200+ plant library
Vegetables, herbs, fruit, flowers and grains, with eight reference sections each.
The garden planner that knows when to plant.
Niwa is a free garden planner app for iPhone. Lay out your beds on a square-foot grid, get sow, transplant and harvest dates from your own frost dates, and remember what grew in every square.
200+ plantsWorks offlineNo accountNo ads in the app
When to plant:
free calculator for any city
Search your city to see your last spring frost, first fall frost and the best dates to start seeds, transplant and sow for 27 crops.
I already know my frost dates
| Crop | Start seeds indoors | Transplant outside | Sow outdoors | First harvest | Latest planting for fall |
|---|
This list shows 27 of the 200+ plants in Niwa. Download Niwa to see every plant with your personal sow, transplant and harvest dates, Lock Screen reminders and a bed planner that checks spacing.
Get Niwa free on theApp StoreFrom empty bed to
planting plan in four steps
Most people finish their first garden layout in under ten minutes.
1
Set your location
Niwa reads your grow zone and frost dates, and uses them for every date it shows.
2
Draw your beds
Enter the size of each raised bed or plot. Niwa draws the square-foot grid.
3
Drop in plants
Spacing is applied automatically, companions are highlighted and bad neighbours flagged.
4
Plant on schedule
Your calendar fills with sow, transplant and harvest dates, with reminders on your Lock Screen.
A planting calendar built from your frost dates.
Set your location once. Niwa turns your zone and frost dates into a personal sow, transplant and harvest window for every plant in the library.
Draw your beds. Spacing is done for you.
Drop a plant on the grid and Niwa fills the square at the right density (1, 4, 9 or 16), flags bad neighbours and highlights good companions.
Every square remembers what grew there.
Niwa records the plant family in each square and warns you before it returns too soon, with the exact year the ground is free again.
Everything a garden needs, offline.
The whole library ships inside the app. No signal needed at the far end of the allotment.
Plant details
Days to harvest, sun, sowing depth and spacing for every crop.
Seed inventory
Every packet you own, with counts and expiry dates.
Plant diary
Photos and timestamped notes, season after season.
Lock Screen reminders
Watering, germination checks and harvests, where you will see them.
In-app guides
From your first bed to higher yield per square foot.
Garden planning questions
When should I plant vegetables?
Count from your last spring frost date, not the calendar month. Cool-season crops such as peas, spinach and broccoli go out 2 to 6 weeks before it. Warm-season crops such as tomatoes, peppers, beans and squash go out 1 to 3 weeks after it. The calculator above gives dates for your city.
How do I find my last frost date?
Search your city in the calculator. It reads 30 years of daily minimum temperatures and finds the median date of the last 0 °C (32 °F) night in spring, plus a cautious date that 9 out of 10 years have already passed.
When should I start seeds indoors?
Count back from your last frost: peppers and eggplant 8 to 10 weeks, tomatoes 6 to 8, broccoli and cabbage 6 to 8, cucumbers and squash 2 to 4 weeks before it. Starting earlier gives leggy, root-bound seedlings.
What is the best free garden planner app for iPhone?
Niwa is a native iPhone garden planner with a square-foot grid, a planting calendar built from your frost dates, 200+ plants and crop rotation. It works fully offline, needs no account and is free to download.
Does Niwa work without internet?
Yes. The full plant library, layouts, calendar, diary and seed inventory live on your iPhone, and the app has no ads or tracking.
Your best season starts with a plan.
Free on the App Store. iOS 18 or later.