Horticulture news, disseminated

thedirt.news brings together news from every corner of the horticulture industry, condensed onto a single platform. Accessible to all, thedirt.news informs, enlightens and entertains with light hearted to more serious industry news, digests and reviews.

No agenda beyond open-mindedness, interest and admiration for our industry. Designed to be an inclusive space as we report industry news, disclosed by those involved. The people, gardens, media, companies, products, charitable ventures, events, books, jobs, you name it, we cover it. All to ensure connectivity and industry empowerment. We highlight what’s on the horizon, point you to the relevant industry sources for further details and share the knowledge.

Closely related fringe industry updates, status of wildlife, nature, the environment, health and community initiatives are very much part of the coverage.

For who?

This is a platform both the horticultural professional, as well as the gardening enthusiast.

Professionals looking for a quick news update will find it here. Similarly, just as is the case in the food industry, the gardening public is increasingly interested in the stories, issues, people and companies behind the plants, bulbs, designs, books and snazzy kit. That industry talent and expertise, we aim to promote here on the thedirt.news.

Primarily aimed at a domestic audience, but very much internationally minded and will hence draw on everything and anything of interest to horticulture. Lessons shared are lessons learned.

Why?

There is so much content out there, but the digital space is becoming increasingly fragmented and complicated. Everything is spread all over the place, from mainstream media, proprietary websites, newsletters, social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (sorry… ‘X’). All with their respective algorithms determining what is seen, or hidden behind paywalls. Loyalty to one platform means you miss out on others, and we simply don’t have the time to scour them all everyday…

Add that to the multifaceted and diverse nature of the horticulture industry. We are – as one horticultural professional described it “Just shouting into space. Everybody is sort of trying but it’s disconnected.”

For our industry, bringing messages to market is thereby increasingly difficult. Growers, nurseries, manufacturers, retailers and writers are juggling newsletters, websites, social media and vying for the ever decreasing gardening space in traditional media and/or events. Valuable content is lost in the murky depths of the web and social media. All we do here, is collate (and archive) that news and bring it all onto one, simple platform.

What don’t we cover?

This isn’t the place for advice on how to plant, what and where. That is the domain of our very excellent garden magazines, newspapers, blogs and so forth, the output of whom we will promote where relevant. Instead we focus on the news relating to that plant, gardener, designer, company, garden…

Though we aim to ‘unniche’ industry news that deserves to be seen by a larger audience, for the truly trade specific news we refer you to the first-rate trade magazines such as Horticultural news, Inside Horticulture, GardenForum… Anything that is viable news for mainstream horticultural audiences, we will always publish here.

Business model

Simple and transparent. To ensure economic sustainability, thedirt.news will be advertising based. The website’s design incorporates, unobtrusive yet visible, industry related banner advertising on the sections and articles. The editorial, however will always be strictly impartial and the domain of the editor only.

News is updated daily – when and where there is news, and alerts thereof sent through via our social media channels. Sign up to our free bi-weekly, newsletter summarising all the news over the past couple of weeks and outline any upcoming events, book launches etc..

Finally, send us your news, press releases, jobs, events…! After all, this is a platform for the industry by the industry. You can either contact our editor, Petra Hoyer Millar directly on editor@thedirt.news, or via our contact form.