GT and you!

GT is keeping me accountable to my plan!
I’m great on getting something started.. but follow-through often is a little harder. Having posted my visions online I feel a greater commitment to seeing the projects completed – and the weeds weeded.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

GT is fun. Nobody comes on as “I know so much more than you”. Everyone has a sense of humor.

-- the day you quit learning is the day you quit living.

For me GT has been a true learning experience … so much knowledge in one place and filled with people who truly love to share that knowledge. I feel like I am a sponge.

I also don’t feel there are is any competition going on. Everyone is really excited about sharing what they are doing, how projects have turned out, ideas that they may have, their little “patch of dirt” in this massive world. Their efforts are appreciated here. Me, I love to see what others are doing. I get so excited for someone when they have planted their gardens, flowers are beginning to bloom or have finished a project. I especially love the garden “tours” ...

I also like the freedom that we can say … hmmmmm, maybe you should have moved that, or it needs this, I would have done it this way, or job well done. There is no malice in the constructive criticism.

And lastly, I really enjoy the “conversations or chatting” as I call it that goes on within this forum. People are just plain ol’ folk on here … sharing bits and pieces of their lives. That in my mind is priceless …

A gardening forum that is also a social forum … how much better can you get!!!

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

Well said GranT!

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

I like GT because it is a great way to keep a very organized online diary of my garden and I can share it with others. I like that people are friendly here, especially eco-friendly. I think GT is one of few sites with a true community spirit.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

GramT….You said it all.Sharing,learning from each other and making new friends with the same interests.I just love everyones garden tours and other related pics.Also the friendly chatting we all do.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

I have learned some things on here I didn’t on another forum

I did my carrots like Mikes showed on is video and they are coming up. Haray for me !! for once I will have carrots!!

I like every one of you and you all have been nice to me

There is no fighting and so peaceful. There is helpful posts .
One never stops learning with gardening I don’t think. There is something always new to learn

This forum never goes down. Every thing runs smoothly

I don’t have the time I wish I did to chat but guess we are all busy this time of year

All your pictures are so nice and thanks for telling me how to post pics. You’ve been all helpful in one or the other

This is a nice place to be

I am happy here

-- NS Zone 5B 200 KM East of Halifax cheers Bunting------Having a place to go – is a home. Having someone to love – is a family.

So far I like it as there are people here that appreciate the time and effort we all put into our gardens. For some of us, me especially it is a labour of love. There is something therapeutic about working with your hands in the dirt, seeing the rewards that make you feel better.

-- There is always room for one more plant!!

when Martin and I came up with the name “GardenTenders” it was to identify people who tended to gardens.
Now, I think I know what the REAL meaning is:
when you garden, your muscles get really tender!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

I had not read this forum post bf so enjoyed reading it now. Nice to hear others express the same thoughts and feelings that I have about GT.

Even right down to the last thought of MsDeb’s, so-o-o true MsDeb!

-- 'To plant a Garden is to believe in Tomorrow'

i love flower children like us, flower power, peace and all that stuff, never met a nasty gardener yet, every one here seems nice….

-- south shore montreal, zone 5a, whish it was 9

Being new to GardenTenders has been a great experience for me. I get to talk with people who love to grow and to learn and to create. I have few close friends-mine are far away since I have moved to London. I feel like you are new friends to me. I also realize that someday when I retire from my career I will need to have hobbies and this is a start. Enjoyable are your stories, blogs, and advice. We are like one big green family and I like that. Hope to enjoy this friendship for a long, long time! And, without a doubt, I enjoy the daily humor that you provide.

I just said to hubby the other night that I really enjoy this place. The people here are very nice, I LOVE seeing what everyone is up to in their gardens and like some others said I feel like it’s makes me stick to my goals and plans in the garden. I’ve never shared any pics or anything with another forum the way I have this one. Thanks for being awesome folks and thanks for your online company.

I woke up with my brain spinning about how to make GT “bigger and better”.

Question: what do you think gardeners and gardener-want-to-be’s are interested in reading about/ writing about / doing?

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

I don’t know, MsDeb. This is the best gardening forum I have seen just as it is. But perhaps we are missing something as so many people join (we see their beginniing profile) and then they disappear. I imagine there is alot of information re. gardening in unusual places, with unfamiliar plants and different challenges that would draw in folks from other zones, but I am not knowledgable re. these other subjects. I do like to read about other’s experiences, though.

-- 'To plant a Garden is to believe in Tomorrow'

I enjoy that as well.. perhaps that type of gardeners this site is for—those who enjoy following others’ journeys

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

I check this site out first thing most days. It is interesting to see what others are doing.

For example, here in zone 5 Canada, I am not familiar with what gardeners can do in … say … Kentucky. We have a resident gardener there who has kindly shared his experiences, and we all learn from this shared experience. Some techniques used there can also be used here.

On the other hand, there are plants growing in other areas that we cannot grow here, ... but we can dream about growing them in our garden.

Also there are gardeners here who are very creative and show us that there are plants and structures that we can also have, that perhaps we hadn’t previously knew about, or considered.

Here at GT, we also get ideas, through others’ experience, how we can solve problems that we are experiencing in our own gardens. For all this I am very grateful.

When I want very specific inforomation about a particular plant, I tend to do a more detailed search,- often at the garden web. I will admit that I enjoy this site better though. Many of the garden web forums have become personal chat lines, and that really bothers me. Yes, there have been some members here who were overly aggressive (to my thinking), but I have not noticed that here for quite some time now. Yes, there are a very few folks here who tend to “chat” about things not related to gardening, but I tend to skip over their posts quickly sometimes resenting the extra time needed to get through them, but mostly thankful that we don’t have a regimented policing policy here.

Are we competing with each other? Hmm … I suppose all of us compare what we are doing with what others are doing. If that is competition, so be it .. positive competition is a healthy thing. If it is not competition, that is good too, as we are learning from each other. Personally, I enjoy helping others … always have ... always will.

How has it affected the way I garden? Hmmm … I have received good ideas from other members here. Sometimes, a member may say something, and my mind will take that idea and tangentize it so I come up with something original. For example, John’s posting of his mammoth bird houses, triggered me to do some here on a scale that I could manage. MsDebbie’s bird house with stained glass, encouraged me to dig up my old stained glass scraps to see what I could do here. I thank all the members for stimulating my thoughts.

Yes, indeed, I do sense the cameraderie here. I thank you for that also.

-- jroot

this a nice place to come to, sip on a coffee or glass of wine and discover interesting stuff, especially the projects, blog entries and the chitt-chatting….I love to show off and I love to admire others creations…..lots of respect too which is difficult to encounter on a regular base in other forums…..

-- south shore montreal, zone 5a, whish it was 9

A few garden quotes I like and they seem to sum up my thoughts perfectly

“All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.”

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” Gandi

“Every garden-maker should be an artist along his own lines. That is the only possible way to create a garden, irespective of size or wealth.”

-- Central northish Ontario

I can’t compare GT with another gardening site because I have never tried another. I know that I feel very comfortable participating here.

I enjoy the interest and kind support of other Tenders when I post something.
As a stay-at-home mom, I appreciate the opportunity to practice my teaching and writing skills.
I enjoy reading posts from the wide variety of gardeners we have on this site, on topics such as orchids, hops, bamboo, aronia, brugmansias, permaculture, ponds, bonsais, design, organic gardening, etc. Even though I may not do a type of gardening myself, I feel that I am always learning something from others.
I enjoy the humor and poetry found in many of the posts. Humor is a gift.
I feel like I have made friends with many of you, even though we are geographically separated.

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

I joined GT after being a member of LJ for more than 2 years thinking that it will flourish like LJ. To my surprise hardly few gardeners out of more than 8oo participate in the activity. From where this laxity has come? Gardening is quite a vast subject with lots of things to do and share. If each GD decides to contribute at least one project or write a blog or use the forum to enlighten on some topic pertaining to gardening such as composting, different methods of cultivation, genetics of plants, modern methods used in gardening, pests, organic gardening and a vast no. of other topics, per month, this site will be enviable. One can sponsor a gathering of GTs at a suitable place or by arranging a visit to their garden. A workshop on some topic can be arranged by inviting an expert. What I mean is that there are several ways by which this site can be saved from its decline if you GTs tighten your sleeves to do something. I hope and pray that coming years will inspire everyone to do their utmost to bring GT at par with LJ.
Sharad

-- Bagwan-- “If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they have never tried a new thing in their life”.-Albert Einstein

I have to agree with Mario, you will not find another forum on the internet that is not full of spam, advertising, people swearing, making fun of each other, rude comments, adult content, and general immaturity and nonsense.

Way to go, to the moderators and admins on keeping a nice, friendly, clean forum.

-- Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.. shine on you crazy diamond