The World's 100 Best Gardening Websites

By Alex N

Finally, we have our list!  The world's top 100 gardening websites.  It's  been a journey to the far corners of the internet.  And we really couldn't have done this without the help of gardening enthusiasts and experts alike across the globe.  Firstly - a big thankyou goes to the many readers who wrote in pledging sites and suggestions over the last few weeks.  We have looked at all of them.  And included many of them.  Those of you who read our first post will remember that we started with 50, and have now reached 100 based on the input of our incredible community of gardening geeks out there.

We see this as an organic process (of course!), so rather settling for a fixed end result, we'd like to continue to collect gardening websites; to continue to nurture and update our list.   There will undoubtedly be some sites we have missed, and with your help and comments on this post, we will continue to keep adding and refining over time.

Deep Breath.  And here you are.  100 of the world's greatest gardening websites with a little write up and a link through to each of them so you can browse for yourselves.  As a reminder, we came up with a scoring system based on unique visitors to the website, design, content provision, rankings by Google and a sprinkling of personal recommendation and subjectivity.  As ever comments and nominations, outrage that you're not included, and gentle reminders of hidden treasures  we've missed - are all welcome and digested.

How to Recommend Great Gardening Websites:   To recommend yours, or a great gardening website you know- please use the comments box below, and simply provide us with a brief description of why the website should be included, with a link .

 



66 Square Feet
66 Square Feet is  blog about a garden on a tiny terrace in Brooklyn, New York.  The writing by Marie Viljoen is unusually thoughtful and is about gardening but also about food, and nature in New York City.  It was recently featured in an article in the New York Times, where we noticed it. It's mainly in this list (above other similar style of blogs) because of its simplicity.  A unique insight into gardening in one of the world's most recognised cities, and good looking photographs.



A Garden Maker’s Notes
Maria von Brincken’s blog.  Maria is a New England Garden Designer who has written several books and documents her work via this blog.  The blog isn't anything too special in terms of design, but she does a good job at documenting in detail the thought processes behind why she's designing in the way she does.  And illustrates with down-to-earth language and good before and after shots.  Another site that doesn't try too hard, it just does what it says on the tin.



Allotment
Probably the most popular allotment (or veg growing/homesteading if you’re across the pond) website in the UK. Old school style of loads of community action and content.



Away to garden
This entire site is written and maintained by Margaret Roach. Margaret is one of the few gardeners/horticulturalists who also loves technology. It shows. In her own words "I love technology, and particularly the platform called WordPress, and I consult with a few select clients a year to help them enjoy the digital medium as much as I do". Margaret has been writing about gardening for over 25 years. So she knows her stuff. Greatsite.
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BBC Gardening
Well it's the BBC isn't it. It's well done, thorough. The plant finder's brilliant - as is the blog. Informative, and written by some stella people. To find criticism - it's a little conventional. Nothing wrong with that I hear you say? Perhaps not. We like it. Though please update/clear out some of your older pages. Some legacy stuff is clearly hanging around that shouldn't be
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Ben's Garden
Ben's stance on gardening is refreshing, unique and from the heart.  It's a good read, quite dry and witty, and also touches on the politics of the horticultural industry.  Ben also weaves cleverly the political agenda with current affairs, and a down-to-earth observation on the life of a real gardener.



Biobees
True gardeners are likely to care deeply about the bees. And Phil Chandler's site, Biobees, is the web destination for anyone interested in natural beekeeping. Natural beekeeping is where you keep bees really for their sake, and honey is a nice by-product (as opposed to keeping bees as a honey factory). This site has enormous traffic. Definitely one to watch. Check out MyGardenSchool's natural beekeeping online course.
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Black Walnut Dispatch
Mary Gray’s amusing musings on all things gardening & design.  What's interesting about this blog is that Mary gardens under half dozen or so Black Walnut trees that grow in or adjacent to her garden — trees that are difficult to garden under, but which are also very beautiful.  Some interesting insights on tricky spaces.  Quite funny too.



Blogging from The Blackpitts
This blog is one of the lynchpins of the British gardeneratti.  It's pithy, easy to read, been around since 2006 and deserves its place in the top 100 for all of these reasons - as well as being a fun take on James Alexander Sinclair's garden design exploits.  Alexander-Sinclair also proclaims that both gardening and sex are completely wasted on the young. That's for you to decide.



Blotanical
Blotanical is one of the only gardening websites (apart from www.my-garden-school.com) that can honestly live up to its claim of serving a global audience. It's a true gem of the online gardening community - a gardening portal for bloggers, where you can meet gardening bloggers from Japan to Jersey. It also always has daily activity, more sites joining, and more avid gardening bloggers commenting and welcoming them to the virtual world of gardening enthusiasts. One minor thought - you've been promising version 2 - coming soon - for about a year now! Cmon Blotanical - we love you so can't wait much longer for V2



Cold Climate Gardening
This site is part blog part website, and is a lynchpin of the gardening sites on the web. It's run by veteran American blogger, Kathy Purdy, Cold Climate Gardening is a must-read for anyone finding the UK’s miserable weather a serious hindrance. It seems to make itself relevant in fact for anyone in a cold climate, with a sustainable in-depth knowledge of plant species, and a tasty mix of commercial and academic articles.
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Crocus
I was one of Crocus's earliest customers. I have to say they have never failed me. And it's many years I've been ordering plants from Crocus now. They have a really good selection, know their stuff about plants, and always deliver on what they promise. Yes they are slightly more premium pricing than if you went to the garden centre - but frankly have a better selection than many, and also - if you're 'time poor' and live rurally like I do - I'm happy to pay for the convenience (and excitement!) of having my plants delivered. What more could you want. Best pure play internet plant retailer on the web in my opinion. When are you going global Crocus?!



Dave's Garden
Dave's Garden is one of the greatest and most visited gardening community sites in the world. It's site statistics (monthly) probably say it all. 2.8 Million Visits. 1.9 Million Unique Visitors. 12.8 Million Pageviews. 447,450+ Registered Members. 6,000 New Registrations Added. 149k+ Posts. DavesGarden.com attracts over 2 million passionate enthusiasts, the opinion and thought leaders in the gardening category, each month who generate over 12 million pageviews.



David Austin Roses
David Austin Roses is in here because they are simply the best rose growers in the world. And whilst the website nav has a bit to be desired if we're honest, this site is rich with information if you can find your way through. It's also trying really hard to be global. People love roses all over the world, and this undoubtedly has the potential to be the number one destination for rose lovers on the web. Keep it up David Austin. We're honoured to have Michael Marriott on our MyGardenSchool team, running the MyGardenSchool Online Roses Course.



Ecosystem Gardening
This is a good blog for anyone who wants to take their gardening to the next level. Its an approach to gardening in the context of an ecosystem, rather than the usual tactical approach of 'how tos' and 'top tips'.  A great site for those of you who care about the planet and making a small difference.



Eden Makers
Shirley Bovshow is a nationally recognized garden designer in the US - primarily because of her TV shows  - "Garden Police," (Discovery), HGTV & Youtube's "Gardens of Rich &Famous" Known as Eden Maker! This site kind of has everything in it - videos, makeovers, how-tos, before and afters.  You name it.  A good all American makeover site, to accompany the big personality of Shirley.



Edible Landscape Design
It's a nice thought this site.  The philosphy that growing veg and good looking landscape design for gardens can be combined.  They argue that in "typical" home landscaping, you spend time, energy, and money on plants, landscaping, chemicals, and maintenance ... for a yard that brings very little in return.  Very true.  This site is here to teach you how to increase your home's value, beauty, and curb appeal by landscaping with edible plants -- with lower food bills and a more healthful diet in return.  "Whether you have gardened for decades or are just starting out, you can create a lovely, polished edible landscape -- even in the front yard."  Seems like a good idea.



Fennel and Fern
Fennel and Fern is a blogging collective. A team of organic gardeners.   Good use of photography and technology - Daily updates, email updates.  They also publish blog posts from our readers in the Your Blogs section. And there’s an image a day which comes online every morning on their 365 blog.
Then there’s GardenGrab, which showcases blog posts from gardening blogs around the world. It’s an excellent way to find more gardening blogs, or to promote your own.



The Galloping Gardener
Charlotte Weychan, aka The Galloping Gardener has an interesting story behind her blog.  Like all the best blogs do.  But I'll let Charlotte share that with you.   Charlotte trots around the globe, seeking out and documenting gardens all over the world.  A lovely honest blog giving one of the best insights into 'garden trotting' on the web.  And very well written too.



Garden Amateur
I think Jamie is selling himself a little short with this title. Just some lovely observational blogging from his garden in Sydney Australia.  Attention to detail is good - and its always good humoured.  Worth popping by if you want to lift your spirits and to get a taste of gardening in Sydney for a few moments.



Garden Design
A stella garden design site which really represents the magazine (US)- but online. Covers a vast array of topics, ranging from garden design books, tours, holidays and planting advice



Garden Drum
A real gem this one.  Surfaced via comments on our first blog-post detailing the best 50 gardening websites in the world.  Again the antipidians are holding their own in this Olympic gardening website contest.    Well laid out, very well social networked, and bursting with juicy garden content, this site is written by some of the best gardening writers in Australia.  We were so impressed, that two of them have now teamed up with MyGardenSchool to begin reviewing our gardening courses.  Nice work.






Garden Guides
Garden Guides' mission is to be the best online resource for gardening enthusiasts. This of course is a well coveted space - but Its been around for many years, due to a good provision of gardening information, including gardening how-to's by top garden writers, plant fact sheets and guide sheets, seasonal tips and garden techniques, garden recipes, and more. In their words: "Garden Guides' crack team features gardening enthusiasts just like you, with differing shades of green thumbs from pale to dark green. Some of us barely maintain cacti, while others frolic in verdant gardens that are the envy of the neighborhood". A good all-rounder. Also check out the seed catalogue if you're US based.



Garden History Matters
Although probably not one of the most heavily trafficked of our sites, Garden History Matters is an important site. The mantra of Toby Musgrave who runs it, is "Listen up. Garden History Matters. It does and these are. The aim and hope of this blog is to 'up' the profile of this fascinating and diverse subject. And along the way to share some of the remarkable, quirky, bizarre and human stories that makes garden history so enjoyable"
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Garden NZ
Garden-NZ was set up in November 1999, and is now the largest garden website in New Zealand. Each week they talk to over 73,000+ gardeners who want information about gardening. Don't think just because you're not located there - you can't learn from this one. It's also well commercialised, with advertising (but not too intrusive), and good regular content updates
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Garden Organic
Although it's not the prettiest gardening site we like, Garden organic is one of the richest gardening sites in terms of truly useful content - especially when it comes to growing food. It has almost anything you might need to know - including a useful events diary. It's also a very active, and interactive site. You can feel a buzzing community, full of integrity. Rather than it just being a static site. It also has an attractive international feel about it.
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Garden Rant
Garden Rant is a blog really rather than a website (well what's the difference - surely a blog is a website - well yes er we'll tackle semantics later). Anyway - its full of spike and energy, with a healthy suspicion of the horticultural industry. The team of writers have opinions on everything and clearly have a raging passion for plants. It's fun, with earthy undertones of a deep understanding of true gardening and an earnest concern for our planet. There are four writers and its been heavily covered by the US media over the last few years. Nice n ranty on all manner of gardening topics.
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Garden.org
We like the focus on education the NGA has. The US is a world leader in this respect - and we particularly respect their approach to community gardening and organics. For more than 35 years, the National Gardening Association (NGA) has been working to renew and sustain the essential connection between people, plants, and the environment. As a nonprofit leader in plant-based education, their vision is to make available free educational plant-based materials, grants, and resources that speak to young minds, educators, youth and community organizations, and the general gardening public in five core areas; education, health and wellness, environmental stewardship, community. development, and home gardening. Worthy. We like.
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Gardeners Click
Gardeners click is one of the UK's web community gardening sites. (as in it's a community site; not for community gardens). It's well laid out, has a friendly lot on there and doesn't seem overly concerned with commercial stuff or industry politics which is nice.
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Gardeners World
Well presented site, with almost everything you could want - Although very UK focused. Things we particularly like are job of the week, and the feedback on the forums. Also the galleries. Things we're not so keen on - the funny fold down adverts - they're a bit intrusive. Overall though, very professional and a good visit for beginners through to pros.
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Gardening Enjoyed
Ken Brown shares all of his lifetime tips and experiences - and in his words.  "Visit this space often, the tips will change and accumulate, showing you what I'm doing now. I'll tell you what I'm doing as I, find some new and remember some old, tricks in my quest to squeeze all of my horticultural fantasies into a confined urban space."  Lots of good hardcore veggie tips.



Gardening Gone Wild
Gardening Gone Wild is the brainchild of Saxon Holt, Debra Lee Baldwin and Noel Kingsbury.  Informational, inspirational shared blog of garden authors, broadcasters and photographers.  Their intent is to inspire, inform and facilitate  readers to experiment, take risks, and go wild in the garden.  GGW focuses on design, photography, plants and personal insights. By sharing a passion for gardening, they hope to help others enjoy their gardens in creative and wild new ways. Occasional guest contributors hail from the heights of the gardening world. New magazine-quality posts appear on average every three days.  The site has a few broken links which could do with tidying up.  Great content, and world class contributors make you gloss over any techie issues.



Gardening with Angus
Horticulturalist Angus Stewart has been a presenter for ABC TV's ever popular Gardening Australia program for over 5 years.  Many gardening topics covered including Australian plants, edible gardens, general gardening, plant propagation, pests and diseases, waterwise gardening, wildlife in the garden and many others.  I was tempted in by an article on worm blankets..!



Gardenista
This gardening site is a little different from most.  It's completely done from the aesthetic and design perspective.  In fact the whole site, and even the language you feel is born more from interior designers than gardeners.  This means that the photography is beautiful, every detail is well thought out, and there's some stunning ideas and designer style garden thoughts eminating from here.   Born out of San Fransisco, New York, and London - it has that chic city feel about it too.



Gardenvisit
Gardenvisit.com was launched in the Dotcom Era (1998) by Tom Turner (MA, Dip LA, MLI), a landscape architect and garden historian based in London, UK. The Gardenvisit.com website was re-launched in 2007 with over 10,000 pages of text and 10,000 images . The site links information about places to information about garden and landscape design: history, philosophy, styles, construction, materials, design methods, planting and designers. The Garden Finder provides details of places to visit throughout the world, some in public ownership and others in private ownership. It's an academic site with a friendly style. And it's edited by Henry Turner (Tom's son) - who is a good guy.
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Gardenweb
It is GardenWeb boasts forums, garden exchanges, articles, contests, a plant database and some of the Web's largest garden-related glossary and online catalogs. It is also home to the Calendar of Garden Events, The Rosarian, Wild-Flowers and sister sites in Europe and Australia. Their aim is to provide the most comprehensive gardening site on the Web, "combining the creative use of interactivity with imaginative content and a user-friendly interface". A favorite section is gardening from seed and seed saving. GardenWeb serves more than 20 million page impressions a month to over one million visitors.
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Guerrilla Gardening
By some kind of serendipity I met Richard Reynolds 'The Guerrilla Gardener' before he set up Guerrilla Gardening. Weirdly he was working in advertising when I was working at eBay. Even then - we somehow struck up a conversation about gardening. He is a one off - totally engaging and passionate about changing the world through Guerrilla Gardening. And what you see is what you get - this a great site, and a fantastic example of how the internet can be used to bring vast communities of like minded gardeners together to change the planet. Guerrilla Gardening is waging a war of stealth against the neglect of public space as a place to grow plants. Here, you can learn about the art of seedbombing, get involved with illicit gardening projects in your community and read about the admirable people defying the status quo (in a nice way) across the globe and planting up any patch of orphaned land they can find. Definitely up there with the best gardening websites in the world
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Guiaverde
Do you speak Spanish?  If you do this is a great site.  It covers all topics green, and has a directory of over 8000 gardening companies contributing.  Also some pretty cool iconography for a gardening site.   Target audience is mostly Spain and Portugal, but if you're a Spanish speaker, lots of good stuff here (especially products)



HenandHammock
A stylish, eco-friendly gardening retail site.   You get the feeling of being in a really well cared for one off boutique shop in this website.  Some cool stuff too.  Great for presents



Hillier
The Hillier Garden Centre website has quietly been making great strides for garden centre websites. In general, garden centres can be a little behind the pack in terms of online retail. But this one championed by Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal winner Andy McIndoe, is embracing innovation fast, and definitely one to watch. Also of course Andy does several first class MyGardenSchool courses (shrubs, trees, lawns), as does Hillier's Pip Bensley (gardenng with climbers and clematis).
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iGarden
Deirdre Mowat’s website & blog about plants to grow in Sydney.  Here she shares her enthusiasm and interests in gardening. This is more than just about plants: it's also about the people involved in gardening; their books and gardens; planting schemes; choosing appropriate plant types; colour selection... There is plenty to think and read about in iGarden with a focus on the plants Deirdre knows best and those that do especially well in her garden in Sydney



Ink and Penstemon
This is a gardening blog rather than a pure website. We like it though. And we make the rules of this list - so it's in! Observations on plants and gardening from the Great Basin steppe in the American West. Regular posting, a loyal following and great plant knowledge.
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International Garden Photographer of The Year
International Garden Photographer of the Year is the world's premier competition and exhibition specialising in garden, plant, flower and botanical photography.  A beautiful site - great for exploring if you like garden photography.  Worth entering too.



Jekka's Herb Farm
One of our regular readers described Jekka's site as "full of Fabulous Herbyness".  We agree.  Actually its one of the highest quality specialist gardening websites we've come across globally.  AND there's an online shop.  Can't praise this one highly enough.  Secretly we'd like to entice Jekka to become a MyGardenSchool tutor.  *Adds to  A Listers*.



John Brookes
John Brookes' website doesn't do justice to the volume of incredible design work he's achieved over several decades. This is just a taster for what one of the world's most acclaimed garden designers is capable of. We are also privileged to have John as a MyGardenSchool tutor for our Garden Design Course
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Kew
If you haven't visited the new 18-metre-high Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway, you can experience a virtual peep on the Kew website. Other features include web pages of Kew's 19 science teams (the Madagascar page is worth visiting for the baobab trees), details of the 70,000 plant specimens in spirit and Decimus Burton's 4,880-sq-metre Temperate House from 1860. It's not a bad site at all for gathering information and navigation too - a good events calendar and regularly updated. They've also go their social networking act together quite nicely and have a good gardening app, as gardening apps go.
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Kitchen Gardeners International
Now this is a nice little site. Another truly international one. They are a nonprofit community of 24,000 people from 100 countries who are "growing our own food and helping others to do the same." An online community for people who love food that’s seeking to empower them to practice self-reliance through the advancement of kitchen gardens, and sustainable food systems. Kitchen Gardeners International features forums, recipes, blogs and the ability for people to gather on a local level--either online or in person--for the exchange of information, networking, goods, tools, and coordinate events. We Like
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Landscape Architects Network
This is a good quality network site for landscape architects and garden designers. Aesthetically a beautiful site. It acts as a hub of information for the best Landscape Architects in the world. It shows how other design professions relate to Landscape Architecture, putting Landscape architecture at the centre of it all. Promoting events as media associates to various professional organisations. Promoting the significant, the bizarre and the wonderful all relating to Landscape Architecture.
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Landscape Juice
This one's for all you landscapers and designers out there. It's primarily a British site, a thriving community sharing all their voices, and tips to survive in these challenging times. Talking of Voices - it's run by Philip Voice. He's a goodun. Enjoys a good rant against the establishment from time to time which we like.
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Landshare
This is a great idea by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall (writes the River Cottage books/TV prog). Landshare brings together people who have a passion for home-grown food, connecting those who have land to share with those who need land for cultivating food. Since its launch through River Cottage in 2009 it has grown into a thriving community of more than 55,000 growers, sharers and helpers. It’s for people who: Want to grow their own fruit and veg but don’t have anywhere to do it. Have a spare bit of land they’re prepared to share. Can help in some way – from sharing knowledge and lending tools to helping out on the plot itself. Support the idea of freeing up more land for growing. Are already growing and want to join in the community.
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Little Green Fingers
A great blog, especially if you're running a busy life with kids.  Dawn Isaacs also writes for The Guardian.  It's charming and down to earth, and there are some good gardening nuggets in there too.  Dawn manages to gently advise without being patronising - and at the same time her passion for both children and gardening shine through



Longwood Gardens
A fascinating blog from the famous Pennsylvania garden.  Take a look at some of the posts on lights in the garden and garden photography.  A personal look at the ideas, inspiration and down-in-the-dirt hard work that goes into producing the horticultural displays for one of the premier gardens in the US



Midnight Brambling
This is the blog of Lia Leendertz who is the garden writer for The Guardian’s Weekend magazine.  Lia lives in Bristol, has an 80-ft garden and an allotment.  Unsurprisingly this blog is beautifully written.  It's sort of cosy, and envelops you into its world as you read it.  A lovely insight into the world of a gardener and writer.



My Urban Deco Garden Guide
Recommended to us by Garden Author and MyGardenSchool Tutor, Caroline Tilston who says it's her absolute favourite for inspiration.  All the cutting edge, top of the range exciting ideas that make gardens so magical.  Excellent for cool product ideas.



Lovethegarden
Lovethegarden is a brand driven site. It's nicely presented - and very product focussed. In their words: "As lawn and garden experts, we're dedicated to providing you with the best products and advice from the leading brands in garden care.
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MyGardenSchool
That’s us. The world's first virtual gardening school.
MGS Homepage (2)


National Gardening Association of America
Very well written and organised site, simply written in a progressive and non patronising way. For more than 35 years, NGA has been a trusted source of free information for gardeners and educators. NGA's mission is to To promote home, school, and community gardening as a means to renew and sustain the essential connections between people, plants, and the environment.
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Nigel Dunnett
Nigel Dunnett states two areas he covers on his website 1)  Planting as an art form: ecologically-tuned, aesthetically aware. And 2)  Planting as an essential: creating healthy cities and liveable places.  Having seen Nigel's work this is one site we couldn't leave out.  And he was responsible for the Olympic 2012 plantings - so half the planet practically know him.  It's certainly a high impact website.  Worth reading if you're interested in academics as well.


Noel Kingsbury
Noel Kingsbury's site oozes character through its writing. He's undoubtedly one of the world's most acclaimed gardening writers (having written countless books on gardening and horticulture), but we've not chosen Noel's website just because of this. Or because he's a MyGardenSchool tutor either (Perennial Planting Course). But he's the only person we've come across who manages to pull off a quirky 'gardening soap blog' and also because his scientific approach to gardening, combined with an artistic eye, gives us a gratifying academic slant on a subject that is too often trivialised.
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North American Native Plant Society
An academic style gardening website full of cultivation, events, conservation, sources.  NANPS is a volunteer-operated registered charitable organization concerned with preserving native plant habitat in wild areas and restoring indigenous flora to developed areas



Otter Farm
Otter Farm is a very good read, lots of plants and references to 70′s music.  It has an incredible charm - mostly because of the familial writing style of Marc Diacono



Oudolf
We couldn't not mention Piet Oudolf's website. Even though the site itself is pretty minimalist, the work of this plantsman is so sought after, that the site is visited by 1000s looking for a glimpse of some of Piet's work. A very visual site.
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Perennial Meadows
Perennial Meadows is in here for a number of reasons - (inspite of Michael King being one of our latest MyGardenSchool tutors - running an online course on planting with grasses). We like this site because Michael is one of the leading lights in horticulture who is pioneering sharing his work on ebooks. He also has a pretty good blog, which gives us a good insight into planting, especially from a Dutch perspective
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Plant Heritage
Plant Heritage is the world’s leading garden plant conservation charity. Formerly known as the National Council for the Conservation of Plants & Gardens (NCCPG), Plant Heritage brings together the talents of botanists, horticulturalists and conservationists and the dedication of keen amateur and professional gardeners.



Planting for the Planet
This site is one of the most progressive on planting I've seen. It really looks at the macro picture of gardens in relation to the rest of the planet. Thoughtful, insightful articles with masters such as Piet Oudolf and Mien Ruys. The site itself is also beautiful. Most gardening sites are somewhat more shambolic, or at most pretty, but not as well designed and well thought out as this one. Features great videos and masterly photography. If you haven't been - I can't recommend it enough for inspiration. A must visit for all wannabe garden designers.
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Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
If you're British - and into gardening, you can't ignore the RHS (if you're not - you've probably never heard of them - but definitely worth a poke around if you're in a cold climate). The Royal Horticultural Society. Despite a bit of a crusty reputation (many people are doing a good job at convincing me this is on the change), they do some great stuff. And actually I'm not sure the website always reflects some of the greatness going on. The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK's leading gardening charity whose purpose is to promote horticulture and gardening. While aimed at gardeners in the UK the site offers blogs and forums, articles, and an amazing database of plants that any gardener can take advantage of.
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Sarah Raven
Sarah Raven has grown in popularity, especially with UK gardeners over the last few years. Sarah became well known after writing several gardening books and also for holding course at her farm in East Sussex and around the country. Most people I know admire her style in planting design, and choice of plants in particular. Although not always the best value, her e-commerce and catalogue sales also have a good reputation.
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Sea of Immeasureable Gravy
Irreverent, and very funny.  Not always about gardening.  But definitely worth a read



Shoot Gardening
Shoot Gardening is a thriving community, essentially of planties and gardening enthusiasts who have access to a huge plant database. Here you can problem solve all your plant woes - customers can basically identify a plant, and receive information on when and how to prune and propagate it. They build up a personal list of plants and refer online to their own month-by-month programme of what they should be doing in their garden. A neat idea - and founder Nicola Gammon is conscientious about looking after customers and has an increasing presence in the gardening social network sphere
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Silver Tree Daze
Nigel Colborn’s blog has been described as "wonderfully grumpy (if intermittent)".  It is just that.  But there are eloquent promises this week of a return.  Yey!  And he listens to Brahms and has beautiful photography.



Sprig
Sprig is a group of South African Garden Lovers.   This is a gardening blog run by some enthusiastic amateurs from Durban.  There's a keen interest in indigenous gardening, permaculture and growing your own food, and think they share a philosophy of sustainability.  Good if you're also interested in other types of gardening, nature and environmental issues, and they encourage you to share your experiences, knowledge and information on the blog



StudioG
A stylish looking blog - it has a professionalism about it, and a thoughtful aristan layout that so many websites and blogs fail to achieve.   Some great before and after shots - you really get a feel through the photography what the designers could do for you.  Studio ‘g’ is a daily website dedicated to garden and landscape design run by Boston-based writer, Rochelle Greayer. Launched in July 2008, Studio ‘g’  has been voted ‘best garden design blog’ at the US 'Mouse and Trowel' awards.  What's important about this website too though - is that it's daily.  So many are sporadic.  A stylish, dependable site - we want more of you please!



Talking Plants
Tim Entwisle’s intelligent and entertaining views on life at RBG Kew.  Tim writes about gardens he travels to as well.  An entertaining read.   He's worked as a senior manager in botanic gardens for over 20 years and is now Director of Conservation, Living Collections and Estates at Royal Botanic Gardens,



The Eden Project
The Eden Project is the website for the incredible work that goes on down in that big bubble in Cornwall, England.  All sorts happens there - maybe more than you think.  Not just the gardens,   As well as creating stunning gardens and laying on fantastic arts and music events, much of their energy goes into: running transformational social and environmental projects around the world, creating unforgettable learning experiences for students, doing valuable research into plants and conservation and they are leading edge in 'green' ops for the site.



The Enduring Gardener
Stephanie Donaldson is quite a hero of the organic gardening world - and this is her well kept blog. Stephanie is gardening editor to Country Living magazine, as well as being a contributor to many other mags, a prolific writer of many world class books (including one with Prince Charles) and she's also a MyGardenSchool tutor for the Organic Gardening Course. This is a friendly blog, with and intellectual feel about it.
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The Garden Museum
Three exhibitions each year explore the making of British gardens, and a programme of over 30 talks and interviews celebrates heroes and heroines from the forgotten plant-hunters and gardeners of the past to the designers and writers in fashion today.This website gives you a glimpse into the uniquely British love affair with gardens - but really it's a trailblazer for the museum which is worth a visit.
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The Garden Network
A good community site if you want to meet other gardeners. The Garden Network has been described as "...a networking website that looks set to become the 'Facebook' of the Horticulture world." I'm not sure this is true - as from what I can see - Facebook is actually doing a pretty good job at collecting horticultural and gardening pages and communities on its own! However I have a soft spot for The Garden Network, and Tim Matcham who runs it - is always a friendly emailer and willing to help you through the network if you need it.
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The Garden State
This blog's tagline says it all, "Keeping it rural on five acres in New Jersey." This blog is particularly interesting because the author is attempting to run a garden in the most population dense state in America.



The Gardening Blog
Life-long friends with two very different gardens. They claim to be novice gardeners (they have done some MyGardenSchool courses - so definitely aren't that novice now!) and through this blog share their gardening experiences with each other and anyone who cares to join them in “watching our gardens grow”. In their worrds:  "Young mothers in our late teens / early twenties, “corporate types” throughout our 30′s and then business owners in our 40′s, gardening is a brand new passion for us both".  In Real Life (IRL) Barbie and Christine are located in South Africa somewhere I think!.



The Guardian Gardening Blog
This site is the gardening blog for The UK's Guardian Newspaper.   Includes quality photos, plant of the week, and an allotment blog.  Always good for seasonal interest and good links to cooking too.   Also inculdes a gardening club, gardening advice, organic gardening and much more



The Horticultural Channel
The Horticultural Channel.tv is a television micro-channel which is broadcast on Sky, Freesat and available to watch on this website. Broadcast on Sundays at 9:00am. They are currently attracting approximately 100,000 viewers per episode. Programmes can also be downloaded via iTunes. The Horticultural Channel focuses on amateur gardeners and allotment holders throughout the UK. Giving practical advice on how to grow vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers plus how to attract wildlife into your garden.
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The International Plant Names Index
OK so this is a true heavyweight. IPNI is the product of a collaboration between The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium. It's a The International Plant Names Index (IPNI)- a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes. Its goal is to eliminate the need for repeated reference to primary sources for basic bibliographic information about plant names. The data are freely available and are gradually being standardized and checked. IPNI will be a dynamic resource, depending on direct contributions by all members of the botanical community. Nice
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The Landscape Institute
A Valuable Reference,  Chartered Membership of the LI is internationally recognised as a badge of excellence.
Membership benefits include the Institute's award-winning journal, Landscape; recruitment services, and above all, the opportunity to join a profession which shapes all our futures.



The National Trust
Though not strictly gardening, they do have some fantastic gardens.  If you're in the UK sniffing about for luscious gardens to visit - definitely pop by the site.



The Oxford College of Garden Design
This site is the sister site to MyGardenSchool. The Oxford College of Garden Design is widely regarded as one of the top contemporary garden design schools in the world. Thepostgraduate level garden design diploma course is internationally renowned and one of the only garden design courses in the world to benefit from video based lectures, allowing students to revisit lessons on-line time and again.
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The Real Seed Company
Brilliant for Unusual Seeds.  This is a catalogue of heirloom and heritage vegetable seedsall specially chosen for the home gardener.   Over the past 15 years they've collected together what they think are the very best vegetable varieties in existence for the kitchen garden



The Seed Site
Webpages about seeds - collecting seeds, storing seeds, sowing seeds, germinating seeds and exchanging seeds, with pictures of seeds, seedpods and seedlings (and a bit of botany!)



The Society of Garden Designers
Good reference for Garden Designers.  Membership is international, but predominantly based in the UK



The Telegraph Gardening Blog
Great quality writing as you would expect from the Telegraph. A good source for gardening news, advice from experts and help on how to grow plants and vegetables.  Very British



ThinkinGardens
ThinkinGardens is what it says. It's for people who like to think a little bit. About gardens and gardening. By its own admission - it's a collection of challenging, entertaining and exciting garden writing, all contributed for free by some of our very best garden writers. It used to be funded by the RHS I believe. But more fool them - I think this is no more. A valuable site that should be supported. It's edited by Anne Wareham, who I don't think would mind me saying, isn't adverse to challenging the norm. Lots of refreshing food (and plants!) for thought here.
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Thompson and Morgan
Impressive fulfilment of seeds for US, UK, Canada and an impressive list of other international countries. Word on the street says, that Thompson and Morgan seeds have a higher germination rate than those bought locally.



Transatlantic Gardener
Graham Rice knows an awful lot about plants!  For the planties amongst you this is a must bookmark.  Full of credentials, and also full of facts - a fabulous blog for finding out about new treasures for your garden.



Treehugger
TreeHugger is one of the leading media outlets dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. Partial to a modern aesthetic, they strive to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information.  Doing a good job we say



UK Veg Gardeners
A fabulous community site for vegetable growers.  There are many many magazine gardening websites, but not so many really great community sites.  This is one of them.  A social network for vegetable gardeners in the United Kingdom.  Definitely worth a visit if you want a firstclass vegetable growing website.



United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
A huge plants database and a huge image gallery.  We like huge.  American.  Obviously.



Vegplotting
Vegplotting was pointed in our direction as one of the 'Queen of the Blogs'.  Excellent.  It lives up to its name.



Victoria's Backyard
Nice City Blog.  A subtropical suburban oasis in Wandsworth, South-West London Designed to defy the Depredations of global warming, garden pests and kides without recourse to carbon emissions, chemicals or crainial damage



You Grow Girl
We love this site. And it's good looking It breaks away from all the stereotypical gardening Q and A stuff that is traditionally churned out on many more traditional gardening websites. You Grow Girl™ was launched by Gayla Trail in February 2000 and has grown into a thriving online community that speaks to a new kind of gardener, seeking to redefine the modern world relationship to plants. This contemporary, laid-back approach to organic gardening places equal importance on environmentalism, style, affordability, art, and humour
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Urban Organic Gardener
We thought it was important to include a city gardener in this list, and as well as Alex Mitchel Mitchell our London expert. lUrban Organic Gardener is the brainchild of Brooklyn native Mike Lieberman. Mike gives practical container gardening tips to grow your own food so you can avoid toxic pesticides, eat more healthily and not feel limited by your lack of experience and space. As an individual who had no previous gardening experience or training, he's been able to turn the little space in and around his apartments into vegetable gardens. On his 2×3 fire escape in New York City, he was able to grow cherry tomatoes, peppers, kale, swiss chard, lettuces, oregano, mint and more. Since then he moved to Los Angeles and now has a 13×4 balcony garden where he gets a steady supply of non-chemically treated greens. A great blogsite to forage around for inspiration, and Mike will answer questions personally if you comment. Mike also has over 28 thousand facebook followers.
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Urban Gardens Web
Urban Gardens, is an award-winning and Webby-nominated green lifestyleand design blog, one of the best online resource for design enthusiasts craving innovative, eco-friendly designs, trends, and ideas for limited spaces







Alex N

I'm passionate about online learning, and lucky enough to work for Learning with Experts. Most recent course: The Pie Shop with River Cottage's Tom Morrell. Next course: Container Gardening with Chris Beardshaw.

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