Hellooo, Siri . .
Use it for a to-do list, idea note list, view a how-to video, have a walk-around Zoom meeting with family, or record a picture of your blooming plants as you continue working.
and #3 is using it with a plant ID or information app.
These new gardening apps, like Google Lens or an advanced plant identifier, are great for research while you’re outside setting up plant beds, pruning, or mulching in your garden. These are very handy for details like full growth size, verifying disease, or identifying an insect.
You can also quickly pull up information on a plant while out on your daily walk or jog. Just take a picture of the plant, then let it run through a database and pull up the details on its match. Bang, you’re an informed gardener as well as healthy.
I’ve checked out some of the popular Android and Apple apps to create a comparison list including pros, cons, star ratings, and downloads.
Discover more about your plants, while you’re in the garden . . .
Imagine that within seconds, you can have all sorts of information about the perennial shrub or tree that you’re standing next to. An app like this is handy to have, especially when traveling or camping – and especially during allergy season or if you have asthma.
Within the garden, for someone who loves plants, there will be many situations when you need to find out the name of a particular weed, flower, or stem. Since you don’t know that plant’s name, you don’t know whether to fertilize it, fence it, or just yank it out. . .
10 Handy plant ID apps for 2020
Plantifier (100K Android downloads / 2.6 rating)
Plantifier, backed by mygarden.org, allows you to upload a photo of an unknown plant and their community will simply help you identify the plant. A little old-school, but still useful.
Garden Answers (500K Android downloads / 3.0 rating)
Garden Answers is a plant ID app that’s backed up with a database of over 20,000 plants and gives you detailed information about them. It can also identify pests and diseases and provide curated advice about living with plants.
PictureThis (5M Android downloads / 4.3 rating)
This app uses the latest AI technology to identify plants. Upload any image to get all the information about that plant. This app is fast and accurate, hence the 5M downloads.
PlantSnap (10M Android downloads / 3.6 rating)
This modern plant identification app was built by the gang at Earth.com who even translated it into 30 different languages. Not only plants – but flowers, trees, succulents, & mushrooms are quickly recognized. With a database of more than 500,000 species, this app is a vast source. Note the 10M downloads, but also be aware that because it’s a huge database, it can be temperamental.
Seek by iNaturalist (500K Android downloads /4.1 rating)
Seek is an image recognition technology-based app available on both iOS and Android that aims to work well for youngsters since they can earn badges while discovering plants in the app. They can also identify birds, insects, fungi, and animals.
PlantSpot (Apple iOS only)
PlantSpot is a subscription-based app available only for Apple’s iOS devices so far. Its large database is rich in content and information about more than 310,000 species. Just take a photo, upload it to their server and it searches for you. It will also notify you with specific plant care reminders that you set up. Thank you again, Siri. . .
Google Lens (100M Android downloads / 4.5 rating)
Though a broad visual query app, Google Lens is effective at helping you identify plants, trees, and flowers. Just take a picture, upload it, and Google will pull up and display all their information related to the identified plant.
I’ve been using it for translating signage, history plaques, or business names as I travel, but it was surprisingly effective here too.
iNaturalist (Android Editor’s Choice) (1M Android downloads / 4.2 rating)
Using a community of more than 400,000 renowned scientists and nature experts, iNaturalist is a popular plant identification app available for both Android and iOS devices. It’s great for gardeners who love to discover new and unusual plants.
Plant Lens (100K Android downloads / 3.6 rating)
Plant Lens is a wonderful app for both iOS and Android devices that uses image recognition technology to help us identify plants, trees, and flowers. It enhances its accuracy with machine learning algorithms and helps you further explore the international plant world.
Like That Garden (Apple iOS Only)
Using built-in visual search technology, Like That Garden uses your photo to research a plant, responding with high-resolution photos, species names, descriptions, and other useful detailed information.
Verdict
Looking at this list, it’s easy to see that there are many great applications competing to help you identify plants, shrubbery, and even insects and animals.
My current favorites are PlantSnap and Google Lens, but you can’t go wrong with iNaturalist either, if not only because of the sheer scale of experts contributing to their database of plants, trees, and flowers.
Conclusion
No matter if you are an expert gardener, or just someone who loves to walk among plants, an app that identifies plants, insects, & disease should be on your phone.
Some caveats, however:
While there are many such apps available, not all of them are durable. Some have limited image recognition capabilities, others are not updated anymore, and so on. You’ll need to test drive a few to be sure of your choice.
One size does not fit all . . .
To increase the chances for correct identification, you should always take photos from different angles, as well as shots of the parts of the plant you want to identify, like the leaves and flowers.
Before choosing an app, please note that some of these focus more on identifying the common plants around the house, while others were built for exploring wild plants. Those details are part of the full description in the app stores for Android & Apple.
Do you have a favorite plant identification app that you use? Let me know in the comments, and you may see yours in our list next year.
Sources: Wikipedia, plus each app’s home page,
