We’ve carefully selected these blogs because they are actively working to educate, inspire, and empower their readers with frequent updates and high-quality information. If you would like to tell us about a blog, nominate them by emailing us at bestblogs@healthline.com!
Gardening is great for both body and mind. A meta-analysis examining gardening’s influence indicated that gardening’s low-impact physical activity — as well as its ability to get you out into nature — may have the effects of lowering body mass index, depression, and anxiety. At the same time, it can promote feelings of satisfaction and community. The advantages of gardening don’t stop there.
Beautifying your own property or the community gardens of your neighborhood may help raise your property’s value. Perhaps of more immediate reward, growing your own fresh fruits and vegetables may save you money at the grocery store while encouraging healthier eating at home. It also allows you total control over your food chain.
To top it off, you can feel great about helping the environment. Increasing green spaces helps chip away at the carbon footprint in your area and home-grown foods mean fewer miles food has to travel to you. But what if you weren’t born with a green thumb? Luckily, there are lots of experts happy to share their gardening know-how.
Here are our top picks for the best gardening blogs of year.
The Gardens section of the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper offers profiles of distinguished gardens, plant-of-the-week profiles, and gardening advice columns. It also offers general gardening news and interest pieces. They cover trend topics as well, like whether or not gardening appeals to millennials. Test out their interesting gardening suggestions, like growing your own herbal teas.
Native Canadian Gayla Trail launched You Grow Girl in 2000 to help redefine the idea of a modern gardener. She sought to provide a source for gardening wisdom that reflected her own urban budget and style. With a passion for organic gardening and a laid-back attitude, Trail encourages you to grow wild. City-dwellers from all over can take inspiration from her urban gardens — whether roof, street, community, or even beer garden. If you’re new to the hobby, start with her beginner’s guide.
Specially tailored for gardeners in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland, Washington Gardener provides local area news, crop growing, and harvesting highlights. She also offers events and giveaways. Try out her DIY ideas, like making your own kokedama or chalkboard watering can.
May Dreams Gardens is chock-full of know-how. It’s run by a self-described “gardenangelist” (an evangelist for gardening) with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture production. The blog boasts over 2,500 posts of gardening info going back to 2004. This zone 6A (Indiana) gardener devised Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, where gardening bloggers around the globe share photos of their gardens on the 15th of the month. Delve into her posts to see how you too can have a “perpetual spring” in your garden or to see which tools she favors in the tool shed.
Urban Gardens has the robust growing environment of Los Angeles as its backdrop. The blog showcases growing innovations, beautiful examples of city-home gardens, and industry news. They also highlight stylish accessories and eco-trends for the home, like a futuristic levitating planter and hydroponic, aquaponic indoor garden. Drink some creative ways to enjoy the fruits of your labor with these homegrown garden-to-glass cocktails.
Jenny Peterson is a Texas landscape designer who champions gardens that break with tradition for both indoor and outdoor urban spaces. Just beware, Austin-area gardeners. Peterson also calls out gardening “fails” she sees around town. Check out her posts to get a glimpse into her urban farm and gardens. She also offers tips on organic farming and tool selection.
This Washington-based consulting company offers a wealth of knowledge in their tips, articles, and posts about garden design and interest. They also post about general landscape education materials and offer helpful guides. Review their theme ideas to find inspiration for an original gardening style for your own space.
Organic Life may have the answers and inspirational ideas to help you achieve an organic lifestyle. They describe themselves as an “online handbook for living naturally in the modern world.” With an expert staff, you can be certain their posts about food, gardening, home, and wellness are high in both quality and accuracy. Of note is eco-fashion from Toad&Co and access to their gardening 101 tips that are available for purchase.
Timber Press is a publisher of books in gardening, horticulture, and natural history. Their blog posts cover a variety of interests for the nature enthusiast. From expert interviews and tips on how to forage for food to gift ideas and giveaways, there’s something for everyone. Customize your garden with their DIY project ideas.
Fine Gardening is the online component to Fine Gardening magazine and part of Taunton Home and Garden Network. This blog inspires you to create a beautiful home landscape of both edible and non-edible plants. Check out their how-to posts on practices like composting and one of their many blogs like the podcast “Let’s Argue About Plants” to make the most of your gardening experience.
Arguably a point of pride, you can trust that many Brits take their English gardens seriously. This blog is the online component of the U.K.-based Telegraph newspaper’s gardening section. They feature gardening trends as well as newsworthy items like “Sicily’s First Garden Festival Takes Root.” Peruse their articles for the international gardening scoop and bookmark “Britain’s 20 Best Woodland Walks” for the next time you’re in the region.
Landscaping enthusiasts unite! Scout is a male-leaning digital video network that fosters community and education for all things related to the garden and lawn. Their forum connects visitors interested in various topics, such as seed swapping, composting, and edibles. Scout’s archive of videos shares advice, product reviews, and expert thoughts about gardening topics. Of note: Some of their premium forums and content need a membership.
Kathy Purdy promises that gardening in a colder climate is no more difficult than a warmer one. Her blog provides lots of resources and tools to help you succeed. Purdy offers DIY projects, essays, interviews, opinions, and recipes. She also provides forums, reviews of books and magazines, referrals to other blogs, and expert advice. Browse her posts to learn how to grow Mediterranean herbs and other plants in areas similar to the northeastern United States.
This blog has your growing needs covered. It covers topics ranging from different types of gardens and lawn care to indoor plants and composting. Check out their problems section for help ridding your garden of pests and weeds. You can also learn how to solve environmental issues and treat plant diseases.
Pam Penick started Digging in 2006 to connect with other gardeners and share her advice for growing in the challenging climate of Austin, Texas. Penick’s enthusiasm shines through in everything from her welcome post to her self-proclaimed obsessions with agave, native Texan plants, screech owls, and garden design. After taking a tour of Penick’s gardens, learn how she crafted them and borrow her techniques for your own backyard. A bonus for Austin residents: Penick gives the scoop on local nurseries, events, shops, gardens, and other areas of interest.
Beginner and savvy gardeners alike are more than welcome here. This unpretentious blog promises to help you get started with inspiration for realistic projects and to give you practical, affordable solutions to gardening challenges. Blogger Amy Andrychowicz’s can-do attitude and her advice on planning, growing, and maintenance will help you experiment your way toward a beautiful, fruitful garden.
Since its beginnings in 2006, Garden Rant offers witty insights and discussions about all things from the world of gardening. Bloggers from across the country write posts. The site covers a wide range of issues applicable for gardeners in many growing zones. In addition to advice, Garden Rant offers reaction pieces on current events like new climate change legislation, opinion pieces on gardening trends (and which ones to disregard), posts on environmental activism, and so much more.
Kenny Point is passionate about vegetables and wants to inspire you to be, too. Since 2005 Point has blogged about everything from heirloom seeds and mushrooms and fungi to edible flowers and gourmet garlic. A great feature for newbie gardeners: help with understanding the costs of getting a garden up and growing.
While many gardening blogs discuss possibilities for the great outdoors, this one brings the focus inside the home. Look to PATSP for a humorous, in-depth point of view about the personalities and pros and cons of all kinds of houseplants. Blogger “Mr_Subjunctive” once worked at a family-run garden center, has a plant obsession, and claims to own 1,553 plants himself. You can peruse his list of plants and see how he fared with them before you try them in your own home.
Blogger Stephanie helped herself recover from a serious illness by gardening. Along the way, she discovered she could build and nurture a beautiful garden, a connection to the community, and a growing passion that led her all the way to a master’s degree. She offers gardening tips, ideas for handmade crafts, and recipes for the veggies she’ll help you grow. Her personal touch and creativity will help you celebrate your own gardening prowess.
Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen bring you “back to basics, DIY living.” They blog about “homegrown vegetables, chickens, herbs, hooch, bicycles, cultural alchemy, and common sense.” The Los Angeles couple bring their gardening aspirations to life all within their small urban garden. They also explore topics beyond the backyard, with posts on preparedness and matters of the home as well as musings on various subjects of modern life.
Ewa Szulc digs into both vegetable and decorative gardens. She shares her own beautiful landscape ideas and photos of transformed backyard oases. Check out Szulc’s eco-friendly and money-saving ways to make your garden more delightful, like growing hydrangeas from cuttings, repurposing pallets to make a table, and building a greenhouse with recycled plastic bottles.
Rochelle Greayer created Pith + Vigor to discuss gardening, design, food, travel, and other lifestyle matters. She champions local sourcing, small businesses, female entrepreneurship, biodiversity, and other efforts that help make our world more beautiful. Greayer also advocates protection from the possible risks of gardening, like Lyme disease from ticks, having gotten it three times herself.
Matt Mattus is a “lifelong plant geek” who’s been tinkering with plants since he was a child. He became a junior exhibitor at plant shows as young as age 10. Growing With Plants houses a decade of Mattus’ knowledge. He helps you become a gardening expert from understanding seeds through the cultivation and harvest of delicious vegetables, exotic plants, and delicate flowers. Mattus promises his projects are both original and practical.
From the popular gardening magazine published in the United Kingdom since 1884, Amateur Gardening offers practical gardening advice alongside inspiring features. They offer how-to articles for each season, as well as top tips and contests. Check out posts about current events and noteworthy topics, like how having a garden can increase the value of your home by upwards of £82,000.
Catherine is a journalist passionate about health, public policy, and women’s rights. She writes on a range of nonfiction topics from entrepreneurship to women’s issues as well as fiction. Her work has appeared in Inc., Forbes, The Huffington Post, and other publications. She is a mom, wife, writer, artist, travel enthusiast, and lifelong student.