EZ-Plant Software

Description:

EZ-Plant Software is a seamless Add-on to AutoCAD, Bricscad and ZWCAD USA, that provides users with tools to develop beautiful professional landscape contract drawings. In business for more than 14 years, EZ-Plant Software has serviced scores of clients around the world and has an outstanding track record for providing prompt response and service.

EZ-Plant is an extremely easy-to- use, cost effective solution for providing 2D landscape design, complete with Planting Schedule templates, planting symbols, and an informative extensive plant database. The plant database identifies native plant species, to satisfy Sustainable Sites Initiatives for Landscape Architects and designers. The program also contains real nursery data including plant conditions, sizes and actual nursery unit plant costs. You receive an Excel Spread sheet that lists the plants in various Nurseries in how they are sold with costs, sizes and condition of plants. The real plant nursery data obtained directly from the nurseries ensures that your planting plan cost estimates are sure to be accurate. EZ-Plant also provides mature height and spreads of the plants contained within the database so the user can easily design their landscape plan based on these important growth characteristics.

Professional Experience:

EZ-Plant was developed over a period of more than 20 years by registered Landscape Architects, designers and educators who have prepared myriads of landscape contract bid documents for actual projects in various parts of the world. The critical and vast experience interjected into EZ-Plant as it developed, has been a key ingredient to its success and formidable list of satisfied clients. 

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Basic Production Needs and Flexibility:

EZ-Plant provides the basic needs for landscape designers who use AutoCAD, for preparing landscape plans, including planting and mulch cost estimates and quick accommodations for changes and editing of the plan. The AutoCAD imbedded excel plant database lets the users easily and smoothly add their own plants and nurseries of their choice into the program. The automatic text labeling command quickly displays the EZ-Plant Key Names and quantities of selected plants in seconds. Connection lines between the selected plants are also quickly accomplished with optional font and labeling choices. The clever groundcover command will label the plant types and call out the exact amount of flats and plants when labeled and then will update those counts automatically when the area or spacing centers or mulch depth is edited. You only need to specify the on-center spacing change needed of the groundcover, flowers or mulch depth.
After you have tallied all the plants and you decide you need to change the spacing of the plants or the area of the groundcover polyline or change the spacing and click UPLINK, and all the totals and the groundcover labels change in a second to the new spacing choice.

EZ-Plant also contains a command called EZ-OFFSET. This command allows users to place a line, polyline or arc or combinations there of, on the plan as a centerline. Simply click or type EZOFFSET, and then select a linked plant symbol. Click on the centerline and then select the on the desired center spacing of the plant symbol, and in an instant, hundreds of plant symbols if necessary, are placed along the centerline at the specified offset distance. You also have an option to place alternately centered plant symbols along the centerline in the EZOFFSET command.

EZ-Plant also offers EZ-Perennials, a plant database of only perennials with an accompanying (mailed) CD illustrating thousands of plant photographs and perennial data. This system is sold separately and is for those designers that want to add perennials into their plan but are not sure what the plants look like. The included plant cultural data provides informative easy-to-use information enhancing the designers’ options.

Key Features:

• EZ-Plant Software now works in Windows 7 and a 64 bit operating system.
• EZ-Plant Version 7.7 has many time saving features and Updated Plant Prices!!!
• New optional labeling allows users to label plants on one or two lines and various fonts, styles and size options to label plants are sold from the particular nursery.
• EZOFFSET can place hundreds of plant symbols along a centerline at a specified offset On Center spacing distance in an instant. Users can also alternate several plant symbols at their selected spacing.
• Automatic Text labeling, displaying Key Names, Counts & Plant Condition. Hatch labels and plant counts updates with the click of UPLINK in seconds after changes are made to the plan.
• Mulch Table Tabulation calculates mulch quantities in cubic feet
• Regional Listings of Native, Adaptive and Sustainable Plants
• New Bog and Marginal Plants that Grow in Water illustrating each plant submerged depth in water in the condition column to aid users in design.
• Quickly Calculate overall costs including Service and Installation Fees
• Nursery Listings of Size, Conditions and Prices as specified in listed catalogs
• Expanded List of Ornamental Grasses, Bamboo plants, and Perennial Database
• Easily learned and operated; short learning curve for busy professionals
• New Excel Databases are easily updated and customizable for adding your own plants, symbols and costs
• Large Plant Stock Choices in EZ-Plant Software database has over 2600 Plants
• Produces Professional looking Contract Drawings; Expanded Plant Symbols
• Tallies plants and produces Cost Estimates in seconds, making revisions a snap; plants sold in flats are labeled by flat quantities required plus additional plants necessary as part of a flat.
• Compatible with AutoCAD® 2000 and up, Bricscad 9 and up and ZWCAD Version 11.
• Contains a high percentage of the "Horticopia" database within program for photographs of plants (a CD sold separately and not affiliated with EZ-Plant)
• Offers popular production oriented Symbols and Databases and Current Cultivars
• Multiple Licenses available at a greatly reduced rate
• EZ-Plant Links with 3D cad symbols.
• Mature Height and Spread for each plant is shown for virtually every plant to aid your design decisions providing you with important plant characteristic information at your fingertips
• Additional Tropical Plants are included showing general hardiness zones that are sold by these nursery to many regions world wide.
• Complete EZ-Plant® Spreadsheet that includes Native Plant Listings, Hardiness Zone Ranges, Nurseries lists and Location and the entire EZ-Plant Software® plant library contents with a complete Help File
• Purchase EZ-Plant in minutes with a credit card from our secure On-line Web Store
• Note that EZ-Plant drawings created with ZWCAD are incompatible with EZ-Plant drawings created with AutoCAD or Bricscad.

Screen Shots:
 

Screen Shot 1. An overall view of a landscape plan and planting schedule completed with EZ-Plant Software.
Note 1. The Planting Schedule Must be placed on the same drawing as the plan view landscape drawing for the quantify commands to work effectively. Insert a plant symbol of your choice into the Legend column to represent each of the plant species. Use a unique plant symbol for the trees, shrubs plants and/or a unique hatch for each of the different groundcover or flower species. The symbols may vary for each project. It’s your choice. There are also options for text size, condition options and text style in the command line when using the labeling command. Use the Insert Plants, and Insert Symbols commands to place these items into the drawing. See Operational Tips and the Help File for more detailed information. See Short Form Operational Tips on line for Demo operations.

Screen Shot 2. A slightly enlarged view of a landscape plan completed with EZ-Plant Software.
Note 2. Notice that the label command (Insert Label) will identify the selected plant symbols chosen and correctly identify the plant quantities in each group and the EZ-Plant Key Name associated with each of the species.
Note 3. Notice that after the MKLINK and UPLINK commands are used correctly to quantify the groundcovers and flowers as explained below, the amount of flats and or unit plants will be identified when the labeling command is used once the plants have been linked with your choice of plant symbols.
Note 4. See the AJRB plant in the upper portion of the screen shot that identifies the amount of flats and individual plant quantities when labeled. If there is an edit needed just re-use the UPLINK command and the labels and the plants update immediately. Experiment with EZ-Plant groundcover commands by clicking on a labeled groundcover polyline and enlarging or reducing of the area size, then click uplink and see the area quantities in the schedule and the labeling change instantly. These changes also occur when the spacing of the groundcovers or depth of mulch is changed within the plant schedule.

Screen Shot 3. An enlarged view of a landscape Planting Schedule completed with EZ-Plant Software.
Note 5. Notice within the second row of the Remarks column that groundcovers and flowers, shown as hatching within the three Legend boxes, have a “Plant 12”, 8” or 18”OC” comment. After the plants in the schedule have been linked (MKLINK) with the plant symbols or hatching in the legend, place the plant symbols and hatching within this legend on the EZ¬¬_LEGEND layer, then use the UPLINK command. Within the groundcover and flower plants QTY. column, the word “Error” will appear. This indicates that you must go into the Edit Attribute command and change the ## characters in the Remarks column to whatever plant spacing distance (in inches) that you want these groundcovers or flowers to be spaced. Then use the UPLINK command again and the quantities will automatically tally the amount of plants which had to be spaced at the chosen spacing centers in the Remarks column. If a groundcover area is revised the labeling and the quantity amount which is labeled in flats and plants when indicated will be changed to the new exact amount when using UPLINK again.
Note 6.The subtotals of each plant are computed by using the EZ_TOTAL command. It multiplies the plant quantities times the unit prices.
Note 7. Notice that the installation cost options appear in the command line above when using the EZ_COST command.
Note 8. Note that the subtotal costs shown outside the planting schedule can be quickly deleted using the Remove Units and Totals command. There are also alternative planting schedules that have total and subtotal columns contained within.

Note:  EZ-Plant Software is not compatible with AutoCAD LT