The Complete Guide to AI Garden Design

What happens when you upload a garden sketch to AI

Most AI design tools only work with photos. If you have a hand-drawn plan, an architectural drawing, or a napkin sketch of what you're imagining, you're usually stuck — you'd need to photograph the space and then try to describe your layout in text prompts. The Sketch Engine removes that problem entirely. Upload any 2D drawing as a single image, and the AI reads the spatial structure — the boundaries, paths, planted zones, and structures — then renders them into a photorealistic 3D landscape as if the design had already been built.

The engine sits inside the same Project Studio you use for photo uploads. When you upload a single image and click "build my aerial map," we detect whether it's a photograph or a drawing. If we identify a sketch, you're given the option to transform it right away. The engine then runs through a visible sequence of refinement passes — intermediate layers appear on the left, each more refined than the last, until a final polished render is produced.

Step by step

1. 1
   Upload your sketch as a single image — Open Project Studio and upload your drawing — the same upload flow used for yard photos. A phone photo of a sketch on paper works fine, as does a CAD screenshot or PDF export.
2. 2
   Build the aerial map — Click "build my aerial map." If a sketch is detected, a notification appears with the option to transform it. Click that and you're taken to AI Transform › Convert Sketch.
3. 3
   Choose your render mode — Photorealistic render is pre-selected. Other modes include watercolor and pencil sketch — useful for presenting concepts in a different visual style.
4. 4
   Add text instructions before generating (optional) — Instructions can direct the engine toward specific features. In the tutorial, "roof the house" is used — the engine then includes the roofline in the output.
5. 5
   Watch the refinement process — Intermediate layers appear on the left as the engine works. The generation log shows what decisions the model is making at each stage.
6. 6
   Continue with any other engine — Once the 3D render is complete, every other engine becomes available — Smart Fix, Style Presets, blueprint export.

Also covered in this guide

The video also covers the reverse workflow: converting a real photograph back into a sketch, pencil drawing, or watercolor — useful for client presentations or planning applications where a photorealistic result might feel too final.

Why an aerial overhead view is the best canvas for garden design

A single photo of a yard captures one angle. That's useful for visualising a finished design, but it's not the most precise canvas for designing on. The aerial map solves this by synthesising multiple photos into an overhead view — essentially a drone shot generated from your phone photos, without a drone. When you upload between four and fourteen photos, the AI analyses and stitches them together into a single overhead shot, automatically renamed by position: "far end facing house," "house end facing far end," "left boundary," and so on.

Step by step

1. 1
   Photograph your yard from multiple positions — Take four to fourteen photos from as many different positions and angles as possible — left boundary, right boundary, far end looking toward the house, house end looking outward.
2. 2
   Upload to Project Studio — Select all your photos at once. Aerial synthesis starts automatically in the background — the overhead shot is labelled "area map" and updates as analysis runs.
3. 3
   Open Style Presets and choose your direction — Browse the library of 48+ styles and select one. If you want to apply the style to the whole space, click apply with no mask set. If you want to protect specific areas, activate the masking brush first.
4. 4
   Use the masking brush to define the design area — With the masking brush active, paint over the areas you want the style applied to. Leave unmasked anything you want unchanged — the hedge, the patio, existing mature trees.
5. 5
   Review your variations and favourite the best one — Style Presets generates up to four variations per run. Star the one you want to keep and delete the others.
6. 6
   Enable location for zone-matched plants (optional) — When enabled, plant selection is automatically filtered to species available at local nurseries and verified for your climate zone.

How text-based garden editing works — and when to use it

Smart Fix accepts instructions written as you would describe something to a person — not a technical prompt. "Add a metal pergola on this corner," "remove the cars," "add a seating area with paving by the fence" are all instructions the engine understands. You highlight the area with the selection tool, type your instruction, and request up to four variations. The engine rebuilds that specific zone while leaving the rest of the image unchanged.

Plant selection within Smart Fix is not arbitrary. The engine considers the shade conditions and sun exposure of the area — so if you're adding planting to a shaded corner, the species that appear are suited to low-light conditions. Specificity improves results: "add a metal pergola with an outdoor seating area in the left corner near the fence" produces more accurate placement than "add a pergola."

Step by step

1. 1
   Apply a style preset to find your direction — Open Style Presets, choose a style, set variations to four, click apply with no mask. Compare the four results and star your favourite.
2. 2
   Open Smart Fix on your chosen design — With your preferred variation active, switch to Smart Fix. Any instruction you type will modify this design specifically.
3. 3
   Highlight the area you want to change — Use the selection tool to draw around the zone you want Smart Fix to affect. Being specific about the area produces more accurate results.
4. 4
   Type your instruction and request four variations — Write what you want in plain language. The tutorial example — "add a metal pergola" — produces a pergola with a seating area, placed with surrounding planting adjusted to suit.
5. 5
   Favourite your best result and continue — Review the four Smart Fix variations. Star the best one. The next step is <a href='/ai-garden-design-guide#angles-seasons' class='text-[#00acc1] underline underline-offset-2 hover:text-[#00bcd4]'>Tutorial 4 — ViewPoint angles and atmospheric views</a>.

The two ways to change your viewpoint in an AI garden design

Quick Actions under AI Enhance adjusts the lighting and atmosphere of the existing image — night mode, golden hour, or a seasonal variant. The ViewPoint engine is a full generation that reconstructs what your design would look like from any ground-level position, using your original uploaded photos as the spatial reference.

Suggest Viewpoints analyses your aerial design and recommends specific standing positions within the garden, described in enough detail to know exactly where you'd be standing: "standing at the white garden pagoda looking toward the wooden boundary fence," "standing at the circular lawn looking toward the rose garden beds."

Step by step

1. 1
   Open Quick Actions on your finished aerial design — Go to AI Enhance › Quick Actions. Click "refresh actions" to load the available atmospheric options. Select the modes you want — night, golden hour, or a seasonal variant — and run them.
2. 2
   Review the Quick Actions outputs — Each mode generates a separate rendered version in the chosen lighting condition. Night mode shows exterior lighting rendered into the scene; golden hour shifts the entire light quality.
3. 3
   Go to AI Transform › Change Viewpoint — With your main aerial design active, open AI Transform and select Change Viewpoint. Your original uploaded photos are listed with the names assigned during synthesis. Select the angle you want.
4. 4
   Run Suggest Viewpoints while you wait — Open Suggest Viewpoints. The AI analyses your aerial design and generates a list of recommended standing positions — each described with enough detail to know where you'd be standing and what you'd see.
5. 5
   Generate and compare viewpoint renders — Select the viewpoints you want to see and generate. Review each render and delete anything that isn't useful.

When to use Quick Actions vs ViewPoint — a practical guide

Use Quick Actions to see how your design looks at different times of day or year. Use ViewPoint when you need to see the design from a human perspective — to check scale, prepare contractor images, or show someone what the garden will feel like standing in it.

What a contractor-ready garden design document should contain

Most landscape design tools stop at the image. You get a photorealistic render, and then you're on your own to translate it into a contractor brief. Our export tools close that gap. The Blueprint is a colour-coded technical diagram showing exactly what goes where — plant species, quantities, spacing, zone labels, path widths in feet, and site materials — structured specifically for a landscaper or contractor to price and execute the project.

Each plant species is assigned a distinct colour appearing at every location in the design where that plant is placed. Zones are labelled — "far left hedge border," "central circular garden" — and within each zone, every element is listed with quantity, spacing, and structural dimensions. A site materials section at the end covers shared items: mulch volumes, lawn grass coverage, edging requirements. The Blueprint is shareable via link — no file download, no account needed to view it.

Step by step

1. 1
   Open the Export tab from your aerial map — Navigate to the aerial map in Project Studio and open the Export tab. Upscale, Blueprint, and Landscaping Guide are all available here.
2. 2
   Upscale if you need high resolution — Upscale to 4K if you need a larger file for a printed presentation or client handoff. The tutorial recommends this only when the detail level is genuinely needed.
3. 3
   Generate the Blueprint — Click to generate. It takes longer than a standard design — zone labelling, plant placement, quantities, path measurements, and site materials all need to be calculated and laid out.
4. 4
   Read the Blueprint zone by zone — Work through the colour legend, then zone labels. For each zone the Blueprint lists every element: species, quantity, and spacing. Dimensions for paths, benches, water features, and structures are shown in feet.
5. 5
   Share with your landscaper — Click Share and copy the link. Anyone with the link can view every zone, plant, quantity, and measurement in a browser — no account needed.
6. 6
   Generate and view the Landscaping Guide — The PDF covers quantity, mature size, and care instructions for each species. Image links let you view photos of each plant before purchasing — especially useful for native species recommended for your climate zone.

Blueprint or Landscaping Guide — which export to share with your contractor

If you're handing the project to a professional landscaper, share the Blueprint — it contains everything needed to price and execute: zone labels, plant placement, quantities, spacing, path dimensions, and site materials. If you're sourcing and maintaining plants yourself, the Landscaping Guide is more useful — plant by plant, with quantities, mature sizes, care notes, and photo links.