Guide to Gardening Forums

A forum is a type of online community meeting place that works like a bulletin board. Ideas and questions are posted under proper headings and then responses or additional insight is posted by other forum members. Sharing ideas and connecting with others who share your love for gardening through the use of an online forum is a wonderful way to make new friends, as well as glean valuable information. Online forums can make a hobby or interest even more enjoyable, since there are so many other people to connect with who share the same enthusiasm as you do.

A gardening forum is an excellent resource for answering questions, learning tricks and insider information, and even for trading seeds, plants, books and getting valuable advice on buying a new garden shed or summerhouse.

When using any online forum, be sure to use proper Internet etiquette. Read the rules of the forum before making your first post. Each forum is run by a different person or group and has its own set of rules. Read a little and familiarize yourself with the tone of the forum before diving right in and making posts. This will help to make friends more easily as you will have a feel of what to expect from the group.

When posting, keep in mind that your words can sometimes be misconstrued by the others. It is best to steer clear of sarcasm or remarks that could be perceived as rude. Do not type in all caps as this is considered a form of yelling on the Internet.

We all have a variety of our own personal opinions. When posting in forums, try not to argue with another member, even if you disagree with the potting in their greenhouse. If they have an idea that doesn’t work for you, it is perfectly fine to mention an alternative method but don’t comment on the other person’s opinion in a negative way. Making friends on a forum is the same as doing so in person. If you do choose to use negative, degrading speech or inappropriate language, you may receive a warning from a forum moderator or even become banned from the site.

Forums are there for us to enjoy as useful resources and as avenues of communication. Here is a list of popular gardening forums that you can check out for yourself:

The Garden Web Forum Site: The largest community of gardeners on the Internet

Helpful Gardener: A friendly place to chat about gardening

Garden Stew: Your Home and Gardening Community with a lot of Resources

Dave’s Garden: Everything Discussed from Flowers to Landscaping and Vegetables

Backyard Gardening: Forums and Blogs

Blossom Swap: A lively community of gardening enthusiasts

Excuse the Weeds: A beautiful forum where members can actually view each other’s gardens

Garden Country: Nice forum for gardeners and even includes a butterfly garden guide

Garden Buddies: Forums and photo galleries

A Gardener’s Forum: Active site with gardeners from around the world

Grows On You: A forum for garden lovers with tons of photos

Homestead Garden: Gardening and simplified living all in one

Just Gardeners: Forum that includes a plant and seed swap area

Moosey’s Country Garden Forums: Large site with a lot of members

Plant Trader: Forum to share ideas as well as trading plants and seeds

Rhen’s Garden Club: Christian Gardening Community

See Me Garden: A large community of gardeners sharing tips and advice

Tinkers Gardens: Main focus of this forum is daylilies

You Grow Girl: Cool forum with a fresh twist to gardening

The Gardening Forums: A large site with photo galleries

Home Gardening Guides: A forum for annuals, perennials, rose, and shrub discussions

Organic Gardening Forums:

Organic Gardening: Sharing techniques, ideas, and information

The Organic Gardeners: Forum, galleries, and a small community of members

Organic Gardening: A forum on the about.com site