Whether they’re shutting off their alarm, checking Facebook or looking through emails, many people today have their phones in hand even before wiping the sleep from their eyes.

Mobile devices have taken over many functions we rely on for our personal and professional lives. Today, mobile phones have taken the place of alarm clocks, weather stations, newspapers, GPS systems, notebooks, calendars and much more.

For landscapers, mobile apps can provide valuable services to help you save time and money with the swipe of a finger.

Below is a list of five mobile apps for landscapers.

Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply App

Ewing recently re-launched its mobile app, providing more functions and services for contractors than before.

Easily find Ewing store locations with the Branch Locator function. You can also read and search for industry news and trends in the News tab.

If you’re looking for additional help when you’re in the field, the Ewing app can assist with a variety of tasks including:

• Calculating application and precipitation rates
• Calculating irrigation system run times
• Calculating landscape lighting volts, watts and amp conversions
• Calculating voltage drop
• Measuring the amount of fertilizer you’ll need for your next job

These are just some of the functions you can perform in the Ewing app.

The Ewing app is available on iOS and Android. The new app updates are currently only available on iOS.

Turfgrass Management Calculator App

The Turfgrass Management Calculator app includes more than 17,000 programmed calculations to provide users with quick answers for calibration, fertilizer, irrigation, mowing, pesticides, topdressings and more.

Users can do a variety of tasks:

• Calibrate application rates and spray volumes for spreaders and sprayers
• Calculate fertilizer rate or price based on active ingredient or product rate
• Calculate evapotranspiration rates, irrigation rates and requirements, nutrient load and more
• Calculate mowing times, fuel consumption, requirements and costs
• Find pesticide rates and prices based on product and active ingredients
• Calculate sand requirement or price for topdressing turfgrasses with or without aerification

The Turfgrass Management Calculator costs users $5.99 and is available on iOS.

Landscaper’s Companion App

The Landscaper’s Companion app can help you quickly search and discover a variety of plant types while in the field.

Discover more than 26,000 plants in the Landscape’s Companion app. The app’s plant database contains more than 21,000 full color photos of plants to browse with more photos being added each month.

You can even track your own plants by creating a private plant catalog, which can help you keep important information about the landscapes you manage, all at the tips of your fingers.

Landscaper’s Companion is available on iOS.

TimeClock - Time Tracker

As a landscaper, a lot of your time is likely spent in the field and on the road, traveling from one site to another. Easily keep track of your billable hours, expenses and mileage with the TimeClock – Time Tracker app.

This app features an automatic Cloud sync, which means your data will be saved to an online server in case you lose or break your phone. You can generate invoices from your TimeClock data or export the information as a spreadsheet.

You can also set hourly rates for each client to calculate your earnings, write notes about your work schedule and meetings, view and edit time records in the app and more!

TimeClock – Time Tracker is available on iOS and Android. There are two versions of this app, a free version and one you can pay for, which gives you additional features.

Smart Controller Apps

With smart controllers on the rise, installing one of these manufacturer controller apps can help you keep track of and manage your irrigation systems.

• Hydrawise Irrigation: Easily control your Hunter irrigation systems on or off site with this app. Internet access is required.
• Rachio: Manage your Rachio smart controllers from anywhere.
• WeatherTRAK Mobile: The WeatherTRAK mobile app from HydroPoint works like a mobile remote control for your WeatherTRAK controllers.
• Rain Bird: Connect compatible Wi-Fi enabled Rain Bird controllers to the mobile Rain Bird app to turn sprinklers on and off, set up customized watering schedules and more.
• Toro/Irritrol: SMRTscape by The Toro Company is a cloud-based app that gives you the ability to turn irrigation systems on and off and control up to 10 compatible Toro or Irritrol controllers.