Monday, 06 July 2015
  20 Replies
  4.5K Visits
-1
Votes
Undo
  Subscribe
At present it seems I can only allocate one species of plant to any area unless I place the plants individually. Often I want to repeat a matrix of large and small plants and ground covers across vast areas. This is common in meadow-style and waterway plantings for example.

It would be great to be able to define a group of plants that fit into a certain square measurement, and then be able to place that group in the same way that shrub areas are currently placed. It seems 'Group Areas' is as good a name as any.

E.g I want to use a mix of 3 species per square metre: 2 of plant A, 4 of plant B and 4 of plant C. If I could define this group and then place it as an area, the schedule would extract total square metrage of the group, and show below the title the total number of each species placed in that Group Area.

The Group Area could have a detail plan associated with it that shows the setout of these species in their prescribed metrage.

Annotation would refer to the group title, and possibly list the plants and their quantities as well.
8 years ago
·
#41
-1
Votes
Undo
Aaron,
You might be pleased to know that this already exists using our Concept Manager. You can make "groups" of whatever you wish, applying a percent fill and spacing to each plant type. Once you run your schedule it will list every plant along with their respective qty and fill %. Take a look here for more info on our Concept Manager and please let us know if there are any questions you might have.

https://www.landfx.com/index.php/docs/planting/concept-landscape-design/item/222-concept-manager.html
8 years ago
·
#42
-1
Votes
Undo
This is definitely along the right lines but not quite the functionality I need.

  • The concept schedule is not as customisable as the plant schedule. It would be great to have those matrix groups in line with other groups (though preferably as subgroups under any of the major groups) in the complete plant schedule.
  • Percentage and spacing can be a difficult way to work if you have specific quantities in mind as in my example in the OP. An option would be to define a square measurement for the group, then a number of plants for each species within that measurement.
  • The combination of a matrix detail and group planting is a documentation standard and beyond the concept phase.


I would love to see the Design Group functionality from Concept Manager extended to the Planting Manager. Let me know if I can assist in testing.
That is a very intriguing method of laying out plant mixes.
We do plan on integrating a mix capability into the Plant Manager, it should be no problem being able to specify the plant as a per square meter basis as an additional option.

--J
8 years ago
·
#44
-1
Votes
Undo
Great! Thanks for considering. I look forward to using it.
8 years ago
·
#204
0
Votes
Undo
Any progress on incorporating plant mixes into plant manager?
I really need this functionality.
Are you asking if, during the last six weeks of summer, in addition to the occasional vacation, have we suspended all current development items to focus on yours? The answer is no.
We're hoping to get to this by the end of this year.
As a further point of clarification, I thought that you had indicated you wanted OSnap support as our highest priority?

--J
8 years ago
·
#229
0
Votes
Undo
To be fair a plant area function in the planting menu has been asked for since 2012, though probably not in the exact way that aaron wants. There was a thread on the old board that showed a decent response for the function though the link is down now. http://www.landfx.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2051
No, in this post he makes it clear that the Concept Plant Manager does not work for him. This post is regarding specifying member plants per square meter.

There are also some wishlist items that span back as far as 2004. It's all a matter of setting priorities and doing what we can. With the Concept Manager upgraded over the last few years to better address plant mixes, that has enabled us to focus on other higher priority items before integrating the plant mix capability into the Plant Manager.

--J
8 years ago
·
#231
0
Votes
Undo
The main reason the concept plan manager doesn't work for me is because I can't use it in the main plant schedule.

Given that you have wishlist items dating over 10 years ago, and your attitude when responding to customers, I won't hold my breath. I guess I will just keep the plugin installed in the hope that one day it does provide the functionality I need to create a planting plan.
Aaron, *every* software has wishlist items dating back to when they started. You name the software, and it is easy to come up with some enhancements it *could* have.
So I would counter, it is your attitude that I find perplexing. We do not drop everything that we are doing, and scramble to engineer every suggestion that some loud-mouthed recent purchaser has brought to the table.

So apparently as I need to clarify timetables for people like you, I'll do my best -- integrating Plant Mixes into the Plant Manager is scheduled for *this year*. And it could slip from that. But you are welcome to check in sometime in early 2016, to see if we have gotten it implemented. One of the reasons we offer a trial period is so that a user can confirm the software works for them. Implying that the software is not functional for you says more about you not doing your homework than about us making a kick-ass product.

--J
8 years ago
·
#233
0
Votes
Undo
Like the trial period is enough to test every aspect of the plugin, but yeah I've cut my losses. Still feel sorry for the next sucker who purchases and then looks to the forum for support only to find developer responses like this.
8 years ago
·
#236
0
Votes
Undo
Aaron,
I understand your frustration about pending wishlist items that can really help with your design process. The fact that we do actually base our programming on our clients’ suggestions for additional features can make it a difficult balance in which certain features receive higher priority over others. We have a multitude of factors to consider when making our priority list (development time, potential bugs, compatibility with existing features, etc.). This type of list is in constant fluctuation, and we are real people who do our best – which I understand can sometimes still fall beneath expectations.

From our past discussions, you and I both know we can move on to finding a resolution. Let's discuss some solutions.

Thanks,
Krystal
8 years ago
·
#237
0
Votes
Undo
The solution from my end is to manually draw up the planting plan and schedule to compensate for the lack of functionality in the plugin, or find alternative software that does have the functionality.
I understand your issues. All the best sorting them out.
8 years ago
·
#240
0
Votes
Undo
As mentioned above, our development schedule is based on client requests, of which we receive many. We have it in our development plan to integrate a mix capability into the Plant Manager. This feature will also include the ability to specify the mixes per square meter.

In the meantime, plant and seed mixes need to be created using the Concept Plant Manager. For further help on how to use this functional workaround, please see our instructional documentation page:

https://www.landfx.com/index.php/docs/planting/concept-landscape-design/item/2611-mix.html
Dang. How did I miss this one. I love to pile on where I am not needed.:p

Jeremiah... your sarcasm might be lost on people.

_______________________________________________________________
Timothy Starkey, RLA, APA, LEED AP BD+C
Director Landscape Architecture
CVL CONSULTANTS
4550 N. 12th Street • Phoenix, Arizona • 85014
LinkedInwebsitefacebook

Dang. How did I miss this one. I love to pile on where I am not needed.:p

Jeremiah... your sarcasm might be lost on people.

_______________________________________________________________
Timothy Starkey, RLA, APA, LEED AP BD+C
Director Landscape Architecture
CVL CONSULTANTS
4550 N. 12th Street • Phoenix, Arizona • 85014
LinkedInwebsitefacebook

At least I know to never tell a pun to a kleptomaniac -- because they take everything, literally.

--J
8 years ago
·
#257
0
Votes
Undo
You can't tell a pun. You can, however, reduce time to complete tasks by refraining from jokes on your company website during business hours.
That would be you, Jer. I'm still good to waste time telling jokes.

_______________________________________________________________
Timothy Starkey, RLA, APA, LEED AP BD+C
Director Landscape Architecture
CVL CONSULTANTS
4550 N. 12th Street • Phoenix, Arizona • 85014
LinkedInwebsitefacebook

  • Page :
  • 1
There are no replies made for this post yet.