As you might guess by my pros and cons, I didn't feel there was very much in the content of this magazine to get excited about. Not that its bad. I just feel that I am the wrong audience for it.
Looking through the magazine I feel that it is targeted toward a much higher income bracket than me, or at least one that whose property exceeds 10,000 square feet. Very few of the articles were about making the most of a small space, planting in pots or window boxes, how to keep pests off your annuals, or anything else that your average home owner could use.
Instead, there are articles on the use of shrubbery, space hogging plants. Gotta skip this part. Another article was about building a stream for rain runoff. Okay, another one I can't use--no space. There was an article about blending different colors of flowers--but all the schemes take lots of space. The articles regarding designing a garden use lots of brick, tiles, plumbing, etc., stuff beyond a modest budget.
I do enjoy the articles on a featured plant. February featured the Hellebore plant. This one is not a huge space user and is a very unusual looking plant. It was interesting to see how to take care of it and where it grew well. There was also an interesting article on acid or alkaline content affects your plants. Unfortunately the remedies are usually expensive. So...if my plants don't live on water and sun alone (and I mean no pesticides or fertilizer), they aren't planted in my garden.
Some areas that were of use to me where the book reviews. Occasionally I do purchase books for raising particular types of plants, so this was helpful. I also like the garden gear section. Sometimes you can find some real time savers here. I also like the Q and A section. A recent question asked about the application of DEET.
As far as the design goes, I like that the ads are at front and back and do not interrupt the flow of the articles. Pastel colors are used, which I like. An easy to read type face is used. I also like that they do not full justify the columns.
But overall, this magazine will not be a top priority for me. The articles, though of good quality, for the most part are of no use to me. I simply don't have the required real estate for these ideas. The pictures are adequate to show design, but there are very few that really stand out as beautiful pictures of flowers. They are mostly pictures of greenery.
I also feel that it is not a very good value for the money. Though ad content is low, the magazine is pretty thin for $6 per issue. Subscription rate is $30 bucks a year, saving you the cost of one magazine. I think I will stick with Sunset.
6 issues - Covers fundamentals & practical design ideas, as well as how to care for specific plants, build garden structures, handle trouble spots in ...More at SuperMagDeals.com
6 issues - Covers fundamentals & practical design ideas, as well as how to care for specific plants, build garden structures, handle trouble spots in ...More at Subscription Addiction
6 issues - Covers fundamentals & practical design ideas, as well as how to care for specific plants, build garden structures, handle trouble spots in ...More at SpeedyMags.com
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