RE: Most Frequent Questions

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Doreen and all,

I figure I have answered over 10,000 individual one on one questions from yardeners (non-gardening homeowners) attending home shows over the years.  These are not gardeners per se, but all the questions noted in earlier messages have been asked.  I agree that the questions tend toward being seasonal.  I would submit they are also regional.  My impression from all these questions is to note not only the incredible ignorance Americans have about plants, but how much misinformation must be undone to get them on the right track. For instance, believe it or not, I am guessing that 25% to 30% of the people buying plants in this country are not aware, or at least don’t properly appreciate,  that some plants prefer full sun and others prefer some amount of shade; how basic can one get?  On the undo side, I would guess that at least the same percentage of people who own plants will automatically fertilize a plant whenever it has any kind of a noticeable problem.  I don’t know if that is the Jewish mother syndrome, Miracle Grow influence or what, but it is a major knee jerk reaction across the country. 

The problem I see for experienced garden writers with columns or magazine article gigs with limited space, is that your audience is usually the serious gardener who does know all those basic facts.  If you get too basic, you lose your primary audience.  When giving speeches or working radio shows I feel you can get a little more basic as long as you give the experienced gardeners their share of attention.  I write for the yardener, assuming he or she does not know what roots do.  That is a very different presentation then my partner Nancy Szerlag with her weekly garden column in a major market.  She can hit a few basics here and there, but to hold her audience of ten years, she needs content for more experienced gardeners, even though they make dumb mistakes like all of us do from time to time.  It is that “beginning gardener” who I think gets left out.  Garden Gate magazine seems to be ideal for the beginner, but then I run out of options.  Some of the regional magazines, like Chicagoland Gardener, will have some good stuff for beginners, but they need to address the serious reader as well. 

So I guess the answer is in part that we must write for our audience, which we’ve discussed in past threads.  The yardener, the beginning gardener, and the experienced gardener all have a different set of common questions.  I feel that the garden writing industry ignores the yardener, makes it difficult for the beginning gardener, and frustrates the experienced gardener.  

Maybe I should go take another anti-depressant. 

Later,

Jeff Ball.