garden plan program/app

hi, my husband and I purchased a new home in the end of May. With the hot weather we concentrated on getting the inside fixed up, it was a foreclosure. Now that the weather has been a bit cooler we are working on fixing up the outside. We have lots of shrubbery around the house and it has been trimmed back to manageable size, all except the two story tall variegated ligustrum, its been replaced with roses.

Which brings me to my question, is there a program or app to help plan a new garden. I have virtually no flowers here. I could resort to graph paper but I am hoping there is a program to plan a new garden in the center of the yard. I have a list of plants I want to include and I want to plan this so everything has space to grow and will be happy where it is planted.
thanks in advance,
Denise

I Denise, welcome to the world of Gardening AND to daves Garden site, you will get loads of help here IF ? When required.
As regards plans for a garden, there are several ways to go, either walk around the local community and take pictures of any garden borders you like, this will allow you to identify any plants you like AND will grow in your area.
OR go to book store or local library to seek out books for beginners landscape ideas, these are NON expensive books and normally give terminology you as a novice will understand, they show how to prep the soil, (DO A SOIL TEST) you get a cheap kit at garden store) the test will tell you the PH of your soil, what you will want to add to the soil you wish to plant into AND to suit the type of plants you wish to grow.
There should be some form of planting suggestions per square foot and how to measure the bed / borders you want to dig.

The best time for actual planting is Late Summer -- Early Spring, this is because Late Summer, the soil is cooling down BUT still warm enough for new plantings where roots need to establish, Early spring the soil is JUST warming up and the same roots formation can get going before the reel hot weather sets in. BOTH times you need to offer water as needed, best test for watering is to stick fingers into the soil beside the roots area, if dry, add plenty water, if still damp, wait a few more days for watering.

No matter where you plant, you should prepare the soil well, dig the BED / Border and remove all plants you dont want there, make sure you remove any weeds, grass and other garbage.
Try get hold of as much WELL ROTTED horse manure, (it should have no horrid smell, should crumble in hand between finger and thumb, add about 34 inch layer on top of the newly cleared soil, dig this layer into the soil and it should change to structure of dry soil, it adds air, breaks up the heavy clay IF you have that, it adds nutrients, helps the soil retain moisture, especially around the roots. leave this soil to settle for a week, try NOT walk on the new dug soil or you will cause compaction, when ready to plant up, add some blood-fish- bonemeal, this is NON chemical slow release plant food, read the dosage per square foot given on packet as over feeding is worse then NO feed.
as you plant, add labels, canes for support etc where needed and it allows you to always know what is planted where in the winter/ spring as most of your plants can be dormant under ground for winter.

Hope all this helps you get started and you have fun, dont expect the new garden to be flowering all through the first year as new plants take that 1st year to form nice roots, get used to your new environment and also thicken out, a lot of energy for new plants is required so make sure you keep them watered and weed free. and remember most plants are seasonal.
Good luck and let us know IF you need more help and also how the new garden takes shape.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.