It’s the holiday season. Chances are you’re going to receive some sort of technology as a gift, whether it’s a gift from someone else or a gift to yourself. It may be a smartphone or a tablet, and if it is, you can totally use it in the garden. Here’s how you can make it work for you with garden apps:

Garden Minder

This app allows you to create and design garden plans. You can design your own or use one of its preplanned garden templates. There’s also an A-to-Z listing of vegetables and how to grow them. It’s best for folks who are growing edibles in raised gardens.

Garden Compass

This is an app that lets you take a photo of a plant, disease, or pest and submit it to a team of garden consultants. They will then tell you what it is and give you recommendations on how to solve the problem. I’m not sure what the turnaround time is, but I’m willing to wait a day or two if it tells me what’s chewing my pepper plants.

App: Armitage’s Greatest Perennials and Annuals

While not veggie garden related at all, it’s an app you should definitely have in your arsenal. This app from one of America’s greatest horticultural minds lets you search for annuals and perennials based on sun, shade, foliage, color, and more. There’s tons of useful information, lots of photos, and even a few videos featuring Dr. A himself. Oh, and there’s a Great Garden Centers section, too, that lets you find the stores and plants you’re looking for.

Evernote

One of the most useful apps on my phone that I use for EVERYTHING. It’s best functionality is that it syncs across platforms, so what you see on your desktop is what you see on your phone is what you see when you log into any computer. See a plant online while you are at work? Copy and paste it into the web version of Evernote and you’ll have it at home and on your phone. Need to remember the insecticidal soap recipe your garden neighbor suggested? Make an Evernote to yourself on your phone. Evernote also keeps tabs of photos and voice recordings, too. This could totally take the place of your handwritten garden journal.

Other familiar apps

There are a ton of other apps that have applications in the garden, too, such as Instagram to boast about your bounty, Pinterest that gives you inspiration fo new plant combos or garden designs, and the photo apps that allow you to include text on photos.

Whatever the app, let this be on the top of your mind: Keep your phone far away from any hose.