Sure, there are about a zillion gardening books and magazines out there—not to mention a plethora of websites where every last detail of plant propagation is scientifically presented. But people still like to learn gardening from fellow amateurs. And, when a wise and friendly neighbor is not available to dispense advice fenceside, many of us find ourselves typing in our questions to an online garden forum. We took a look at several forums with Virginia-specific information, and here’s what we found.
GardenWeb (Gardening in Virginia forum)
Address: www.forums.gardenweb.com/forums/ vagard/?
Variety of topics: Everything from how to get rid of groundhogs to announcements of garden-related events around Virginia. This is a general-interest garden forum where veggie growers, flower gardeners and lawn jockeys congregate.
Activity level: A little slow: less than 10 replies to most posts.
Helpfulness: A cooperative spirit reigns here, especially on tough questions (55 responses on the topic of eliminating bamboo). One user offers to meet another in person in order to hand off worms for making compost: how sweet!
Pearl of wisdom: Soak sweet pea seeds for an hour in strong tea before planting.
Garden Guides (USA South forum)
Address: www.forums.gardenguides.com/
Variety of topics: Mostly limited to members declaring their state of residence and inviting others to do the same. However, we mention Garden Guides because it also offers dozens of other forums, from landscape design to attracting birds to the garden.
How active: The USA South forum is not very active at all, but other forums on Garden Guides, like Plant Identification, are quite busy.
Helpfulness: You’ll wade through mounds of personal messages to find the garden info you seek.
Pearl of wisdom: Dry heat really makes hibiscus mad.
Dave’s Garden (Mid-Atlantic Gardening forum)
Address: www.davesgarden.com/forums/f/region_mida/all/
Variety of topics: It’s all here: flower shows, what deer like to eat and a mysterious shrub in front of one member’s porch. Additional off-topic threads (like “Second Surgery Down,” about a member’s breast cancer) make this feel like a true community.
How active: Buzzing. Dozens of replies per post are not uncommon.
Helpfulness: Members not only school each other on gardening matters, but on the ins and outs of html tagging. Be prepared for an avalanche of advice.
Pearl of wisdom: Fine pine bark is good for drainage in potting soil.