As 2017 comes to a close, a lot of us are already putting together 2018’s new years resolutions. While most people are looking to shed those pesky pounds gained during the holiday or to drink less wine, many people resolve to take up a new hobby in the new year. This year, taking up gardening is probably one of the best things to start doing. Growing organic veggies to feed your family and keep them healthy or adding beautiful flowers to give your house unparalleled curb appeal is endlessly rewarding. After all, buying nutritious and chemical-free food in the store is very expensive. Hiring professional landscapers are also very pricey. Why not do it yourself? The first step might be gaining inspiration from the following…the best gardening blogs (of 2018.)

Ready, Set, GROW!

So how should you start a new year filled with gardening bliss? Simple. Start by researching the pro’s out there who have already got this whole landscaping or urban farming thing down to a science. It’s easier than ever to scowl the depths of the internet and endless resources via Pinterest. But, if you’re not exactly dying to stare mindlessly through piece after piece of gardening advice until your eyeballs fall out—have no fear. I’ve already taken the liberty of peering through the depths of the internet to find the best gardening blogs out there.

Best Garden Blogs to Read in 2018

Cold Climate Gardening

Kathy Purdy understands the challenges that accompany short-season climate or gardening in the cold season. That’s why she uses her expertise to help others make their cold weather gardens a total success. She does most of the writing on the site. But she does allow for guest writers periodically, too.

Garden Rant

GardenRant is a sassier gardening blog approach to the world of agriculture. It was planted back in 2006 by founders Sudan Harris, Elizabeth Licata, Michele Owens and Amy Stewart who are both east and west coast gardeners. In 2013 and 2014, their site grew quicker than their plants. Now, more partners and guest ranters have joined the rant party. And you can, too! Grab on to what Garden Design Magazine called “hysterically funny” as you begin your gardening blog quest.

Veggie Gardening Tips

Veggie Gardening Tips is a gardening blog tat features gardening tips, organic gardening techniques, and ornamental plants for producing spectacular vegetable, fruit and herb gardens. It was created by Kenneth Point who found gardening as a gift (that took a lot of hard work to master via trial and error since he was 10 years old.)

Growing with Plants

Matt Mattus is a designer for a toy company by day and a wildly successfully gardener blogger and self-proclaimed “plant geek” by night. His blog helps you gain creative gardening insight for both practical and visually appealing application.

PITH + VIGOR

PITH + VIGOR is where you can find a greater connection with nature through gardens, art, regional food and meaningful travel. It’s written by a woman named Rochelle who uses the site to spill her creative projects into one platform. It’s more than just gardening—it’s also lifestyle and stylish outdoor living advice.

Growing the Home Garden

A stay at dad of four children and real estate agent, the author of Growing the Home Garden blog still finds time to periodically bless us with his gardening ramblings. He focuses on vegetable gardening, raised garden beds and sowing seeds.

Plants are the Strangest People 

Writing under the alias “Mr_Subunctive”, this garden blogger previously worked at a greenhouse ad apparently has 1,588 and counting. If you don’t gather anything else from this blog, you definitely will learn botanical educational names for the plants.

Garden Therapy

Stephanie found gardening to help her through her own rehabilitating headaches.  Gardening helped her find energy again and regain life skills. Now she shares DIY projects, crafts, recipes and of course—gardening. She can help both beginning gardeners or seasoned ones looking for new inspiration.

Gardening Gone Wild

Gardening Gone Wild gardening blog began as a small seed in 3007 from two ladies sharing similar garden design philosophies “sweeping, naturalized, perennial gardens dotted with deciduous shrubs. Bold, organic, low maintenance and drought resistant were some of the elements that we felt helped to create the type of gardening we believed in and wanted to promote.” Now, they have added several other contributors from various walks of life including authors, artists, teachers, and photographers. With such an eclectic group you can see vibrant photos, inspirational ideas and how-to’s to enrich your own personal landscapes.

Your Small Kitchen Garden

Not all of us have enough outdoor space to maintain real gardens. That’s why “Your Small Kitchen Garden” blog helps green thumb yielding home gardeners that still want to bring their homegrown food dreams to life. They help the gardener who aspires to use their hobby to create something scrumptious and nutritious in the kitchen. Great reading for those who enjoy organic homegrown food but might be apartment dwellers.

North Coast Gardening

In addition to running a landscape crew for over 15 years as well as writer for Garden Design Magazine as well as North Coast Journal, Genevieve Schmidt knows a thing or two about backyard “facelifts” in addition to all sorts of stuff about gardening. If you need ideas for books, tools or designing in the garden then look no further for answers. The North Coast Gardening Blog certainly packs a punch of knowledge.

Out of My Shed

Naomi Schillinger is the writer, photographer, gardener and mastermind behind the UK sensation garden blog, Out of My Shed. Although she does a lot of gardening out of a big greenhouse on her property, she has experience helping bring communities together through urban farming in small spaces. Her blog is an excellent place to start finding inspiration through her visually-stunning photographs. Be sure to check into her Veg Growing Project and read her Veg Street Book too.

Toronto Gardens 

Two sisters, Helen and Sarah, are Norwegian sisters who migrated to Canada as children. As adults, they spend their free time writing about their respective gardens. Sarah’s garden is in the city of Toronto and includes a balcony garden, shady front garden a one-room and her century-old schoolhouse on an acre of separate land hours out of the city. Helen has urban front gardens as well as backyard gardens. Together, they bring a wide range of gardening styles out of the French-Canadian metro area.

A Way to Garden 

Margaret Roach offers her expertise to her fans via her A Way to Garden blog, podcasts, 3 books and her 25 years of writing for “Martha Stewart Living.” The blog gets its title from her 1998 book of the same name. (The Garden Writers Association of America even named it the best book of the year, FYI.)

Shawna Coronado

After leaving a sales & marketing position, Shawna Coronado became a professional author/photographer focusing on sustainability, health, and nutrition. These days she does everything from keynote speaker to hosting a radio show. But, you always can catch Shawna’s personal gardening advice from her awesome blog. She also shares her travel stories and recipes on there too.

You Grow Girl

Since 2000 (yeah seriously!), Gayla Trail has been using a modern approach to her organic gardening. Her unique humor paired with style, environment-mindedness, and style have created a place that has helped all sorts of readers throughout the year.

“One of the main reasons I started You Grow Girl™over a decade ago was because I could not find a gardening media that reflected my experiences as a young, urban gardener working with a microscopic budget. I seemed to be the antithesis of everything a gardener was represented to be, and my gardens (the hot roof of my apartment building and a scrap of City-owned land alongside) were definitely not the sort of green spaces fancy magazines sent photographers out to capture.”

Growing with Confidence

Helen Yoest, blogger at Gardening with Confidence, is a frequent speaker for botanical gardens, horticultural societies, Master Gardener groups, as well as garden clubs. She also is a regular radio and television guest and is Director of Bee Better Inc., a North Carolina non-profit helping homeowners to build better backyards for birds, bees, and butterflies.

This is the perfect blog for gardeners who reside in the southwest United States. She puts together monthly to-do lists that can remind you to keep your own landscape on track.

Fresh Eggs Daily

Lisa Steele has a farm in Maine where she raises chickens and ducks, creates fine home crafts and shares her traditional styles with modern advice. Outside of managing her Fresh Eggs Daily blog, she also is an author, TV host, freelance writer, and a corgi mother.

Tilly’s Nest 

Melissa Caughey is a nurse practitioner from Cape Cod who never thought she’d be raising a flock of chickens (or beekeeping or keeping an organic farm.) But, I’m glad she did because now she is the influential gardening and home farming blogger she is today. Her website is the perfect place for aspiring suburban or rural folks to read up on keeping livestock or growing their own organic produce.

Garden Betty 

 The author of Garden Betty, actually named Linda is a lover of life that inspires others with her celebration of good (and good for you) meals, shares motherhood and travels. She started the blog in 2010 after transplanting to the suburbs from the city. She doesn’t just blog about growing her own food though as she is passionate about cooking it, too. Her website is a testimonial to the trials and trivializations she’s been through since planting her first seeds. 

The Small Town Gardener

Maryanne Willburn is California native from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada who taught herself gardening and shares her craft on The Small Town Gardener blog. Living on ten acres, she shares her gardening and farming experience. In addition to great information and a great read, her blog is a great place to find resources and podcasts to further advance the muscles in your green thumb.

Red Dirt Ramblings

Dee Nash is a professional writer and speaker. She admits that blogging takes up too much of her free time, but loves using it as her way to express herself. Her intolerance to dairy and gluten is covered in the blog quite a bit so it’s a great read for those who might also have those issues as well.

Growing Wisdom 

David Epstein has been a professional meteorologist and horticulturalist for three decades. He spent 16 years on-air at WCVB in Boston and currently is a meteorology professor at Framingham State University Colby College. His blog covers everything from beekeeping to pest control to seasonal garden advice.

The Anxious Gardener 

David Marsden is a gardener (an anxious one apparently.) For over 10 years he has spent time tending to his horticulture and two gardens. One, “The Old Forge” is located in the South Downs National Park and the other in a partly wooded valley in the Sussex Weald called “The Priority.” On The Anxious Gardener’s blog, you can catch some of his favorite garden photos as he works as an employed gardener.