Landscape Juice

Listen to Andy Sturgeon's blog but don't expect to comment back

You might have read my little post this week about how Andy Sturgeon had gotten into a flap about last year's Chelsea judging fiasco.

Sturgeon's clearly not happy that the system - i.e. the tried and tested method of judging - has changed and warns that 'designers like me' (now there's an ego) might just 'lose interest' if the RHS keeps meddling.

Malvern Meet draws the wroth of garden journalist

Matthew Appelby gets a kicking by fellow journalists et al but Mark Diocono's wrong too.

There's a deep recession; your subscription numbers are on the decline; your staff are finding it difficult to master the change from print to digital: what would you do to expand your brand and reach out to potential consumers?

a) Go on a charm offensive and try to build an online community from your print readership, with a blog facility on your website open to all?

Debate: where will printed publications fit into garden media?

What is the future of printed garden media? It's a question I have constantly asked on this blog over four years now and, to date, the subject has never really got the airtime it deserves.

I have to declare an interest; I have a website: it would appear - to a casual visitor or a magazine publisher - that I want to see the back of print at the earliest opportunity.

This is not the case: don't shoot the messenger: the truth will always out and now, I feel, is the right time to invite all interested parties into a debate.

Tim Matcham talks to Veg Plotting's Michelle Chapman

Some garden folk would have had their feet up with a brew during the recent freeze. Not Michelle Chapman - of Veg Plotting fame - nor garden designer and Garden Network owner, Tim Matcham, though.

They battled through the snow and met up for a four hour chat: Michelle interviewed Tim as part of her new series of 'VP's VIPs', where she talks to with people involved with the nuts and bolts of the garden industry.

It was 'cabin fever', said Michelle, that forced them out into snowbound Chippenham for a meeting at the local farm shop to have a 'good old natter' and talk about 'gardeny' things.

Construction technology apprenticship training resources

David Cooke is a lecturer at the Institute of Technology in Dublin and part of his role is to teach a module in Construction Technology on a Horticulture Degree programme.

In addition to this module he teaches Phases 4 & 6 of a seven phase apprenticeship training programme over a four year period in brick and stone laying.

David has made available a series of instruction modules that form part of his lecture notes which I think could be quite useful for hard landscapers starting out.

Social networks 'suck' magazine profits as readers click online

It seems as though 2008 was a pivotal year for magazine titles as readers turned to the Internet for their news and social networks.

Paid content reports on how titles have seen a massive change in fortune - Haymarket Publishing, the owner of Hort Week, saw its post tax profits fall by nearly 50% from £8m in 2007 to £4.5m in 2008.

Hort Week has seen a fall in magazine subscribers by nearly 1,000 in the last year - source ABC.

PPC advertising on the Hort Week website

I am not too sure if it is the right way to go for publishing giant Haymarket Publishing but very clearly, after a drop of ten percent in subscribers to its flagship horticulture publication Hort Week, needs to rethink its revenue model.

I noticed yesterday that Hort Week was displaying a grey rectangular block across the top of its articles body - just below the headline and lead-in paragraph - with the word 'advertising' clearly visible in black writing.

Outsourcing banner design for your website

Regular visitors to Landscape Juice will have noticed some strange goings on in the last few days as things appear and then disappear again.

I have decided to have a little bit of an autumn refresh and one of the tasks was a slight redesign of the banner image.

It's not that I was unhappy with the original image but more of a case of wanting to draw on the strength of the Landscape Juice brand and bind it firmly to the Landscape Juice Network by welding the two sites together.

Yell.com Head of Content responds

I realise that when I write anything on Landscape Juice that I can give a very one sided view and it is mostly my opinion - although I add links to factual info where possible.

I do however always offer anyone the right of reply, either by leaving a comment at the foot of a post or, in this case, by publishing (in full) their communication.

Yell.com gardening blogs

Back in May I was contacted by Yell.com and asked if I would be prepared to write regular gardening blogs for them.

Initially I was flattered and I thought I had been selected because of my writing; after all, Landscape Juice was making good ground and attracting a great audience.

I slept on it for a night and asked a couple of media friends, who work online, for their advice. Their opinion was I didn't need Yell in the first place but they needed me (and others like me).