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Jun
15
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Posted by maureen
June 15, 2007 |
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I bet you have all received free preview issues of magazines in the mail offering an annual subscription at a great price. I have to be honest and tell you that if it’s anything to do with homes or gardens (or both!) they have my attention immediately. And it was this scenario that brought me to this review of the gardening magazine “Garden Gate” I hadn’t seen the magazine before and intended to just leaf through the pages that evening but ended up reading it from cover to cover. This is what I found:
Content
The magazine promised no ads and 100% gardening and they were true to their word. It was refreshing not to have to wade through endless ads and inserts. The contents were divided into three main sections: topics that appeared in every issue, features and departments.
In every issue:
I liked the idea of the eight recurring topics each issue. Under one of these topics “Before and After” my freebee issue had an article called “butterflies welcome” It was an inspiring look at a how to make over a suburban backyard that had a plain , uninviting view into a color garden that was both easy to care for and also drew butterflies from spring into fall. It included an illustrated grand plan which detailed the plants and positions and underneath gave plant name, # of plants, cold/hot zone and height/width of plants. Another of the recurring topics is “from the test garden” and this issue took a good look at lavender and detailed how to grow it almost anywhere as well as giving harvesting hints.
Features:
My issue had a features on clematis and I was thrilled when they answered many of the questions I had surrounding these beautiful, spectacular flowers. They also had a great article on garden rooms. I found all the features written in easy to understand language and worth a read.
Department:
Included readers tip, pest watch, what’s new, did you know? ask Garden Gate, resources, weed watch and finishing touches. Plenty of food for thought here.
Presentation.
You would expect any gardening magazine to be colorful and this didn’t disappoint but it wasn’t just a “pretty face” .The illustration and directions were clear and easy to follow and dotted throughout were great pictures. The pages were holed so that you can combine issues into a folder. It would certainly work as a reference piece.
Who?
I am definitely in the “amateur status” as far as gardeners go but think that even experienced gardeners would get something from the magazine
Value
Definitely good value for money particularly if you take advantage of the lowest priced savings.
You can go to the Garden Gate website and preview an issue
Verdict
I loved it and am looking forward to the next issues
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