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Design a backyard makeover from a photo with ChatGPT renderings and Claude prompts
PartialEvidence: Article or interviewPosted Last checked
A garden writer used Claude and ChatGPT to redesign a backyard. It took dozens of tries, and ChatGPT got the deck wrong repeatedly.
How to use this
- Tap Copy prompt.
- Open ChatGPT.
- Paste it into the message box.
- Send it, then read the answer before acting on it.
New to this? What's a prompt?
A prompt is the message you send to the AI tool. Copy the one on this page, put your own details where it asks, and read the answer before you act on it.
Prompt
Recreated prompt
The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote one from what it describes. The result shown is the source's, not ours.
The person didn't share their exact words, so we wrote this from what they described. We haven't tested it, and they didn't use this exact version.
Use the uploaded photo as a spatial and architectural reference. Redesign this backyard as a relaxed hangout space with a curving path, an arch leading to a focal tree and a seating area in the far corner. Keep the existing deck exactly where it is. Then give me a plant list with quantities and a bloom calendar.
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Optional stronger version
Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish. Goal: Help me design a backyard makeover from a photo and produce a plan I can take to a local designer or nursery. Questions to ask me first: - What's the yard size, sun and soil, and your growing zone or region? - How do you want to use the space? - What must stay, and what plants or features do you not want? Inputs (fill in or confirm): - Photo of the yard: [PHOTO] - Dimensions: [LENGTH x WIDTH] - Sun, soil and region: [CONDITIONS] - Style and goals: [STYLE / USES] - Keep: [DECK / TREES / FENCE] - Exclude: [PLANTS / FEATURES] - Budget: [BUDGET] Rules: - Use the uploaded photo as a spatial and architectural reference; don't move or remove existing structures. - Never add a plant from my exclude list; check the list before each answer. - Suggest plants suited to my conditions and region, and say which ones I should confirm locally. - Keep paths and features to scale with my dimensions. Checkpoint: Describe the layout in words and let me approve it before making an image. If you get stuck: If an image changes something I asked to keep, point it out and redo it rather than moving on. Verify before you finish: List each plant with its sun, water and size needs so I can check it with a local nursery. Output: A layout description, a rendering, a plant list with quantities and a bloom calendar. Done when: I have a plan and images I can take to a professional or nursery.
AI tools
Outcome
Erica Browne Grivas, who has worked in plant nurseries for nearly a decade, wanted fresh ideas for a home backyard. Grivas used Claude as a coach to write detailed prompts and ChatGPT to make photorealistic renderings from a photo of the yard. The first rendering was what Grivas called a theme-park jumble. Over dozens of iterations, decks moved or vanished, ChatGPT once labeled the deck as a plant, it never got the zigzag paver pattern right and it kept bringing back plants Grivas had excluded. Asking it to use the uploaded photo as a spatial and architectural reference helped. The plant list request came back looking like a professional design document, with a bloom calendar and zone diagrams. Grivas ended with a plan, a plant list and images to take to a professional designer, not a finished design.
Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.
Known limitations
PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.
What went wrong: Grivas got a usable vision and plant list, but the AI repeatedly misplaced structures and excluded plants; it isn't a buildable design.
Source
- Posted
- by Erica Browne Grivas (Better Homes & Gardens via Yahoo)
- Last checked
- Method:
- How we verify
Context: OpenAI provided a ChatGPT Plus account for the article. The author has professional plant knowledge and made several key design choices. Check scale, structures and plant suitability with a local professional.
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