Gardening is such a popular activity with interest only increasing over recent years that the magazine rack in your local newsagent or supermarket is packed with publications offering inspiration and practical advice.
Written by Martyn Loach - Editor in Chief
Published on Thursday, 19th of December, 2019.
Updated on Monday, 3rd of February, 2020
Gardening is such a popular activity with interest amongst all age groups only increasing over the recent years.
You've no doubt noticed that the magazine rack in your local newsagent or supermarket is packed with publications offering inspiration and practical advice for gardening and the outdoors, from decor and inspiration to top tips for growing your own.
With so many available to choose from, read up on our review of the most popular garden magazine titles which we hope will help you match the right one to your interests and needs.
In addition to listing the magazines, we hope throughout the year to update feature lists and highlight any news items that might be of particular interest.
Frequency / Price: Monthly £5.25
Circulation: 208,000 (180 pages)
Taking its title from the world's longest-running television gardening programme, this is the UK's largest selling specialist magazine with a readership approaching one million. Expect to find informative and inspirational articles each month written by top TV gardeners such as GW's presenter Monty Don and contributors Carol Klein and Joe Swift plus a wealth of practical advice on growing and improving skills from other expert contributors. Whether you grow flowers or prefer cultivating vegetables, and whatever your experience, they'll be something in here of interest including wildlife and wellbeing articles, readers' Q&A and jobs of the month, with everything presented in an attractive, well-written format.
Frequency / Price: Monthly £5.99
Circulation: 65,000 (115 pages)
If your interest is cultivating fruit and vegetables then you are the target audience for this best-selling magazine. There are over a hundred pages each month that are full of top tips, projects, growing guides and advice from well-known faces from TV and radio and other gardening experts. Additionally, you'll find plenty of offers, competitions, and product information. You'll also be able to get the maximum pleasure from your produce by following the regular recipes.
Frequency / Price: Monthly £4.99
Circulation: 50,000 (110 pages)
Whether you are a novice fruit and vegetable grower with just a balcony or an experienced allotment holder, you are bound to find something of interest in this monthly. Each page is packed full of practical information with plenty of input from readers sharing the secrets of their success as well as expert advice. There are longer articles on particular subjects, mouth-watering seasonal recipes for what you produce, money-saving offers, giveaways and new product guides.
Frequency / Price: Weekly £1.99
Circulation: 37,000 (50 pages)
The largest-selling weekly is (in their own words) '55 years old but still fresh as a daisy'. Originally a tabloid, it is now an A4 publication and dispenses news plus tried, tested and authoritative advice in an easily digested format on many different subjects. Easy to skim through but very informative with special offers, competitions, readers' questions, and letters.
Frequency / Price: Weekly £1.99
Circulation: 28,000 (50 pages)
Billed as providing 'the best practical advice since 1884' this venerable weekly is a lively and easy read offering news, tips and advice. There are lots of illustrated techniques from raising flowering plants from seed to nurturing shrubs and trees, solving pest and disease problems and growing healthy crops of fruit and vegetables. Not to mention regular free seed giveaways.
Frequency / Price: Monthly £4.15
Circulation: 41,000 (115 pages)
Although with a more restrained design than the weeklies and containing more in-depth articles, this monthly offers its fair share of practical advice and seasonal planting ideas together with several pages of readers' questions and answers regarding anything to do with plants, weeds and pests. Various gardens are featured, including those of readers, with good photography, a wildlife section, product guides and craft ideas.
Frequency / Price: Monthly £4.75
Circulation: 50,000 (115 pages)
A monthly glossy magazine that's full of inspirational British gardens, large and small in the country and town. Excellent writing is matched with exceptional photography and a modest amount of practical advice. Approaching coffee table style, this is the largest circulation 'high end' gardening publication. Described as a 'visual feast' for people who perhaps love inspirational gardens and plants rather more than getting dirt under their nails.
Frequency / Price: Monthly £4.99
Circulation: 38,000
With a mission to be as beautiful and useful as possible, this is a high quality monthly that features writing and photography that is as impressive as the delightful and inspiring gardens that they illustrate. Plant experts and top designers provide informative articles, seasonal ideas and knowledgeable advice plus the magazine organizes reader events and holidays to destinations that appeal to its affluent and up-market readership.
Frequency / Price: Monthly £3.99
Circulation: 29,000 (130 pages)
Launched in 2016 and appealing to females aged 35 - 55 with money to spend, this monthly publication bills itself as the 'best selling lifestyle magazine', and there's a definite editorial bias towards the garden as a place for relaxation rather than digging and weeding. Although there are numerous gardening articles and planting ideas, presented in a colourful and lively fashion, there are just as many on ornaments, structures and how to create a pristine outside space.
With so many publications to choose from and their target audience ranging from novices to enthusiastic amateurs and professionals, there can't be just one recommendation. If you want a regular, easy to digest, fix of practical tips there's nothing really to choose between the two weeklies. This can be topped up every month by Gardeners' World with its profusion of TV 'experts', although Garden Answers is a reliable alternative source of gardening expertise without celebrity endorsement. Kitchen Garden and Grow Your Own will particularly interest allotment growers while the high-quality monthlies, while not completely lacking practical advice, are more decorative and feature greater inspiration.
(All circulation and pagination figures are approximate and prices are valid for December 2019).
Shop Now £29.99
Shop Now £322.00
Shop Now £428.00
Shop Now £535.00
Shop Now £442.00
Shop Now £719.99
Shop Now £54.99
Shop Now £462.00
