Gardenlife magazine closes

I meant to mention this a couple of days ago, but Gardenlife magazine is ceasing publication. You have to be registered with MediaGuardian.co.uk to read this piece, but here's a taste of it:

Gardenlife, the second biggest selling title after the BBC's hugely popular Gardeners' World magazine, will publish its final issue next month after owner Seven Publishing called time on the title. All 11 editorial staff have now left.

Seamus Geoghegan, the managing director of Seven and a former director of BBC Worldwide, blamed the magazine's closure on "the hard reality and economics of publishing".

"We are a youngish company and the magazine was doing well but unfortunately the economic outlook in this country is tough," he said.

I only ever bought this magazine once, and don't remember being overly impressed with it. I am not one for the glossier, "lifestyle" end of the gardening magazine market. My absolute favourite magazine is Organic Gardening (the UK version), but unfortunately it doesn't have an online presence.

What's your favourite gardening mag? Or do you prefer reading books and seed catalogues? Answers below, if you please.

Comments

[Amy Stewart]

OK, as usual, I started to post a comment but it got way too long. Short version--you guys are so lucky in the UK, you have such better gardening magazines than we do in the US. Long version--uh, maybe I'll do a post about it.

[Vivienne Hambly]

I'm sorry to hear that about Garden Life. I work on a home/garden glossy (sorry!) and felt the mag made gardening look fun and accessible, as gardening mags tend to be on a par with bridge and bowling here in South Africa. I have a couple of issues on my desk right now, as well as copies of Gardens Illustrated and Gardener's World. Organic Gardening does great work and is meatier, certainly. I was reading issues from 1978 last night - my parents used to subscribe and they've kept them all!
Good luck with your book, Jane. Your blog makes me long for an allotment of my own.

[Annette]

I think it's a shame about Gardenlife...I think they tried to break the mould of gardening magazines being full of ads for old men's shirts and busy lizzie towers...which was no bad thing! One thing that grew on me in that mag was how they tied an article about growing a particular vegetable or fruit with lovely recipes using that fruit or veg....I think Gardener's World has started doing this recently too.

I think I read almost all of the gardening mags for work reasons (though not all of them every month!) and one of my favourites is Gardens Monthly - it's a lot more plant-focussed than some of the magazines. I like Grow Your Own too but don't see that one very often.

And if the UK's second-largest gardening magazine can't survive, what hope is there for all the others, who presumably are having an even worse time of it at the moment? Perhaps we hould all go out today and buy a gardening magazine to do our bit to save them!

[Mildew]

I've only read Gardenlife once and it seemed to be quite good, but I would never buy it (I stole that copy out of someones recycling bin. That's not wrong is it? It's recycling...) Actually, just as I'm writing this I've just seen on the news that Smash Hits mag is folding too. Do you think the interweb is taking over? People are getting all the information they need for free, without having to spend three quid every month. I for one love reading gardening magazines on the bus home from work, there's something really cozy about it. I really like Kitchen Garden mag. For someone who's a newcomer in gardening it's a real help. I also pick up Grow Your Own once in a while, but I find it a little too glossy. For some reason I really object to having photos of the writers faces infront of everything they write and there seems to be quite a few sponsered features too. I like the look of Organic Gardening, I shall keep an eye out for that.

[Frankie]

It's a shame to see a good magazine folding but I have never seen a copy of Organic Gardening in my local newsagent and will send off for a copy today. Thanks for the tip!

[Sue]

I won the best photo prize in the Fbruary issue of Gardenlife magazine. I enjoyed the magazine as it was a bit more glossy and 'lifestyle' than the more traditional gardening mags. and will miss it. As I have not yet received the prize tools for my photos I doubt that I will ever see them now but I may try contacting Seven Publishing.