On 8 Oct 2003 03:12:08 GMT, (Bill Oliver) wrote:

I have not used Maya to plan a garden, but I did use it to recreate
a forest and wetland for a forensic animation. I generated a 3D topography
by downloading DEM files from USGS for the area, texture-mapped colorized
satellite imagery onto the 3D surface, and then populated the forest
with 3D trees, created hardscape, running water, etc. The result
compared very favorably with scene photographs, and allowed realistic
animation of clouds, fog, waving of grass and trees in the wind, etc.
The same could be done for landscape planning. While Maya and similar
products are not cheap, many, if not most people can manage significant
discounts through educational institutions, etc.

Are your creations (or stills of same) posted on web anywhere? I'd
sure like to see something like that.