Hortus brings together everything your community garden needs — plots, gardeners, workdays, shared tools, harvest events. Designed for gardeners, not for spreadsheet experts.
Paper plot maps, WhatsApp groups for workdays, notebooks for tool loans… Your board wastes precious time on tasks that should be simple.
Modular features you can enable as needed, with vocabulary that fits garden life.
Visual map of all plots with assignments, sizes, and status. Manage waitlists, renewals, and plot transfers effortlessly.
Plots ModuleComplete directory of your members with their plot assignments, contact info, and participation history.
Members ModuleSchedule community workdays, track signups, send reminders. See who showed up and who needs a nudge.
Events ModuleTrack shared tools and equipment. Who borrowed the wheelbarrow? When is the trimmer coming back? Now you'll know.
Tools ModuleOrganize harvest festivals, plant swaps, and seed exchanges. Celebrate the fruits of your community's labor.
Events ModuleA garden website with location, photos, membership info, and contact form. No technical skills required.
Public SiteGenerate garden reports on membership, plot usage, workday participation, and tool lending. Know how your garden is doing at a glance.
Reports ModuleCommunicate with all gardeners or specific groups. Announcements, workday reminders, weather alerts — reach everyone without chasing phone numbers.
Messaging ModuleFrom the board president to the newest plot holder, Hortus fits how each person actually works.
"I spend more time on admin than in the dirt"
Dashboard shows garden health at a glance — waitlist, workdays, tool status, dues collection
"I never know when workdays are or if I owe fees"
Personal dashboard with your plot, upcoming events, watering schedule, and payment status
"I can't get people to show up reliably"
Easy signups, automatic reminders, and participation tracking that recognizes contributors
"I don't know where anything is or how things work"
Onboarding guide, plot map, garden rules, and a clear path from waitlist to harvest
See all your plots at a glance — who's assigned, who's on the waitlist, which ones are available. Assign plots, manage renewals, handle transfers.
"We used to dread plot assignment season. Paper maps, sticky notes, arguments about who was next. Now the waitlist runs itself and everyone can see it's fair."
Schedule community tasks, get signups, send reminders, track participation. No more guessing who'll show up or chasing volunteers.
"Our spring cleanup went from 8 stressed volunteers to 22 enthusiastic ones. The automatic reminders made all the difference — people actually remembered."
Track every rake, hose, and wheelbarrow. Know what's available, what's borrowed, and when it's due back. No more missing equipment.
"We used to lose $300-400 worth of tools every year. Since switching to Hortus, we haven't lost a single item. People just return things when they get the reminder."
From plot assignment day to harvest festivals, here's what changes when everything works together.
Plot 23 opened up when the Millers moved away. The coordinator has three different lists showing three different people as 'next' on the waitlist. Email threads, a paper signup sheet, and verbal promises all conflict. Two gardeners are upset.
The waitlist is visible to everyone. When a plot opens, the system automatically notifies the next person in line. They have 7 days to accept or pass. No confusion, no favoritism accusations.
Plot assigned in 10 minutes. No disputes. Everyone can see the process is fair.
It's a heat wave in July. The family scheduled to water Wednesday through Friday went to the beach and forgot to tell anyone. By Friday, eight plots have wilted tomatoes and frustrated gardeners.
The watering schedule is visible to all gardeners. When the Johnsons mark themselves unavailable, others see the open slots and can volunteer. Automatic reminders go out the day before each shift.
Coverage gaps spotted immediately. Backup volunteers step in. Zero lost harvests.
End of season inventory reveals the rotary tiller is missing. The good loppers are gone. Three hoses have disappeared. Nobody remembers who borrowed what. The board has to buy replacements before spring.
Every checkout is logged. The tiller shows checked out to Tom since September — a quick message and it's back. Overdue items get automatic reminders before they become missing.
Every tool accounted for. $400 saved on unnecessary replacements. Tom apologizes and brings cookies.
| Task | Before Hortus | With Hortus |
|---|---|---|
| Plot assignment | Paper waitlist. Conflicting records. Arguments about who's next. Manual notifications via email and phone. | Transparent waitlist. Automatic notifications. Fair, visible process. Assignments in minutes. |
| Workday coordination | Group chat chaos. No-shows. No way to track who participated. Repeat volunteers never recognized. | Online signups. Automatic reminders. Participation history. Contributors celebrated. |
| Tool lending | Honor system. Missing equipment. No idea who has what. Annual losses in the hundreds. | Digital checkout. Due dates. Automatic reminders. Zero lost tools. |
| Watering schedule | Paper calendar on the shed. Missed turns. Wilted plants. Finger-pointing after the fact. | Shared schedule. Easy swaps. Automatic reminders. Backup volunteers can see gaps. |
| Membership renewals | Chase people down. Check who paid. Update the spreadsheet. Hope nothing falls through cracks. | Automatic reminders. Online payment. Real-time status. No more manual tracking. |
| New gardener onboarding | Print out rules. Walk them around. Hope they find the tool shed. Answer the same questions repeatedly. | Digital welcome packet. Interactive plot map. All rules and resources in one place. |
We built Hortus because your community's data has no place on Big Tech servers.
Your data never passes through Google, Amazon, Microsoft, or Facebook. Independent infrastructure, controlled by us.
Servers located in the European Union, subject to GDPR — the world's most protective legislation for personal data.
Data encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest on our servers. Your information is protected at every step.
Full export at any time. If you leave, we delete everything. No lock-in, no traps, no resale.
Full access to all features, no credit card required. You test, you give us feedback.
We're building for community gardens, not corporations. Prices will remain adapted to your means.
No artificial limits during beta. We count on common sense usage — fair use.
We're a small team. We do our best, we respond quickly, but we don't promise 99.99% SLA.
Early adopters get remembered. Join now and lock in founder pricing when we launch — plus direct input on features we build next.
Terms may evolve at launch — we'll always notify you in advance.
Can't find what you're looking for? Write to us at hello@communify.site
Most gardens are operational in less than an hour. You create your garden, draw your plot map, import your gardeners from a CSV or Excel file, and you're ready to go. We guide you through every step if needed.
Absolutely. Hortus accepts imports from Excel, CSV, and Google Sheets. You can import gardener names, contact info, plot assignments, and membership dates in one go.
Hortus includes a visual editor where you draw your garden layout. Add plots, paths, water sources, sheds, and common areas. It's as easy as drawing rectangles. Gardeners can then see exactly where their plot is located.
Yes! Gardeners can browse available tools, check them out with one click, and see when they're due back. They'll get automatic reminders before items are overdue. You can also require coordinator approval for high-value equipment.
You create recurring watering slots (e.g., Monday 6-8 AM). Gardeners sign up for their turns. They can swap with others if something comes up. Everyone sees the schedule, so gaps are obvious and get filled.
When a gardener joins the waitlist, they're added in order. When a plot becomes available, the system notifies the next person in line. They get a deadline to accept, and if they don't respond, it moves to the next person automatically.
Yes! Each garden gets its own separate space with its own data, members, and settings. If you're part of a network of gardens, we can help set up a multi-garden account with shared resources.
All data is hosted in the European Union, with GDPR-compliant providers. Your garden's data is never resold or shared with third parties. You remain the owner of your data and can export it at any time.
Hortus handles seasonal and year-round memberships. You can set membership periods, send renewal reminders automatically, and track who's current. Inactive members can be archived without losing their history.
The web application is fully responsive and works beautifully on phones — perfect for checking tools in and out at the shed. A dedicated mobile app with offline support and push notifications is on our roadmap for later this year.
Join the first community gardens on Hortus. Full access during beta, assisted setup, and your feedback shapes the product.
🔒 No credit card · GDPR · Data hosted in Europe