New Gardening Blogs – A Follow Up

/ David Marsden

Thank you to everyone who helped in my call to find New Gardening Blogs.  Frankly, I wasn’t expecting much of a response and so the flood of replies took me by surprise – overwhelmed me, actually.  I’ve spent virtually all of my limited Allotted Blogging Time responding to comments and emails; visiting each of the blogs and commenting on most.  The standard of writing, photography and presentation is generally, reassuringly, excellent and we needn’t fear that garden blogging is waning.

Personally, I don’t think it is waning but I mention it in response to a comment left by Carolee, the author of Herbal Blessings Blog: “When I began my blog a bit over a year ago … the common attitude of the Garden Writers of America members was that garden blogging was dying … being replaced by Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram“.

In my experience of blogging, social media and fielding increasing enquiries from companies wanting me to review their products or host Amazing Advertising Opportunities, that view isn’t one I share.  I use Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter myself, Facebook too, and they provide an easy, quick way of sharing images, ideas or blog-links.  But I see them as an add-on to The Anxious Gardener rather than its eventual replacement, even if many of their users don’t ever read blogs.   Unless we are content only to look briefly at pictures, or engage with content for seconds at a time (we’re not, are we?) I don’t agree that social media is killing off blogging.

If some blogs disappear or wither as their writers drift away, there is a steady stream of new bloggers taking their place and in increasing numbers too.*  Clearly, there is still a vibrant interest in both writing and reading gardening blogs. The reaction to my previous post helps illustrate that, I think: I published my post two weeks ago at 6.30pm and by midnight my blog’s 10 month-old, daily views record was broken; and that new record was smashed on the following day.  New Gardening Blogs is currently my sixth most viewed post (out of 312, written over six years) and by far the most commented on.  With such a reaction to just one post, I’d suggest that if garden blogging is dying, the poor thing is suffering an interminable, and impossible to discern, demise.

I received about forty blog ‘entries’ which was marvellous … if problematic.  My original intention had been to highlight perhaps two or three new blogs but I now realise – obviously – that to do so would introduce an element of competition, ranking even, where none was intended nor wanted.

Far better to present a list of the blogs for you to explore.  There are all sorts here, on a range of subjects including: allotments, small urban spaces, large country gardens, garden design and indoor growing too; whilst some cover broader themes with an occasional gardening post.  I’m sure you’ll find something to your taste … and when you do, please say so in the author’s comment box.  Like most of us, new bloggers need every bit of encouragement.

Here are the blogs (roughly in submission order):

  1. Gardening On The Edge – A derelict farmyard; a disused railway line; a dilapidated canal tunnel and a whole lot of exquisite ruination
  2. Amateur Plantsman –The adventures of a gardener who wants to grow something out of the ordinary
  3. Old Vicarage Gardeners –A country house and garden blog
  4. The Propagator Blog – The propagator, my plant obsession
  5. Herbal Blessings Blog – Growing and harvesting a bounty of blessings in my potager
  6. The Restraint of Plants – A brand new blog
  7. Jenny Ruth Yasi – Adventures in marriage
  8. A Coastal Plot – Gardening and family life by the sea
  9. Garetnstreifzug – Garden and nature
  10. Half A Garden – Urban gardening on a diminished scale
  11. The Indoor Vegetable Garden – Says it all, really
  12. Modern Veg Plot – Documenting my adventures in growing edibles
  13. The Chatty Gardener – Love gardening?  I do
  14. The Renaissance Gardener – Making a garden in SW France and much more
  15. Etilth – Plant love/Container design
  16. The Quest For Veg – Adventures in allotment gardening
  17. Lou J Nicholls – Horticulturist, Blogger, Photographer
  18. The Temperate Gardener – Roots to growing success
  19. Lakeshore Garden – My gardening journey
  20. Old Dog New Tricks – Getting up close and personal with my garden
  21. New Garden Blog – A new back garden, blogged
  22. Sally’s Garden Blog – My thoughts as I garden and design
  23. Growing Together – The continuing adventures of the Allotment Virgins
  24. Glebe House – My week to week gardening diary
  25. Jane Harries Garden Designs – Professional postal garden designs
  26. Dogwood Days – Life and the Garden
  27. Rose Cottage Jottings – A gardening blog – mostly
  28. Views From My Garden Bench – Adventures, pints of Pimms and life in the North
  29. Our Little Field – Little adventure into permaculture and organic vegetable growing
  30. By Nature – Notes from a besotted gardener
  31. Leaves From My Garden – Pages from the books of Helen Cronin
  32. Mud And Gluts – Allotmenteering in suburbia
  33. The Garden Gate Is Open – Garden visiting
  34. Pulling Weeds – A gardener writes…
  35. Elementa Garden Design – Garden design for contemporary living

And here are even more garden blogs added to this post after it was first published:

  1. The Green Fingered Blog – Garden ideas, advice and inspiration
  2. Aimless Gardening – A gardening blog by Tim Barton
  3. Thomas Stone – A gardening blog by Thomas Stone
  4. Next Square Metre – A garden of hectares begins beneath one’s feet
  5. Garden 4 Dinner – Organic, frugal, and automated gardening
  6. Carrots and Calendula – A family gardening blog
  7. Sofia’s Country Gardens – Cottage Gardens in south of Finland
  8. The Belmont Rooster – A blog about gardening plus a little more
  9. Peaches and Cream Hobby Farm – Gardening in an urban neighbourhood
  10. Paper Garden Journal – Backyard garden adventures in suburban Philadelphia
  11. Thinking Outside The Boxwood – tips and how-do basics from Columbus, Ohio
  12. Sweet Gum And Pines – gardening in the North Carolina piedmont
  13. Hot Pepper In The City – The life of a hot pepper in the Second City.
  14. Home Organic PH – Find a home+organic in Bacolod City, the Phillipines

(I’ve omitted those recommendations for blogs which are already long-running and well-established).

Meanwhile, and in tandem to my list, the awfully clever John Kingdon has published an extensive directory of gardening blogs on The Rivendell Garden .  I don’t know how he did it … and even after he patiently explained how, I still don’t.  (But given my level of tech knowledge, he might as well have spoken in Klingon.  And perhaps he did).  In addition to well-known blogs, John has added all of the above – tallying up, at last count, a remarkable total of 105.  If your blog is not on his list but you would like it to be – ask him.  He’s a nice chap and rarely bites.

And lastly, if you write a gardening blog, you may be interested in @Gdnbloggers on Twitter (hashtag #Gdnbloggers) and its sister Facebook Page.  Both groups offer friendly support, information and also help in publicising your blog-posts to a wider audience.

Happy reading, happy writing.

*In my opinion.  I have no statistical evidence whatsoever to support this bald statement of fact but in a post-truth age that hardly seems to matter any more.

oooOOOooo

Postscript

I’m sorry but I have closed this post to new blog additions.  However, John at The Rivendell Garden is still adding new blogs to his directory – here.

94 thoughts on “New Gardening Blogs – A Follow Up”

  1. Hello, Mr Marsden! I’m new in organic gardening blogging (3 months), and I would always “search” for gardening blogs. Gratefully, I found your article, and now I have a list to pore over.
    I’ll be happy to be included in the list, thanks!. I’m from one of the islands in the Philippines, and I’m happy to share how we do organic gardening in this side of the world.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dave: I know you’re not updating your list any more but I’ve added this blog to the update list to my updates to my web site list. You know ……!

      At the time of writing this little note, though, (19 May – I became 63 today) the update slots are full thru to September, So that’s when it’ll appear on my web site. Hey ho. (I have a diversion now as the powers that be have decided that I need to be Chair of the South Wales Group of the HPS!)

      Liked by 2 people

      • Hi John, I was still updating my list but have now decided to close it to new comments (as we’re three months on). Big congratulations on your birthday, you youngster you, and to your elevation to power. Long may you reign. D

        Liked by 1 person

    • Sorry about that Andy and thanks for letting me know. I’ve amended the link (which was very fiddly on the little screen of my phone … but it seems to work!). Cheers, D

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  4. I wish I remember the rabbit hole that lead me to your site, but I landed her just as you published your first request for new garden blogs and returned to see this amazing response. Personally I am constantly looking to broaden my network of garden design friends and am enjoying checking out everyone listed. I agree with you that blogging is not dead, it continues to be a source of information and networking. Maybe a blog as a career is not as common now, but the ability to communicate and meet new people still the reason why we all blog. I will be a more frequent visitor in the future and look forward to all the new rabbit holes your site has created for me.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Those rabbit holes are fascinating aren’t they? Until you try and re-find them later, get hopelessly lost and find them infuriating. Glad you found your way back, Nick. I’ve added you to the list above. Best, Dave

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  5. Just wanted to say thank you for all the work compiling this list. I’m having so much fun working my way through it. I just started my gardening blog and would love to connect with other gardeners/bloggers who are gardening in similar conditions to mine. This list looks like a good place to start.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Pingback: Friday Favourites

  7. Very good post! I had two very successful blogs before, The Mystical mansion and Garden and The Belmont Rooster. Now, for the third time, I am working on The Belmont Rooster again. I have pages saved for over 400 different species and cultivars I have grown and am growing. Now I have to get them all back on the blog like before. Several thousand photos and over 400 pages! LOL! I am looking forward to continued research as the plant names are constantly changing as botanists, horticulturalists, etc. have been working hard to get the many species that are duplicates sorted out. I have changed some of the names of my plants three times! No doubt as The Plant List is continually updated I will have to change some of them AGAIN.

    I am looking forward to viewing the blogs on this post. Thanks for the list!!! There are so many new bloggers to follow now as I have been away for a while.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Thank you so much for putting together such a brilliant list of bloggers, great spending time looking though them. And very kind of you to include me with some brilliant bloggers

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Hi David, thanks for compiling this list. I look forward to reading all these blogs. I meant to reply to your earlier post, but school half term got in the way and am only just catching up. I recently started blogging at https://carrotsandcalendula.co.uk – very much a newbie with tiny traffic, so your tips are invaluable. Ciar (aka Seedy Mum)

    Liked by 2 people

  11. What a great list you’ve garnered here David, I’ve bookmarked it for some serious perusal when times are a little easier on the personal front.

    Way back when there was a group called ‘Blotanical’ which served as a world gardening blog directory and reached over 2,000 blogs before its demise. There were around 250 UK blogs on the list then, so I’m not surprised you and John have found so many new ones to join them.

    I’ve always thought of my blog as my ‘hub’ and I can’t see that changing despite all the talk of blogging’s demise. There will always be a role for blogging as a personal diary, no matter how many other forms of social media spring up. However, it’s been great to have Twitter et al. available to keep in touch with everyone whilst I’m on my blog break 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    • Hi Michelle, I remember Blotanical very well and it was a great help to me in finding other blogs and in also getting noticed as a new blogger. Something similar wouldn’t go amiss now, I reckon. But I remember thinking what a huge task it must have been for the guy who ran it (don’t remember his name). I nagged him quite often because I couldn’t get my personal info right. Hope I didn’t contribute to him walking away.

      Enjoy the reading, D

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      • I don’t remember Blotanical; must have been before my time (being comparatively young, obviously). But compared to its 250 UK blogs, if that’s an accurate count, the list I’m making (thanks largely to your efforts, D) will pass 130 tomorrow when I publish the latest update. If we can manage that many in, what, three weeks or less, then we should be able to exceed 250 by the end of March!

        I’m harvesting links from comments here (and I know you, D, are too).

        Or, to save D work, submissions welcome direct via my web site (http://rivendellgarden.uk/blogs.html), click the “contact me” button and enter any number of blog URL’s in the message box, one per line helps, (ok, I’m asking for contact details in case of query and to make sure you’re not a robot). It takes about 30-45 seconds to convert a URL to an entry on the list so no major impact for me if you send 10, 20 or 30 links in one message. It’s a “cup-of-coffee” thing.

        Shameless website plug and implied bragging about programming skills ends. 🙂

        Liked by 3 people

        • Yes, it was an accurate count John in so far as people had to sign up to join. I owe lots of good blogging times thanks to Blotanical, including raising over £1,300 for WaterAid when I opened my garden on the internet (think NGS, but in a virtual world) and organising the first ever garden bloggers get together at Malvern loosely based on the USA’s Garden Bloggers Fling format. I think this post, your list and the Garden Bloggers group is going a long way to replacing Blotanical, at least from a UK perspective.

          Liked by 2 people

    • Well, to be honest I might have thought twice if I’d known just how much work was involved! But actually it’s been fun and going by my stats there has been a lot of traffic going through to the recommendations. Which is great, Dave

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  14. I’m glad to see that there was such a positive response to your blog post asking for help in highlighting new gardening bloggers. I didn’t actually have the impression that gardening blogging was on the wane, but then WordPress is the only social media I use.

    Frankly, I would rather read a blog post than any other form of social media post 😊

    Liked by 3 people

    • Hi Helen, using WP only is quite an attractive idea. As much as I like some social media it can be very distracting and sometimes being too well connected can be a bind. D

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      • If you like social media then I guess it’s okay to have the ‘bind’. I ‘lost’ a lot of ‘friends’ when I disconnected from Facebook but if they can’t phone or visit me in person, do I really want them in my life?

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  15. A sudden spike in my blog traffic alerted me to your blog post. It really has made a difference to the number of visitors we’ve received. It’s lovely to feel that you’re not alone and that people are reading what your putting out there. So, thank you very much for what you’re doing. It is appreciated!

    Liked by 2 people

    • That’s great, Steve. I’ve noticed from my stats that clicks on blog-links are mostly for the blogs at the top of the list. Which is unfortunate for those lower down but I can’t see a way around it. All the best, Dave

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  18. Well done David. Clearly a good move to bring all these blogs together, it is much appreciated. I’m slowly going through the list reading what everyone is up to.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Great to hear that your post has generated such a response! There is something wonderfully reassuring about discovering that there are all these passionate garden people out there writing about what they love. My flirtation with Instagram and Twitter is over. I’ve realised that I’m much happier in the land of the blog, and you’ve helped show me why. Big thanks to you!

    Liked by 1 person

    • If you’re a new blogger, I’d suggest you carry on flirting with Twitter for a while. If nothing else, until you build up a decent regular following (which takes ages as both David and I have found) Twitter affords an easy way to publicise the fact that you’ve posted to your blog. Especially if you end the tweet with the hashtag #gdnbloggers.

      Liked by 2 people

      • Hi John, I’m actually a rather old blogger!( Both in terms of age and the fact that I’ve been doing it off and on for four years now!!) But I’ve been inspired by all the other hard working gardener/bloggers I’ve been discovering recently to take it a bit more seriously. I greatly appreciate your advice and will take a closer look at Twitter. I do automatically ‘tweet’ when I post (sounds unfortunate, doesn’t it!) but that’s about it. Your blog is an inspiration – I look forward to learning a lot more from you in the future!!

        Liked by 1 person

        • Hi Jane, sound advice from John (as flipping always). I don’t use Twitter anywhere near as much as some but it is an easy publicising tool. As for Instagram, I’ve only just joined and have noticed a trickle of traffic coming from it but compared to Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter it’s hardly noticeable. Were I to recommend one social media platform it would probably be Twitter for the reasons John gives. Good luck with whichever manner of flirting appeals the most and your blog of course. Best Dave

          Liked by 1 person

  21. Thanks so much for including mudandgluts on the list. My blog may look older than it is, but that’s because I imported all my older diary entries so I had everything in one place.

    I’m looking forward to going through the list – I can see I’ll spend all my evenings reading blogs (including yours!) and not sowing seeds!

    Liked by 1 person

    • No problem, Beryl. I did add a note about the true age of your blog but deleted it after realising it looked officious. It doesn’t much matter if your blog is a little older than others. Nice blog btw! Dave

      Liked by 1 person

  22. As a relatively new blogger ( two years and then a relaunch with WordPress this year ) I have followed the advice Helen from The Patient Gardener, gave me, to read other blogs and leave comments to build a following. This of course takes time. I now have a list of other new blogs to explore. Thank you for allotting the time to do it, as a successful blogger it would of been easier for you just to concentrate on your own.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Brian, I was saying to Christina below that a post on my blogging experience with tips on building an audience might be a suitable follow-up piece to this new blogs idea. But I’ll have to defer that for the time being. Helen is, of course, right but then she is a very wise woman. If you transferred from Blogger to WordPress, moving all your posts too as I did, I doff my cap to you. I know it isn’t a particularly easy process. Or so I found. Dave

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    • Thanks Julieanne and for the link too. I’ve suggested that they want to be included in the above list (I asked only because one or two people who contacted me asked not to be). Dave

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  24. Thanks so much for the mention, Dave. It’s a magnanimous gesture that I’m sure is appreciated by everyone, especially the bloggers just starting out. I’ve found blogging to be hugely rewarding in terms of making connections, learning stuff and being inspired. It’s certainly not on its way out if we’re all anything to go by 🙂 Hope you’re having a good week – there are many early signs of spring out there. Yippee.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Sam, I’m afraid yours was one which missed out when I abandoned my original plan of ‘highlighting’ a couple of blogs. I’ll really liked A Coastal Plot and wish you every success.

      The ‘sudden’ switch from mid-winter to spring always, always catches me by surprise with the resultant sense of barely concealed panic. Dave

      Liked by 1 person

  25. I’ll check out all those on your list Dave. I have already looked at a few already listed when I first read your post. I commented but non have returned the compliment. Perhaps new bloggers don’t realize that they need to read and comment too!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Hi Christina, I did wonder about doing a post about starting a blog with some tips that worked/works for me. But I think that will have to wait for a while. I’m afraid I don’t read and comment on other blogs as much as I used to or would like – something I’m very conscious of but have little spare time to remedy. Dave

      Liked by 1 person

      • We all have times when we don’t have time but if people put forward their blog addresses on you post and then can’t be bothered to respond or visit the commenters blog then they will never grow their blog if that is their intention.

        Liked by 1 person

        • I’m also a little surprised that I didn’t always get a response to a comment left elsewhere. We’re all different though and these ‘rules’ aren’t always self-evident nor written in stone but I agree that for newbies networking is very important, vital even. D

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  26. Thanks so much for the mention David…(By Nature: Notes from a Besotted Gardener). It must have been quite the undertaking, especially coming around now, when the garden is starting to need more attention. Really great to be amongst some people whose blogs I already enjoy, and others whose work I’m looking forward to exploring : )

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Jo, yep it has been a lot of work. The post was ready to go a few days ago but I then realised that just a list of blog-names wasn’t that helpful, so I added a brief description too and that took me a long time to do manually. Anyway, too much information – enjoy your tour of new blogdom and your continuing blogging too. Dave

      Liked by 1 person

  28. Just read over your recent blog and would like to join the chorous thanking you for your efforts to help us newbies. I now have a massive list to sift through, like you I think it will take a little time, Thanks again David.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Sadly not – the owners might be a little miffed if I started showing visitors round either garden. (Though The Priory was approved by the NGS a few years ago. But for various reasons – which I won’t bore you with – we decided against). Sorry but let me know if you ‘do’ any NGS in this part of the world. I might come and join you. Dave

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    • Phew. You WERE speaking Klingon after all and there was me thinking I was thick (my conclusion doesn’t need a response, thanks).

      Dave

      p.s. using dialects is, actually, just showing off, John.

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