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Plant photos for landscape proposals
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Posted by amiga z7 MD (My Page) on Tue, Feb 7, 06 at 18:13
| Does anyone know of a professional source of photos I can show my potential customers during the showing of my proposal? It isn't very professional to flip through books with tiny photos. Cost is an issue. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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- Posted by bboy z8 WA USA (My Page) on
Tue, Feb 7, 06 at 19:01
| Ideally you would get a digital camera and take your own. For one thing, shots provided by others may not encompass the particular plants you want to show, or be accurately identified even when they are supposed to be what you want them to be. One company that makes software for nurseries and sells some photos themselves to be used with their sign and label making software was using a misidentified photo as their sample. |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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| Horticopia- I think they allow you to use their photos for something like that. They have pictures of thousands of plants, along with some cultural information. (No, I'm not involved with them!) |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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| Horticopia would be the best source. It not only gives you pictures, but much info on the plants. I have been debating getting it myself. It would make life much easier. |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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- Posted by bboy z8 WA USA (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 9, 06 at 15:59
| I haven't been highly impressed so far. But I am confused by the presentation and naming of their different versions, don't know if I have seen samples of the particular product you are talking about. I have been to their web site several times, talked to a salesman at a trade show--but that was years ago. When their images come up during web searches they often do not seem all that great to me, especially if you were trying to give someone (who doesen't have a clue what a plant looks like) a good strong impression they would probably often tend to be taken from too far away. |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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| I gave up trying to find good photos - even many I took myself don't give as complete a picture of the features as I'd like. Can't afford to get a fancier camera, so I typically take my clients to one of the better nurseries in the area and we meet the plants in the "green". Not ideal for trees which have years to reach maturity, but better than nothing and one can always flesh out the details like seasonal flowering attributes and mature size with a decent book like Dirr's Illustrated. And it's perfect for most shrubs, perennials, grasses, etc. |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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- Posted by bboy z8 WA USA (My Page) on
Fri, Feb 10, 06 at 1:02
| If you don't mind the misidentified photos. You can also get his pics on CD. |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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| You can get a free demo cd for horticopia. I received it my self last year. Has pros and cons. You would need to decide for yourself. I believe each volume was $200 to $300. It adds up fast. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Horticopia
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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| I have Horticopia for Trees, Shrubs and Groundcovers but not the herbaceous plants CDs. It's a very useful tool for design but I hardly use it anymore due to loads of other information available on the information superhighway, not to mention all the new cultivars that have come along since, etc. However, it would be a good source of free images (once you pay for the CDs) as most images on the internet are copyrighted (justly so.) Frankly I'm surprised most of you don't have it. I have not checked out Dirr's CDs, I just stick with his manual and the books (for both climates). I figured one "encyclopedia" of plants on CD was enough. As far as image quality, it varies. Most of the trees and shrubs have at least one whole plant shot and one close up of flower, fruit, fall color, etc. Cultivars that vary by feature will have only one close up shot of that feature. Still IMHO it is a good base to start from. And as some have mentioned, you can't beat your own library, I can't stress enough taking as many pics as you can wherever and whenever you see a good specimen. Something I also need to remember. I just got a digital camera and need to carry it around with me wherever I go just in case. Most clients are going to want to see what you are talking about if they are not familiar with the plant. And most people are very visually oriented - you can talk all you want but they gotta see it for themselves. A photo is a very good place to start. Then go out to the salesyard and have them see it for themselves if you can. |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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| Good plant catalogues like White Flower or Wayside offer great photos and at least a few lines on cultural information. Lowe's and Home Depot sometimes have promotional booklets for a dollar or two...when I see them I buy a few dozen to show/give to my clients. I invested a few hundred dollars in a good color copier and create my own pics for my clients from books and catalogues showing ideas similar to what I envision for them for plants, hardscaping, and garden details like benches, birdbaths, or fountains.It's been a priceless investment..... A picture IS worth a thousand words! |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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| I have Horticopia and use it when necessary, but find a wider selection of pictures (often better ones) on Dave's Garden website. Plus, there are the ever helpful comments from people who actually grow the plants in their nurseries, and in their landscapes. |
RE: Plant photos for landscape proposals
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| Monrovia has excellent photos, too. There are 2 bundled software programs called Gardensoft and PlantMaster that have some good photos of plants as well as an assortment of hardscape and water feature elements. You can also add your own photos as they are databases, one for plants, one for landscape design. Their slide show is a little buggy so I usually pull photos from the web (Monrovia, etc), abovementioned software plus my own photos and put into a slideshow using XP's Picture Viewer. It works really well. |
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