Grow Your Own

Category

Description of App

We understand that some users are experiencing problems with the update. We are working to find a fix for this issue as soon as possible, so please bear with us. If you would like to give us exact details of any issues that you have, please email us on iphone@rhs.org.uk. We do listen to users' comments and will do everything we can to ensure that all users can enjoy using the Grow Your Own app.

The 2011 iPhone application from the Royal Horticultural Society - Grow Your Own – is designed to help you choose and grow fruit and vegetables - however much space or time you have. The base application is free and covers the 20 most popular varieties of fruit and veg. Within the application itself you can buy additional content bundles (for £1.79 each) to extend the content of the app.

We have listened to feedback on the 2010 version, and are now making all functionality available for free on the 20 basic fruit and veg profiles.

For Users who purchased Version 2.0 last year with an in-app upgrade, you will be able to upgrade to the new version for free, and the RHS will give you Vegetables 1 and Fruit as a thank you for your loyalty and feedback.

This app is for less experienced or less confident gardeners but will be a valuable resource for all, providing you the ability to access in-depth horticultural advice from the UK’s leading gardening organisation, as well as timely reminders to manage your crops, whilst you are out and about in your garden with your iPhone.

This app is optimised for iPhone 4 users; iPhone 3 users may experience slightly slower performance.

The basic FREE app includes:

  • tools to help you choose vegetables and fruit for your garden based on your level of expertise, and your available space and time
  • access to expert RHS advice about your chosen fruit/veg with detailed growing, sowing and harvesting instructions as well as varieties that we recommend
  • calendar function with alerts to remind you what to do and when based on your chosen fruit/veg in ‘My Garden’
  • common problems you might encounter, with photos to help identify them, including pests and diseases and what to do about them
  • location-aware frost warnings to help you protect your plants
  • location-aware watering reminders and drought alerts
  • links to the RHS plants site to buy quality RHS plants 
  • access to the RHS Grow Your Own forum, to ask questions, advice and chat to fellow gardeners
  • content covering 20 popular fruit and veg - apple, blackcurrant, blueberry, cabbage, carrot, courgette, french bean, garlic, leek, lettuce, onion, pear, pepper, potato, radish, raspberry, runner bean, salad leaves, strawberry and tomato

The £1.79 content bundles available include all the above functionality for the following plants:

  • Vegetables 1: asparagus, beetroot, broad bean, brussel sprouts, calabrese, cauliflour, chinese cabbage, cucumber, endive, kohlrabi, komatsuna, Lablab beans, mizuna, okra, parsnip, pea, pumpkin, salsify, spinach, sweetcorn
  • Vegetables 2: aubergine, broccoli, celeriac, celery, chard, chicory, chilli pepper, Chinese broccoli, dried beans, fennel, fennel, globe artichoke, jerusalem artichoke, pak choi, rocket, shallot, soya beans, swede, sweet potato, turnip
  • Fruit: apricot, blackberry, cherry, citrus, cranberry, fig, gooseberry, grape, kiwi, medlar, melon, mulberry, olive, peach, plum, quince, redcurrant, rhubarb, walnut, whitecurrant
  • Herbs: basil, bayleaf, chamomile, chervil, chives, coriander, dill, horseradish, lemongrass, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, tarragon, thyme

If you have any feedback or suggestions for what you’d like to see in future, do get in touch at iphone@rhs.org.uk

The RHS is the UK’s leading horticultural charity, and this app is part of a wide ranging campaign or activities, publications and advice about Grow Your Own. For more information, see www.rhs.org.uk/growyourown.

Version

3.0

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

Not Known

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

Accessibility Comments

With no sight, you might assume from what VoiceOver finds that this app contains very limited information. However, this is not actually the case, it's just that VoiceOver users will not be able to access most of the information contained in this app.

With some residual vision, you will see that the screen contains more information than VoiceOver finds. For example, when viewing the information for a specific plant, VoiceOver will only read a very brief introduction. A further swipe will have VoiceOver recognize that something is present, but say no more than 'dimmed'. If you have to rely on VoiceOver, you will not know that this part of the page contains useful information, such as:

  • Plot size needed
  • Frequency of care
  • Level of expertise
  • Time of the year for sowing, planting out and harvesting.

This dimmed area of the page also contains links to pages within the app that have detailed information on:

  1. Sowing
  2. Growing
  3. Harvesting
  4. Common problems
  5. Recommended varieties
  6. Link to RHS forum

As a VoiceOver user, you will not be able to access any of this content.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads a few page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

Some parts of the app are accessible with VoiceOver, but not enough to make it usable.

Options