Frequently Asked Questions

Simply tell us your city, describe your garden conditions — sunlight, soil type, yard size — and pick the crops you want to grow. Our 7-step questionnaire takes about 3 minutes to complete. Then, we combine your inputs with official USDA hardiness zone data and 30-year historical weather records from Open-Meteo (ERA5 reanalysis) to generate a personalized, science-backed planting guide tailored to your exact location and conditions.

Your personalized planting guide is generated instantly after you complete the 7-step questionnaire. The report typically takes 10–20 seconds to generate.

Your personalized report includes: Garden at a Glance — climate summary, frost dates, growing season length, and GDD analysis for your location; Crop Recommendations — recommended varieties, spacing, sunlight needs, and a planting timeline (start indoors, transplant, harvest) for each crop; Month-by-Month Planting Calendar — a visual table showing what to do each month; Soil Preparation & Watering Guide — customized advice based on your soil type. View a sample report →

Yes. You can go back and modify any step of the questionnaire — location, sunlight, soil type, crop selection, or any other input. Your report will regenerate automatically with the updated information. There is no limit to how many times you can adjust your plan.

Our database includes over 100 varieties of the most popular vegetables, herbs, and fruits — from tomatoes, peppers, and basil to carrots, radishes, and lettuce. Each crop entry includes spacing requirements, sunlight needs, GDD (Growing Degree Days) thresholds, pest and disease tips, and harvest guidance. You can also add custom crops not in our database during the questionnaire, so you're never limited to just our built-in varieties.

TheYardwise operates on a one-time payment of $9.90 USD. There are no subscriptions, recurring charges, or hidden fees. You can complete the 7-step questionnaire and preview your plan for free — you only pay when you're ready to unlock and download your full personalized planting guide as a PDF.

We accept all major credit and debit cards. All payments are processed securely through Stripe, our payment processor. Your payment information is never stored on our servers — Stripe handles the entire transaction using industry-standard encryption.

Because our garden plan is a digital product delivered instantly, we do not offer refunds for change of mind once the content has been accessed. However, you may be eligible for a refund within 14 days of purchase if: (a) a technical issue on our end prevents you from downloading or accessing your plan and we cannot resolve it within 48 hours; (b) the delivered content materially differs from the product description; or (c) your payment method was used without authorization. Please review our full Refund Policy for complete details, including EU/UK withdrawal rights.

Each garden plan is a separate one-time purchase. However, you can modify your existing plan's parameters — location, soil, crops — and regenerate it without additional cost. A new purchase is only needed if you want to create a completely different plan for a new garden location.

Yes. We take your privacy seriously. Your location and garden data are used only to generate your planting guide. We do not sell or share your personal information with third parties. Your data is stored securely using industry-standard encryption protocols. We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. See our full Privacy Policy for details.

We use official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map data (2023 edition, developed by the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University) and 30-year historical weather records from Open-Meteo (ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis dataset, traceable to 1940). This is the same quality of data used by agricultural researchers and professional growers. We calculate frost dates based on a 0°C (32°F) threshold and GDD (Growing Degree Days) using a 10°C (50°F) base temperature.

Our crop database of over 100 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and fruits is curated from peer-reviewed horticultural references, agricultural extension services, and university research. Each crop's growing requirements — spacing, sunlight needs, GDD thresholds, and care instructions — are verified against multiple authoritative sources before being added to our database.

We use trusted third-party services for cloud hosting, climate data, AI content generation, payment processing, and email delivery. These include providers for CDN and hosting, weather and climate data APIs, AI-powered report generation, payment processing through Stripe, and email delivery. We do not sell your data to any of these providers. For a complete list of our service providers and how they handle your data, please see our Privacy Policy.

TheYardwise is a web-based application that works on any modern browser — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge. Our interface is fully responsive and designed to work on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. We use clear language, large fonts, and an intuitive interface that's easy to navigate on any screen size.

No account is required. You can complete the entire 7-step questionnaire, preview your plan, and make a purchase without creating an account. If you provide your email address during the process, we'll send your completed report there as well. We only collect the information necessary to generate your personalized planting guide.

Yes — TheYardwise works worldwide. Our climate data covers most regions globally through the Open-Meteo ERA5 reanalysis dataset. If you're in the US, you can enter your ZIP code for the most precise local climate data. For other countries, simply search for your city. Planting recommendations are calibrated to your specific location's frost dates and growing conditions, wherever you are in the world.

You can recover your report at any time using our Report Recovery page. Simply enter the email address you used when purchasing your garden plan, and we'll send you a one-time secure link to access your report. The recovery link expires in 15 minutes and can only be used once. No account registration is required. If you don't see the recovery email, check your spam or junk folder — it comes from send@theyardwise.com.

Your reports are stored securely in our system and are available for recovery as long as the service is operational. We store your report content and PDF backup linked to your email address. If you need to access an older report, simply use the Report Recovery tool. If you encounter any issues recovering your report, contact us and we'll help you retrieve it.