There are tens of millions of blogs online today and a goodly portion are devoted to the garden. Gardening is one of the most popular hobbies in the world and Americans are no different. Even gardeners with decades of experience can learn much from a good garden blog, so you might imagine the treasures for the novice gardener! One of the latest trends in blogging, on any topic, is to focus on a niche and the garden blogs are no exception.

While you'll also find blogs devoted to general gardening topics, there are also many which focus on a particular aspect of gardening. For example, one blogger might dedicate his attention to growing bonsais, covering every facet of the bonsai connoisseur's interests, from pruning and grafting techniques to containers and soil composition. On the other hand, the general type of garden blog might be your choice if you don't know much about gardening at all. The general type has information on heirloom seeds, greenhouse gardening, rose cultivation and soil preparation. This type of garden blog is typically divided into categories, so it's easy to find whatever information you seek. These can also help you find your own gardening niche – you'll know when you find yourself reading every post on greenhouse gardening and jumping into the forum fray to chat with other greenhouse enthusiasts.

So how do you go about finding a blog that suits your taste and interests? Google 'directories garden blogs' and go explore! Spend some time at each that looks interesting. Compare the quality of content and find ones with regular postings. If the blog is interactive, with plenty of reader's comments and has an active forum or message board, you might have hit the jackpot. As you find good ones, bookmark them and start making regular visits. Good garden blogs will have an e-newsletter. Go ahead and subscribe – they're free and provide lots of valuable information you might otherwise miss.

All bloggers know that they must provide outstanding and frequent content in order to stand out from the crowd and get regular readers. A good blogger may start out as an expert, but is always doing more research to give their readers the best and most up to date information as possible. So you can afford to be choosy – you're out to learn as much as you can about your particular gardening interest. If you find your favorite garden blog seems to be lagging, with less frequent posts or poor quality of information, just move on.

Reading garden blogs are a great way to spend a rainy winter afternoon, chasing away those garden blues. With your regular attendance at your favorite garden blogs, you can also become an expert in your own right!