Support for a Garden Tour forum?

Just found this weirdly intriguing thread! I would love to wander in other folks gardens
while I'm staying warm and toasty INSIDE during the winter. I posted a little tour on
"Curb Appeal" but it didn't quite fit since there's no curbs anywhere near this little farm.

A Garden Tour Forum would be wonderful!

This is great!

I've visited a few garden tours that are now happening in member's garden diaries and they are just brilliant! I don't think we're too far away from having garnered enough support for this to actually get the forum. Keep those cards and letters coming and please when you post here link to your diary so that others can visit you.

Here's mine. It's still in progress, but I'll find time to add more in the days to come. I too am having a little trouble with the sorting, but I'll get it figured out.

best to all,
don

http://davesgarden.com/journal/ed/index.php?tabid=1736

Don- nice job! I've decided that it's going to take me eons to do this, but it will be nice. Once all the old stuff is added it shouldn't be too hard to keep it up to date

As for the sorting, Dave is working on having an option that will allow us to choose to show particular tabs in the diary ("threads", to me) in chronicological order - oldest date to newest - just like threads in the forums. Right now, it shows newest-to-oldest, but multiple entries under the same date are shown first-entered-to-last-entered (oldest-to-newest). You can edit the date of each entry also, which can help to keep things in order.

Thanks maggie!

Oh dear. I've been all over DG and checked FAQ but can't figure out how to start either a journal or a diary. I can get to members' but can't find the place for mine. Could some oldtimer give me a clue? TIA

Found a link here from Dave on the 10th

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/501470/

Here's a "how to" typed up by another member: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/525458/

good morning maggiemoo!

huge hugs and thanks for the links. I'm doing a little everyday that horses don't interfere....lol. Got most of the orchid collection posted and am now working on the Cactus garden. It's fun to see it come together and it's a much less injury prone endeavor that the actual building of all this stuff...lol.

I do think that support for this forum is growing and it seems as though we've all put our heads together and figured out how the GT forum gets others to use one of the other amazing features of the DG website. The diary feature is the perfect compliment for the proposed forum. You are so smart...

best,
don

I've been plugging away on mine, too. To keep things straight, I'm thinking about making some kind of map so poeple can tell which area is where, and how they relate to each other.

I didn't realize how many pictures I have of some areas, when I have almost none of others. My favorite spot is a little nook on the far east end of the yard, and I have not one single picture of it. Note to self - take pictures a little more equally around the yard.

Are we still hoping to link the diary to a Garden Tour Forum?
So there can be exchanges of discussion?

I'm planning to get something going probably after Christmas!

Tammy, yes, that's what we're hoping to do. We're hoping to get people going on posting their tours in their diaries, then there will be plenty to talk about from the get-go.

(Think it'll be easier to talk Dave into the forum if we already have everything in place. It wouldn't look too good to open a forum and then nothing happens while people are busy writing up their tours in their diaries.)

I vote for the forum and will start my diary after the holidays when cabin fever slowly builds here. Great idea. I think Dave is busy with "the move."

lol boojum,

Cabin fever?....I'll be down in the Yucatan re-envigorating my Denge fever...lol.

Best of holidays to you and a Happy Chanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, and remember that the reason for the season is joy.

best,
don

Same to you, Don and all the folks at DG.
Yup. Joy indeed. My son, new wife, and 2 boys (local folks) and my daughter and boyfriend from San Francisco will be here. So I'm looking forward to a family event. We hardly ever end up doing this on 12/25th though (others claim them then). This year it's the 27th! Good thing is, you can go out for breakfast.

I remember some pretty rocky holiday seasons in the past after my divorce. For those who are having a less than ideal holiday season-things get (surprisingly) better!! Wish someone would have clued me in!

Then January sets in-time for a diary tour!
Hope you survive the Yucatan, don! We need you to return and invigorate us.

I haven't gotten an official confirmation, but it appears that the Garden Diary is now showing posts in chronilogical order! Yippee!!

Everyone get going on your garden tours, we will all be in need of some lovely gardens to stroll through come January.... and then maybe we can get our forum!

I'm working on mine - the one problem is that after I added some beds in tabs, I decided to make a Main tab, but now that is last instead of on top.

I think I know what you're saying, you're talking about the order that the tabs themselves are listed on the side of the screen, rather than the order of the entries within each tab, right?

Here's the way I think of the diary:
The diary is like my own private forum. Each "tab" is like a thread within that forum, and then each entry would be like individual posts within a thread.

I'm not certain how the order of the threads ("tabs") are determined, possibly by whichever one was created first, second, etc (it is not alphabetically.) But within each thread ("tab") you can manipulate the order of the posts ("entries") because you can edit the dates for each one.

I looked at your diary (great idea, for the map to show the relationship of each area!) What you might want to do is simply add that map entry to each one of the tabs, and make the date the earliest date, which will then place the map at the beginning of each tab. That would also help your "guests" to see the relationship at the beginning of each tab, without having to go back and forth between tabs to check it out (I have a short memory span, lol.)

Let me know how it goes. This is getting exciting!

So what's going on with this? I have also been trying to arrange my diary/journal although it's a bit confusing. I have a lot of my plants in plant files that I think I can send back to my journals. Are you guys talking about some diary tour?
Al

Yeah, we're talking about entering tours of our gardens (or other gardens too, for that matter) to our diaries. The diaries are easier than the journals for most people to do, since it's more like the forums we're all used to. Then we would go to the Garden Tour Forum and start a thread, inviting people to come tour our gardens (posting a link to the particular tour.) Conversation, questions/answers, feedback, etc would happen on the threads in the forum, since only the owner of the diary can post in their diary.

Right now we're encouraging people to start posting tours of their gardens in their diaries. We're thinking it might be easier to get Dave to agree to the forum if we already have tours posted that we can be talking about. Sort of "build it and they will come", lol.

MM,
I'll work on it. I don't have a lot of wide shot photos, but it could always be improved next year. I plan on taking a LOT more photos in 2006. I looked at Stateham's to see how hers was looking - anyone else have a rough idea? Would the journal be a more detailed look at the plants - linked?
Al

I don't think you necessarily have to have wide shots, but it does look like as we think about doing these tours, it points out (to all of us) places where maybe we need to take more/different photos. This is really going to be a good thing. Not only talking about our gardens and why we did what and where, etc, but we'll all be using our diaries more, and be more aware of documenting our gardens, what photos we need to remember to take..

Check out drdon: http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/m/drdon/
and balvenie: http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/m/balvenie/

I don't have a tour posted yet (have had some difficulty with my computer recently), but here's a sort of tour of my roses: http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/t/maggiemoo/16/

I've never really understood the journal. There isn't any reason why you can't use the diary to take closer, more detailed looks at your plants, even linking to the PlantFiles for each particular plant. I just think the diary is much easier, more user-friendly. And it's much easier to make changes and edits!

Great ideas, Maggie - thanks for the suggestions. I completely agree on the differences between the diary and the journal. One look at the journal, and I get sweaty. The diary is a lot easier to use.

I just discovered that one can also put another's garden diary on their watch list so that when a particular gardener updates their diary you get to see what's going on. What a great feature! Thanks Dave. Now all we need is a lovely padded room/forum in which to discuss our proclivities toward garden insanity....lol.

hope everyone is well,
don

LOL Don on the padded room. I went in and took a peek at yours. This is going to be fun.

Thank god for skip to new, probably could restart this. Hey I am excited I found some older pic's showing other areas better. I'll work on mine next week when I'm off. Doc, you can pretty much watch everything but dmails.
Happy Holidays everyone,
Al

I also like to check every once in a while to see who has recently updated their diary (click on "Journals" at the top of the screen, then "View other garden diaries".) Even though I'm "watching" some diary tabs, it doesn't alert me if a different tab has been started, so looking at the list of recent updates gives me a clue.

Hey Dr. Don - I read the first post and jumped way down here to post this (sorry to everyone else- but I'm on a mission) - I LOVE this idea! And if we could post photos of gardens that we tour each season in addition, it would be even better. Did Dave weigh in somewhere? My vote is for yes yes yes, on having a Garden Tour Forum!

P.S. I grew up in San Diego, and boy do I miss it right around January! :)

Sue, Dave hasn't weighed in, but I beleive that will happen when people start getting tours posted on their diaries (a really good cold-season project.) Dave has recently "fixed" something in the diary that will make it easy to post the tours in the order you wish, and for people to read them in the order they are intended - from the start to the finish (chronological order.)

We're kind of operating on a "build it and they will come" mentality right now. So get to work on your own tour (and by all means, post tours of gardens you have visited!), then come back here to let us know what you've done! Once we have people ready to go, it will be easier to justify the forum. Be sure to get your other DG friends to chime in their support here!

Very good maggiemoo! I will do just that. I think nothing is more interesting to other gardeners than to see other gardeners gardens. Well, let me say that 5 times fast! LOL!

But you all know what I mean. It is so inspiring to see other gardeners work. I always take away something from touring another's gardens, even if it is in photographs. But just think about this, if we tour others gardens in our home towns - and then share it here with all of our subscribers with our own comments. This can be nothing but a great experience. A great forum!

Well, I have lots of my own garden photos I should compile. I don't have a diary here either. A good winter project, indeed.

I'm very inspired by the possibility of this forum, so let's get the engines roaring!

Well said!

happy new year to all!!!

don

I got my hand artwork done and won the war with my scanner.
Anyway I have a start on mine, is this the layout we're trying for? Were there seperate diaries or seperate entries. Were you adding additional photos in the text areas?
Al

http://davesgarden.com/journal/ed/

Hi Al, don't know about anyone else's needs or desires, but my diaries are simply a place to build and store thoughts and activities. There are a number of things needed before it can be utilized as Drdon and others visualized, an interactive touring forum. Jump in and play.

hiya bigcityal,

I took a look and your start looks great! Can't wait to see your dahlia tab.

balvenie, I go to your diary all the time to check for updates and soon hope there'll be a spot where we can openly discuss the incredible stuff being done by our fellow gardeners and garden artists.

rain on the Rose Parade?......yep, first time in over 50 years. Hope all of you in northern TX and Oklahoma are safe from the fires today. Boy do we know a lot about those things here.

best to all,
don

I missed this thread. But I like this idea. It's nice to see how experienced gardeners put their gardens together. Hiring a landscaper is too expensive. If gardeners own a lot of land, they could present a tour of just a section of it. It would also probably help those of us who need advice when we put together a garden spot and have blank spaces or problem situations.

Edited to say I checked the links above, and it's nice to see other people's gardens and gardening projects. I was surprised to see a link to my page. I am a new and inexperienced gardener. It is difficult to find links of this sort. A forum that helps us to connect to people's garden diaries would help.

This message was edited Jan 2, 2006 9:41 AM

fireant,

Blank spaces - what are those? I know what you mean though. I work in the green industry and have a lot of experience with plants on the maintenance end, but would probably be a poor landscape designer because of my biases. Either way the biggest challenge is to arrange your plants best to their locations.
Al

Al,
That's why it would be nice to have critiques or suggestions from experienced gardeners and also to see the gardens they put together. I can't always think of a good plant to put in a certain spot, but someone else might. All designers are probably biased to some degree, but comments from different gardeners would provide varying views and give us options to consider.
Nancy

hiya fireant13,

This is exactly what we're proposing. A forum in which to discuss and share ideas, practices, and design theory. In my forays into garden design, I've found that biases (my own included) sometimes get in the way of putting together a lively display. I avoid any plant used around here in any commercial landscape or bloody parking lot....lol. My diaries aren't yet completed to the point where I can update them yet, but until we've achieved a forum for discussion of our garden tours several of us continue to work on diaries so that we'll be ready when and if a Garden Tour forum is manifested. Having them ready to go when the forum is granted will allow for active discussion right away.

best to you,
don

That bench in your garden is spectacular, don.

Since I am new at gardening and my yard is a blank canvas, I've wanted to "document" what things look like now and hope they look better six months or a year from now. One thing about Florida is that a puny plant doesn't often stay puny unless it just dies.

There are lots of pictures of individual plants and parts of plants, but it's hard to search and track down whole gardens.
Nancy

hiya fireant,

Thanks for your kind words regarding the garden bench. It's kind of grown on us....lol.

Your reason for wanting to know how things work in a setting as opposed to showing a single specimen is one of the reasons we're proposing this forum, so that discussion may ensue after someone visits another's garden diary tour.

I'm sure we'll hear from administration soon in order to guide us on a new forum or if they'd like us to use another forum that already exists for this type of discussion forum.

best to you,
don