I don't know about some of the speciality forums (specific plants), but the "big topics" are still active -- perennials, roses, vegetables, hostas, etc. Not nearly as active as they used to be, sadly, but active nonetheless.

FL Gardening has been pretty quiet for years now. It is so sad to visit a forum that once had many new posts and see nothing new. That's what a number of my old faves are like now. I do think many older members have passed on, and there just aren't many, or any, new folks coming on board. Old school message boards like G'web have literally died off.

It is sad--I agree. I wonder why GardenWeb holds no appeal for younger people. To me, it's not all that different from using Reddit, which seems to be popular with a younger crowd. I don't know if Reddit has gardening discussions, but I think it must.

Yes, many of the forums have gone dormant. I don't know why Houzz doesn't just remove them.

I searched on the old forum for a post I remembered and hoped to read again, and got nowhere. But just now I found it by Googling.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2012813/pole-bean-spacing

Another factor for less forum participation is that people are going to AI for answers to their questions. It's not just Houzz forums, it's all over. We oldtimers are becoming obsolete, nyuk.

people are going to AI for answers to their questions

And most of the AI generated info is incorrect, unfortunately. All AI does is scan through all the material available on the topic and condense and compile it. It makes no evaluation on the accuracy of what it is reporting.

I loathe and ignore AI, personally. I do not find it useful for "advice" or info. Just a re-hash of things it locates, often unreliable, as gardengal mentioned. Frankly, AI scares me quite a bit - too simplistic and yet detrimental to folks actually thinking for themselves. To say nothing about data centers and potential job losses... AI does not give me warm & fuzzy feelings about the future.

Yet here we are...

Very timely post. My very first venture into GW was the Landscape forum. I havent visited there in quite a while. Back then (mid-late 90’s iirc) there was a very talented landscape designer who contributed a lot there. She eventually became very busy (I imagine more well-known and sought-after) and wrote she needed a pause from the forum.

Once upon a time there were very active garden forums on another, much smaller website. It was great since the forums divided up into regions, ours being Mid-South Gardening. Of course there were specific topic forums also. I’ve met several people who participated, and we had a few plant exchanges for a while. A core group of us still communicate via texts.

I don’t use FB very much but a couple of years ago I discovered there was a page for gardening in our general area. I read occasionally, especially during the growing season. New gardeners especially are always looking for advice on how to do or grow something or for plant ID or diseases. Many are just showing their gardens or harvests or whatever. It’s how I found people who wanted iris rhizomes I was about to divide. We had a church parking lot meetup (it was central and not busy duringnthe week) and I received a bag of beautiful peppers and a jar of apple butter from 2 ladies in exchange. I called that a win-win. I’ll use this method again when I divide some other things.

The decline started way before AI came on the scene.

And pretty sure people aren't going to access when they have no idea these boards even exist.

If you google a garden topic, related comments on GW/Houzz will appear. That's how these boards are accessed!

Seems to me that the inactive forums should not be deleted, but rather archived - that is, laid to rest, but still accessible to search & read.

That's a good point, carolb.

HOUZZ's merge killed many of the previously used Garden Web forums. I too was drawn by garden forums. When the merge happened and the rules of use and how to use the form changed many left and went elsewhere. That was YEARS before AI, COVID, whatever outside force you want to blame. Also sadly many orginal posters who were retired gardeners have aged out and that is just part of life. Sometimes when you are loyal to one and new comes along followers don't make the transition. There are years of expertise posted and chances are anyone who trips upon these sites has a question that has been answered many times over. The best practise advise is just not going to change in many cases. New hybrids come along for sure and help many issues but in the end the plant world doesn't change as quickly as the decorating world does. Use the search feature you will get to all your questions.