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Answers to the question: Who are the most influential garden bloggers?
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Little did I know when I posted the question “Who are the most influential garden bloggers?” what a diverse response I would get. I received dozens of emails and comments here at Examiner as well as at my personal blog, Bumblebee.
I posed the question as a way to begin a dialogue about the influence garden bloggers have on their readers. I wondered if garden bloggers can influence people to buy particular products, for example, take up an environmental cause or rip out their front lawns and replace them with native plants.
My purpose was not to host an awards competition, since that ground is extremely well-covered by the Mouse & Trowel awards, hosted by Colleen Vanderlinden at In the Garden Online, and the new awards competition at Blotanical, the garden blog directory and community. And the question was not intended to identify the most “popular” blogger or the person who has networked and made the most friends online.
In fact, there are some small handful of people who say they have been influenced by garden bloggers.
The one blogger who was identified as having “influence”—as the original question asked—was Pam Penick, who blogs at Digging. Pam gardens and works in landscape design in Austin, Texas. Several bloggers said that Pam was one of the first garden bloggers they stumbled across and that it was her blog and beautiful photography that inspired them to begin garden blogging themselves.
“She inspired me to start my blog,” said Diana, who blogs at Sharing Nature's Garden. “I find her to be both interesting and entertaining. I love her gardening style and her photography is always amazing.”
Robin at Robin's Nesting Place said that “Her blog was one of the first garden blogs that I discovered and it was love at first sight! Her blog is still one of my very favorites.”
One of the things I learned from the comments are what I already knew from conducting hundreds of focus groups over the years—that people don’t answer the question they're asked. They answer the question they want you to ask. What people wanted to explain, apparently, is not who influences them, but rather why they read the blogs that they do. And as with almost everything, the reasons were very particular to the individual and their situation.
“I don’t believe that I’m ‘influenced’ by garden blogs as much as entertained,” wrote Layanee, who blogs at Ledge and Gardens. “I read garden blogs for enjoyment, interaction and curiosity about plants from other locales. I actually don’t read too many blogs which try to teach something about horticulture as much as those which just share their gardens and plant information.”
Craig at Ellis Hollow said that “The whole idea of Web 2.0 is that it’s finding the blogs that resonate with you. My RSS feeds lean heavily toward folks in my neck of the woods—gardeners who face the same challenges and environmental constraints that I have.”
Several other readers also said they seek out garden bloggers who garden in their gardening zones or who share their particular gardening styles or interests.
“Helpful hints and to-do lists are what I like,” said Kristine, an Examiner reader. “Plus a dose of reality as in where they are with respect to where I am. Zones are very important.”
“I learn so much from other gardeners,” said Kylee from Our Little Acre. “A lot of what determines who is more influential for me is who is gardening with the same conditions I do.”
Clearly, information gathering is a motivation for many of the blog readers.
“The blogs I return to over and over include some actual gardening information—how-tos, experience with certain plants, favorite plant combinations, etc., instead of just a lot of ho-hum personal information with a bit of gardening around the edges,” said Donna who blogs about her garden at Suburban Sanctum. “I also look for creativity and originality and just plain good writing. A sense of humor helps too.”
Two garden bloggers were named most frequently as providing useful and thoughtful information. Kathy Purdy at Cold Climate Gardening was mentioned by several readers as having a strong writing style, personal knowledge and generosity of spirit. Helen Yoest, at Gardening with Confidence, was also mentioned by several information-seeking readers.
“What I find amazing about Helen is that she has this incredible ability to involve you and educate you at any level of your ability to process and adopt the information,” said Genya, an Examiner reader. “It is just like she is subtly planting these seeds of not just knowledge, but desire to know you, and on the subjects that you would think are totally irrelevant to you based on the stage of your own journey.”
The blog mentioned most frequently as a must-read for garden bloggers is Garden Rant, a group blog written by four core gardeners and a rotation of guest bloggers.
“Garden Rant is full of the latest news in the gardening world,” said Mark, an Examiner reader. “Those gals have a great sense of humor and never pull any punches. You never know what you’ll find there.”
Sharing the responsibilities of a blog between writers means they can post more frequently and provide a wider spectrum of views and experiences. Many people also mentioned Gardening Gone Wild, another group blog, for the same reasons.
There is a rich sense of community among garden bloggers. What started out as a handful of strangers commenting on each others’ blogs just a few short years ago has grown into a network of rich and varied friendships. Many of these far-flung relationships were cemented at the Garden Bloggers’ Spring Fling, hosted by the Austin, Texas, bloggers in April of 2008. (The Chicago bloggers are hosting this year’s Spring Fling May 28 through 31 this year.)
Two garden bloggers who were mentioned repeatedly for helping to foster this sense of community were Frances at Faire Garden and Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
Carol launched the Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, an event that hundreds of garden bloggers participate in on the 15th of each month, posting about what is blooming in their gardens. Carol also comments widely on others’ blogs with witty remarks and encouragement.
“Carol always makes me laugh,” said Dee, who writes at Red Dirt Ramblings. “I never miss a post. She makes gardening seem accessible to everyone.”
“Frances is a big BIG supporter to ALL other bloggers, new and old,” said Tina, at In the Garden. “Her interaction and daily chat with others has always been nothing but positive and pleasant…She aids all bloggers with memes or awards or technical issues and photography tips. She shares her vast knowledge of gardening techniques, plants and designs. And she does all that with a humility that is to be envied.”
There are many reasons why people seek out some blogs and not others. But it seems to come down to entertainment and information. How people wish to be entertained and what type of information they want are matters of personal choice.
There were many excellent blogs mentioned in the comments. Tomorrow I’ll provide a laundry list of those blogs with links and brief summaries for why they were mentioned.
NOTE: In a previous version of this post I previously misidentified a quote, now correctly attributed to Craig at Ellis Hollow. I apologize for the error.
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You for reading! You can reach me at gardeningexaminer@gmail.com and can follow me on Twitter at @RobinRipley.
Did you also know I write about fresh foods? You can read my food columns at the D.C. Fresh Foods Examiner.
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