A warm welcome

Striking the right balance

It’s been a good few months now since this important gem of a magazine was saved and relaunched in a flurry of excitable activity last November. We now have more content, more free seeds and a refreshed look and feel in this new fortnightly format. The AG team and I continue to be delighted by the positive response, and it is such a privilege to hear from so many what this magazine means to you. To still receive word from readers expressing their sheer joy at discovering their favourite magazine unexpectedly back on newsstands again is such a pleasure. Long may it continue.

From the outset it has been incredibly important for us to know what you would like to see in the magazine looking forwards; to hear your ideas and wishes for content, contributors and anything else you would like to share. I will always listen, consider and do what we can to oblige where humanly possible.

You may have guessed, but I’m delighted to say that Amateur Gardening magazine is doing well since its relaunch. Yet, as we nudge that bit closer to our official 140th anniversary, we need to ensure we remain relevant and up to date to ensure our continued success. So we have lots of exciting ideas in the pipeline and will continue to invest energy, fresh ideas and ambition into this precious publication to ensure its future and many further anniversary celebrations to come.

I’ve had a few letters recently asking about our now-enhanced online activities, so I’d like to take this opportunity to discuss this. I must reveal that I do personally worry about how much time many people spend online nowadays and what impact this has overall for wellbeing with so much pressure to swipe, like, perform and respond. The virtual world has the potential to be a little too all-consuming at times….. but conversely, the explosion of interest in gardening that has been created online is incredibly positive, inclusive and transformative in a myriad of exciting ways. We’re now in a world in which Amateur Gardening magazine needs to be relevant in order to ensure continued commercial success in publishing.

Having an online presence helps make the magazine relevant to a wider audience, which in turn, helps ensure its future on the newsstands for you, our precious readers. Do rest assured though that the magazine is the beating heart, soul and centre of everything we do. In my humble opinion, nothing beats the sheer pleasure of holding and turning the pages of a printed magazine, so this is, and will always be, our number one priority.

This issue, our merry band of brilliant AG expert contributors include Ruth Hayes, Bob Flowerdew, Graham Clarke, Anne Swithinbank, Lucy Chamberlain, Val Bourne, Sue Bradley, Michael Perry, Beth Chatto Gardens, John Negus, Mike Palmer, Andrew Oldham, Adam Kirtland and Chris Collins. We also feature excellent contributions from Liz Zorab, Garden Organic, Barnsdale Gardens and Sarah Jeffries.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Please do write in. I love receiving your ideas, letters, questions, musings and poems. The spirit of AG continues rejuvenated, for a brighter green future for us all, together.

Kim x

Kim Stoddart AG’s editor-in-chief