Gardening should feel like gardening.
Not like managing a project. Not like updating a spreadsheet. Like being outside, paying attention, and enjoying the thing you came out here to do.
Why we built this
More enjoyment.
Gardening is one of the best things you can do for yourself. It gets you outside, slows you down, and connects you to something real. But when the tools you use to support your garden start feeling like homework, they take away from the thing they’re supposed to enhance. Songbird is designed to add to the joy of gardening, not create another chore.
More success.
Every gardener has hard-won knowledge: what worked in which bed, when things ripened, which variety was worth growing again, when the pests showed up and what actually stopped them. The problem is holding onto it. Most gardeners rely on memory, which is unreliable. Or notebooks, which you forget to check.
Songbird remembers everything and brings it back when it’s useful. Not just when you think to ask, but proactively, when the timing lines up: “Last year the cabbage worms showed up this week. Might be worth adding row cover.” That’s pattern recognition that used to require decades of mental tracking in one garden. Songbird does it automatically, starting in year two.
More presence.
The best moments in a garden happen when you’re paying attention. The first tomato turning red. Bees covering the echinacea. A seedling that finally took.
Songbird is voice-first because we don’t want you staring at a screen when you could be looking at your garden. Hold a button, say what you see, and you’re back to being there in ten seconds.
But it’s more than convenience. When you know nothing’s going to get lost, you can be fully present. You’re not trying to hold things in your head for later. You’re just there, in the moment, with your garden.
More noticing.
This is the one that surprised us. The more you use Songbird, the more you start to notice. Not because the app nags you to log things, but because you know nothing’s going to slip through the cracks. You start paying closer attention to what’s blooming, what’s changed, what small thing is happening in the corner of the garden you usually walk past.
Noticing is a practice. And when you practice it regularly, something shifts. The garden becomes less about the to-do list and more about the moments. The way light hits the back bed at 7pm. Which pollinators prefer which flowers. The first signs that autumn is coming.
This is what gardening is really about: paying attention to living things. Songbird just makes it easier to show up and notice. And noticing, consistently practiced, becomes gratitude.
How Songbird started
I didn’t start out as much of a gardener. A few terra cotta pots on a city patio, mostly herbs. Basil that bolted. Mint that took over everything. The usual.
Then we moved to the suburbs, and something shifted. A few raised beds turned into a few more. I planted fruit trees. I pulled out a patch of invasives and turned it into a pollinator garden. What started as a casual hobby quietly became one of the most meaningful parts of my life.
But the more I grew, the more I realized how much I was forgetting. Which varieties did well last year? When did I plant the garlic? What did I do about the squash bugs? I’d stand in the garden in April, staring at an empty bed, trying to remember things I’d noticed six months ago.
I tried apps. They wanted me to set up plant profiles and configure dashboards before I could log a single observation. I tried notebooks. I’d write things down and never find them again when I actually needed them. I tried telling myself I’d remember. None of it stuck, because it all added friction instead of removing it.
What I really wanted was simple: something I could talk to while I was out in the garden, hands dirty, in the middle of noticing things. Something that would remember what I told it and bring it back when I needed it. Better yet, something that would come to me at the right moment, before I even knew to ask. Not a spreadsheet. Not a dashboard. A quiet, reliable partner for my garden.
That’s how Songbird started.
Why “Songbird”?
Birds mark the seasons in a garden. They show up when conditions are right. They notice things we miss. They’re present, attentive, and part of the ecosystem.
The voice-first interface reminded us of birdsong: small observations, shared naturally, that build into something larger over time.
And honestly? We just like birds.
Who we are
Songbird was built by a home gardener who wanted a better way to remember what happens in the garden. It’s a one-person indie project, built with care, and designed to do one thing really well: be the memory your garden deserves.
There’s no venture capital, no board of directors, no pressure to add features that serve growth metrics instead of gardeners. No social feed, no garden score, no guilt notifications if you haven’t logged in. Just a focus on building something genuinely useful for people who love being in their gardens.
If you have ideas, feedback, or just want to tell us what’s growing, we’d love to hear from you.
hello@songbird.garden
Songbird doesn’t just remember your garden. It changes how you see it.
Free for your first growing season. Then $20/year. No credit card required. Your data stays yours either way.
Launching Spring 2026