I agree with tammy. Im a very visual person and with 4 kids under 6 I dont have a lot of time to read anymore. (At least not adult stuff) and Birds and bloom are full of wonderfull ideas. I've made many projects from that mag.
Tasha

BBC's Gardeners' World is fun in a goofy, working class, british kind of way. It has a lot of pictures & snippets of info but also some informative articles is you look hard enough. It is enormous, AND expensive at least here in the states, & you don't get the free seeds with every issue that the British readers apparently get! It probably wouldn't be very helpful for people outside Britian & Pac NW since it is geared towards that sort of weather but if you're in a Barnes & Nobles do take a peek--
cheers

Birds and Blooms did nothing for me. I don't think I'd bother looking at another issue.

Sorry, at the moment, I can't think of a gardening magazine that I could say is my "least favorite," but I would like to make an observation--not just with this thread but with other threads, as well.

I get a kick out of the way the original subject changes once one reply comes through that initiates the change. The subject is "Least Favorite Gardening Magazine," and, all it takes is one person to start listing their favorite magazine(s) and the rest of the responses begin to follow that same line of thought.

Just an observation and wondered if any of you picked up on it.

Let's see Least Favorite: Garden Design $$$$$$Better Homes and Garden..........I am a Shade Gardener so it is hard to find any Magazines,that help me........
Martha Stewart.......Get Real................David

Hey....we all agree on one thing, Martha Stewart is all hype. I bet that woman doesn't know how to grow anything. It's all advertising and eveyone else's expertise she is using and she's getting rich..rich..richer! Just look at her magazine, it's all advertising. I cancelled my subscription. Pissed me off after 2 magazines.

I like County Gardens, Garden Gate, Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest and Garden Design.

I had to laugh when the last Garden Design magazine arrived - It featured the HOMES and FURNITURE of gardeners and had exactly four pages of articles on plants. I have about decided to give up my subscription ... but this magazine changes editorial staff and content every few years. Three or four years ago it had the best garden design articles I ever saw: Interviews with good and/or famous gardeners and MAPS of their garden. (I'm big on maps).
Now it seems to feature swimming pools and travel and perfume inserts (YUCK)

here in the uk mine is garden news a mag which costs one pound it is not a glossy but a mag for learning from beginers to people that exhibit at shows and has seperate pages on spesialised subjects ie fushias dahlias veg etc

Just a suggestion -- to find out which magazines offer consistently good stuff, go to your local library and check out five or six back issues of various magazines. Reading them one after another will give you a pretty good idea of which of them are substantive and which are fluff, and you won't have to waste money on a subscription to something you find is a waste of time.

The LEAST favorite garden mag...well, I picked up a copy of Rebecca's Garden...a few nice things, but I wouldn't subscribe to it. I will occasionally pick up a Martha Stewart, only if it has any really neat new idreas for me, and I used to like Organic Gardening, but don't care for that one any more...and the American Horticulture Society puts out a quality magazine if you are a member, but I have dropped by membership a couple of years ago...it seemed to lose interest for me. So those are my least favorites. I was told to keep on topic so email me if you want to know the ones that I DO like (and subscribe to).

Regards,

Evelyn

I like Country Living Gardener, Garden Design, and Country
Home Gardens. I don't buy them for information as much
as I buy them for the pictures-----not that I can't read--
more interested in looking at how other people have designed their gardens. I do also buy Martha Stewart and
like her very much. I like the way she decorates more
so than the articles on gardening.

Fine Gardening is my current favorite -- good for the moderately experienced gardener, which is what I seem to be. Cooks Illustrated is far and away the best cooking magazine I've ever seen, if you're interested.

Yes indeed,if you folks ever do decide to post a list of LEAST FAVORITE GARDENING MAGAZINES,I'd be delighted to read it. Perhaps we could read all about people's least favorite gardening mags on a forum page titled "Favorite Gardening Magazines", what do y'all think?

Hello, R. Schramm, and others...I DID post my LEAST favorites, but no one else seems to be doing that...

I dislike Better Homes and Gardens. It teases me with titles like "how to have the prettiest garden in the neighborhood" and the article just has some pix and advice like, "relax and plant what you like". Big help.

Well, you know, us gardeners, we tend to always look on the bright side of life. So, speecking of things we hate is kind of hard.

In fact this is a subliminal therapy for horts to express themselfs.

As for me, I hate..well, don't like, hmm... oh, its hard. ...
I...I dont like UGLY THINGS! There.

Well, Plant and Garden is a bit boring to read. And I dislike when an article is cut in half (Continued on page 129) hate articles on tools, like we don't know how to use a shovel!

Thanks for the tip on Martha Stewart. Cheers for Fine Gardening and Garden Gate.

I wasn't crazy about Martha Stewart Living, and I'm not crazy about Horticulture or Flower and Garden. I dropped ol' Martha after three issues and kept the other two for a year, then dropped them. I subscribe to a magazine for a year, look it over closely, and give myself time to make a decision on whether or not to keep it. I LOVE Garden Gate and National Gardening is pretty good too. I've noticed that over time, all the mags I've read tend towards repitiousness; f'rinstance, Mag A might have and article on azaleas one month and then a month or two later, Mag B will have an article on azaleas.
Every now and then, I'll see a "specialty" magazine on gardening, usually published by Better Homes and Gardens. I've got some of these, but I don't really consult them the way I do National Gardening and Garden Gate. I'm thinking of tossing them

Here is a link that might be useful: gardengate.com

Tried the most farvorite, wrote a letter and put the wrong email address (new at this). Loved the Martha Stewart comments. Hate Her. Great book about her called "Just Desserts".

Let's not upset the person who insists we be good little people and stay on topic but if you list your FAVORITE gardening magazines doesn't it stand to reason that the ones you didn't list are your least favorite?

Got the premier issue of The Gardener this week. Yawn. No photos -- just illustrations. more fanciful than practical... reminded me of Horticulture.

Someone was raving about how great the Martha Special Gardening issue was on another forum. I ranted about how bad it was and felt guilty afterwards. Now I feel better and know that I am not alone in my annoyance with the magazine.
FYI: 22 pages of ads before even one article-and it wasn't about gardening!
85 pages in FINALLY gave us the first real article. After that...nothing. I was furious. I don't care about hanging baskets if they're shown INSIDE. What????? What gardening?? Where?
OH, right, let's not forget how Martha told us how she STERILIZED HER SOIL. Yes, you heard me. Something about killing off something...I don't know, I was too disgusted to really take it all in. Like she even lifted a finger during this stupid dirt-cleaning job. Like anyone in the real world would even concider this. Or be able to afford it!!!
Okay, all done.

I'm the editor of Green Profit, a trade magazine for garden centers, as well as chains like Home Depot and Lowe's. Each month I conduct an interview for our consumer section with a professional in some aspect of horticulture--usually the editor of magazines like Better Homes--but I thought this month I'd directly ask consumers what they do and don't like about gardening magazines. This, indirectly, would help the garden centers know what to stock. You all have some insightful and entertaining views...I'd love it if you'd share comments with me for publication on which consumer magazines do it for you, and which ones don't and why. Just e-mail me your comments and include your name, city and state. Thanks! Marisa Delane.
mdelane@ballpublishing.com.

Since Garden Gate seems to be a favorite in this old thread, I'll cast a vote in the "Least Favorite" column. Garden Gate is singularly greedy towards its freelance contributers - their pay is low, and they insist (regardless of negotiation attempts) on purchasing all copyrights to images outright, an almost ridiculous proposal in the freelance photography world. Without intervention and policy revision, they will lose the quality they're accustomed to, as their new contributors will become less and less experienced photographers looking for exposure.

Sorry - end of rant. They're my least favorite.

Well, Least Favorite I'll have to say Martha Stewart - picked up one issue and couldn't find the gardening article on the cover. Don't like Rebbeca's Garden a whole lot either. I think it's Garden Shed thats ALL advertisments, I don't like it either. Nothing against someone making a living, but I want substance, not form.

Another complaint I have are the fact that the same gardens are used OVER and OVER - you can spot them, just different angles of the same picture. THATS CHEATING!

I've got the feeling that there are about 12 writers and photographers, they write a story then sell it, and sell the pictures and sell the pictures, rewrite it and sell it again.

phoo!

I like Fine Gardening -- I always take a long time to read it, savoring it. Also like GreenPrints, the funky literary/garden journal. But find Garden Design irritating because it's so snobby, and because the layouts of gardens always seem to be in New York/Connecticut, Miami, or California. The rest of the North American continent is a barren wasteland???

I agree with the person who said that she/he judges a magazine's seriousness by whether or not they caption their photos with a complete and accurate description of the plants shown. Nothing peeves me more than a photo of a rich, densely planted border and the caption below saying something like: "an assortment of colorful perennials bloom in the Schmitzman's back yard." Hello! I can see that they're colorful! I want to know what the heck they are so I can check them out at the nursery!

You can get Garden gate here.. it is a very good magazine. also check out this whole page.. pretty nice.
Sugar_fl

Here is a link that might be useful: garden gate

i do have a gripe there I get a book in the mail and its all in black and white what gives. I have no desire to even look at it.does nothing for the flowers.

Garden Design REALLY sucks! And now, Organic Garden is following the path of diversity and death too. So sad to see a great magazine go down. But hey, we live in a capitalistic society, and someone, somewhere will fill the gap and publish a real organic gardening magazine.

i like garden gate: good format, birds and blooms: what ma and pa are doing in the yard, and country living gardener: up beat and colorful, martha stewart has too many anti aging make-up ads, but it gives a forcast on what the lemings will be buying next month........

Hmmm..guess I'm not being selective enough to "hate" any gardening mags-- but then I buy a stack of them for 10 cents apiece at thrift stores and spend the rest of my $5.00 on a really good used gardening book.

I go to the library about twice a month & catch up on all the latest magazines. If I DO see an article I have to have, I Xerox it. Save me LOTS of $$ in subscriptions!

My current favorite is People, Places, and Plants. It is not for the whols country, but if you live in New England it is great. It is the only one that I save for reference now. I also like Fine Gardening and Horticulture. I have no use for GardenGate, Birds and Blossoms?, and Martha.... I buy Garden Shed when I want to see any new products that are available.

Most of the magazines seem to just tease -- with the pictures and everything so perfect. I read somewhere that almosst all the photos are shot in June when most gardens are in their prime. I do like the articles in Sunset sometimes and I like Birds and Blooms. I don't like the huge Martha Stewart magazine either.
But I was surprised by the TV show she has. My mother is handicapped and has been addicted to all-day & all-night TV --for a long time. When I visited her, I hated those tell-all shows, where people are constantly screaming at each other. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Martha's show was low-key and very interesting (especially for mom, who used to do so many activities). There's a garden segment each day and they go into depth on a subject -- today it was the Plant familiy Baptisia -- very interesting.
Susan

The July 2002 (I think it was July) issue of Better Homes & Gardens devoted probably less than 5% of it's magazine space to gardening. Isn't July a prime gardening month? In the index, the number of articles in the other categories outnumbered the garden articles; and the "shopping" category dwarfed everything.

I would suggest to BH&G a new name, perhaps: Mostly Shopping and Advertising?

I am going to let my subscription lapse.

For Substance (and my no. 1 pick):

I am extremely pleased with Garden Gate. I think it's truly a winner. Garden Gate is _packed_ with great gardening information without the inundation of advertising you see in most other magazines.

For General Gardening Interest and Reading Enjoyment:

Sunset has a zone-specific monthly article about "what to do in your garden in [current month]" with categories for what to plant, maintenance, pest control, etc. They seemed very geared toward California until recently when they've been writing more stories about the other regions of the west. Often they'll have an article that really peaks my interest like their tomato taste tests.

For Pictures and Ideas:

I have found some fun ideas in Fine Gardening like a story about pebble mosaics that I have added to my gardening-projects-to-try list. The publishers of Fine Gardening are adept at magazine layout, images and art and make a beautiful publication. This is the magazine I seek out at the bookstore and browse before I buy.

Best Regards,
Celeste

"Gardengate" is my favorite! No advertisements either.

I've had many magazines and have narrowed usage to 2. Country Living Gardener and Garden Gate. CLG is inspiring and GG has no ads and a lot of good advice. My pet peeve is pictures that show seasonal stuff all blooming at the same time . How do you suppose they manage that??? You can't really fool Mother Nature

People, Places and Plants is a winner for the New England gardeners, but I must say I appreciate the perspective offered in this forum because I always thought only northern gardeners are REAL gardeners--it's charming to realize every gardener on this web is passionate about their own zone and climate needs and I should stop taking offense every time I see an article about desert gardening. Makes me wish I could swap gardens for a year!

Isn't it funny? When asked what our least favorite, we share our favorites, when asked what our favorites are, we tell you the ones we don't like? HMMM

BH&G is my least favorite. WAY to much advertising, not much gardening.

Garden Gate, hands down! Is my favorite. Also I like Horticulture and Plants. The English Garden and Gardens are nice to look at, but not very practical for me. I will never have that much water.

I liked the OLD Organic Gardening and Mother Earth News. Country Living Gardener is OK.

Organic gardening used to be my favorite but it has changed so much I gave up on it. Wish it would go back to the old style . Garden Gate is my favorite now

My Least favorite gardening mags are:Garden Design, Better Homes and Gardens. Martha is a non-issue (no pun intended)
My favs are: Herbal Companion, Herb Quarterly, Horticulture, Fine Gardening(eye candy), Organic Gardening (OG), and The Gardener.
I agree with a previous post someone made that Cooks Illustrated is good (not "gardening" really). I like the section that does comparisons between several brand names.
I used to get Mother Earth News but I'm just not out in the sticks enough to find their articles useful...maybe if we have a World War III I'll buy back copies. Weeder's Digest was fine for a while but too many stories are depressing and the artwork as well.

I like books and catalogues best now. Magazines are too pricey, too full of ads, too heavy to lift, have all those postcards falling out of them and the articles are either too short or too shallow. I occasionally like to glance at the British and French ones at the store. I get a good laugh out of the articles on "Your Winter Garden in Bloom". The web is a fine place to read about garden things as well!

I want to add my two cents worth about my disappointment with the way Org. Gardening has turned out. I have read it for decades and am now reluctantly giving up.

Garden Design is useless.

Love Fine Grardening - yeah, it's lots of pictures (I think the best photography of the lot), but really good articles and advice. I have volumes going back for years - that's the one I keep. And I share them a lot w. new gardeners and friends. It's easy to locate specific articles with useful info.

Also like Horticulture a lot.

And I have just become a "member" of New England Gardening Club - primarily for the magazine People, Plants and Places - which is really quite good, but also because with joining comes a discount card for many NE garden centers and nurseries. This advice is only useful for NE, obviously - but if you are in this region check it out at newenglandgardening.com.

I also belong to the Americal Horticulural Society and their magazine is excellent - that's an expensive join, but I get free entrance to many botanical gardens and so it pays me to do this (besides which, it's a good org to support_)

I know this is supposed to be about least favorite but, hey, it just leads one to think about what one DOES like.

sorry if this is incorrect

Rarely buy Better Homes and Gardens magazines. I'm tired of seeing beautiful pictures without useful information. Descriptions without variety names are useless to me as I'm interested in knowing more about the habits of specific plants.

Garden Design is nothing but advertising and after that, some more advertising. The price of their magazine could be brought down by not sending so much mail trying to get people that have dropped it ,to sign up again. Fat chance!

Most American gardening magazines leave me cold. In the past the best ones have been from Britain, but I'm not. And last time I did much thumbing through a couple UK favorites they seemed like they were dumbing down, becoming more like ours.

Photos of plants that aren't identified are a definite turnoff for me, too, but what really makes me think a production isn't worth perusing is when they give a name for a plant and it's erroneous.

Just found this thread and read thru it all--very interesting comments. Don't know if it is still active but here goes: My least favorite garden magazines are those that feature huge artsy shots of single flowers. That tells me absolutely nothing. Years ago, Garden Design used to be excellent, with substantive articles about gardening, landscape designers and so on. I finally dropped it when they had their fifth owner in about as many years and they focused on the type of photo I just described. My favorite garden magazines have information I can use (not just the usual basics), updates on new plants, and pictures of attractive gardens. I like People, Places, Plants and Country Living Gardener and Fine Gardening. Lastly, I think a lot of garden magazines have dumbed down in the last five years or so. The American Horticultural Society's magazine is a good example. Used to be really meaty and not so much any more. And too many articles about gardening as a social reform agent. That has its place but they run way too many of them.

Anyone here subscribe to Plants Magazine?
http://www.plants-magazine.com/index.asp
Luscious pictures, cutting edge introductions and great web site. Definitely on my wish list.

Garden Design is the worst that i have come across, but i haven't had Martha's magazine either. Fine Gardening is my absolute favorite! great articles AND great pictures. Backyard living is ok too. it is fairly informative but gets caught up with the frugal quick fixes to often. i love the section on container recipes they publish in every issue. they are sent from real people across the country.

yeah I used to get a garden magazine from Britain, can't remember think it was called English Gardens and i really liked it..but never could figure out the exxchange on the $ to buy anything. Don't even know where to subscribe anymore. I have gotten nearly all of the magazines mentioned above and there are things i like and don't like about all of them, i do find some are way too packed full of advertisements for bronze statues..etc..i wish some of the old victorian Gardens and other older garden magazines were around, they were pretty special. Organic gardening used to be a really good one, Mother earth has some good garden ideas but isn't really a garden magazine, i get garden gate and a few others yet, feel birds and blooms is a bit birdy to be garden..it is pretty tho.
i cancelled my subs to Fine Gardening and a few other more high brow magazines, have a very large library of garden books which I prefer to go to than most of the magazines. I want a magazine that has a lot of IDEAS for me, rather than just new flower types or silly ideas that i'd never use