We live in a computer age. Practically every household has a computer, and every big town has a computer store where one can go to stock up on software or all kinds of games. There's software for everything from learning a foreign language to correlating your recipes... to designing your landscape.

The traditional way to design a new landscape is to sketch out a scale model of your front or back yard on a sheet of graph paper, with each block equivalent to a certain number of feet, depending on the size of your yard. Over this grid you place sheets of tracing paper, on which you play around with the different kinds of features you'd like to see in your landscape, and where they'd best fit.

You can now do the same thing with a computer program - only with the software you'll be able to see things in 3-D which will aid greatly in the visualization of your finished design.

Of course even if you use landscape software - there is still information that you need to research on your own, which you'll have to input into the program, in order to use the software effectively. You'll have to have exact measurements of the width and length of your yard. You must know the pH balance of the soil, and the soil composition - sand, clay, etc. You must know where it slopes and where it's level - which effects water runoff.

There are only a few landscaping programs on the market - you'll want to do a little research on each to find if one suits your needs.

Competing programs include the Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping and Deck Designer, Instant Landscaping, and Your Complete Landscape and Garden Designer.

If you decide to purchase a landscaping program, of course do the common sense things of making sure you have the right operating system and enough memory to run the program. Make sure the company offers technical support. Surf the web to get an idea of any feedback or complaints on any of the software before you buy it.

Features to look for:

Landscaping templates - the more the better.

A library of more than 4,000 components for your project ideas - try to get software designed for your particular area - so t hat it's library will contain plants you're likely to use.

A feature helps you seek for plants based on drought tolerance, climate deer, resistance, etc.

Ability to design and visualize your areas in 3D.

The drawback to landscaping software is that it can be difficult to use if you are not computer savvy. But if you're not averse to reading manuals, this software can make your landscape designing even more enjoyable.