Why Substack and why now?

In 2009 I started a blog called The Impatient Gardener for purely selfish reasons. Having found that I was incapable of using any kind of garden journal, I needed a way to keep track of what was happening in my garden. I also yearned for a creative writing outlet that wasn’t part of my job as a magazine editor. I figured I would start a blog, which would guilt me into staying current, and if anyone ever read it that would be a bonus.

I published it on Blogger, a free blogging platform, and in pretty short order, people started reading it. A lot of those people were fellow garden bloggers and I found an incredible community of like-minded people who just wanted to talk about gardening. It was joy, particularly because I had very few “real” people in my life who were interested in plants.

The garden blogging community back then was a delight. We all commented on each other’s blogs and many of us got to know each other beyond that. Many of those blogging friends went on, as I did, to move (at least partially) to YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, and I’ve kept in touch with many of them. Tanya at Lovely Greens (on the Isle of Mann) and Stephanie from Garden Therapy are two of the “old guard” who I still keep in touch with.

I started focusing primarily on YouTube when blog readership dropped off rather dramatically. People wanted videos, so I made videos.

I kept the blog hosted on my own website, but between life, social media and the incredibly time-consuming process of making and editing YouTube videos (all these years later I’m still editing my own videos and I haven’t gotten any faster), posts became less frequent. A bit over a year ago I completely redesigned the website and I think I’ve posted two blogs since then. It wasn’t the best investment I’ve made.

But I have been doing some garden writing. For about four years I’ve written a weekly garden column for our local newspaper, which is an enjoyable challenge.

I also had the great fortune to write a story on my garden for Fine Gardening magazine (winter 2026 issue), which is right up there with the most fun things I did in 2025.

I’ve also been sending out a biweekly newsletter for the last 18 months or so with a “Letter from the Garden” in each issue. The newsletter is a good way to keep in touch with fellow gardeners, but I’ll admit to feeling a little constrained by the format of the drop-and-drag newsletter concept.

When I first heard about Substack I’ll admit to a sense of dread. My first thought: Not another social media platform to figure out! But more and more, the people who I follow were showing up there. The Garden Mixer podcast hosted by the wonderful Leslie and Marianne, publishes its delightfully thorough show notes here. Other gardeners have been here for some time. One of my favorite interior design accounts—Good Bones—publishes here. Some of my favorite chefs are also on Substack.

All of a sudden I found myself downloading the Substack app (and I assure you, you practically have to pay me to download another app on my devices), and popping in there almost daily. In the Notes area attached to the accounts I follow I’m starting to recognize names of frequent posters. Dare I say, it feels like a community?

It reminds me of the Blogger of old days. The writing is generally good and sometimes great. The sourcing is excellent, the photos are inspiring. It makes me want to be a part of something that feels a bit more real than other social media platforms where I now find myself wondering if it’s a real person or a bot attached to an account or if the photo I’m looking at is AI generated.

Forgive me for being sanguine, but I just feel good about what I see happening at Substack.

So 17 years after The Impatient Gardener was started, here I am hoping to find a wonderful community of gardeners and plant lovers. My goal is to share excellent, helpful, well written gardening content. I hope it’s personable, occasionally amusing, always insightful and generally makes you feel good.

The YouTube channel is alive and going strong and that will continue, as well the Instagram account and (sort of) Facebook (which I find a little tiresome so I don’t spend a lot of time there). I’m on Tik Tok as well but it is the red-headed stepchild of The Impatient Gardener portfolio (let’s just say the relationship is complicated). But Substack will replace the newsletter, mostly just in format, as you’ll still get posts in your email (as well as on Substack, if you choose).

One thing I’ve learned over the years (in addition to the beliefs that landscape fabric was sent from hell and red mulch is a crime against retinas) is that gardeners are the best people. I love any excuse to talk with gardeners. I hope you’ll join me here on Substack to continue the conversation.