I'm a pretty keen do-it-yourselfer and do a lot projects but the TOOL SHED has to be the forum. All about too big gadgets...sit down lawn mowers, pressure washers, chainsaws, etc. Toys for us boys. Somehow we've managed to have a great garden without having to rewire a leaf blower or customize our wheelbarrow tires.

sorry...it's got to be bamboo...
you just can't be sane to like bamboo...
i fight it all the time from a load of back fill my DH got...when I went on the forum to learn how to kill it ....well let's just say they're not right! Sorry! But I still shake my head a year and a half later!
:) Sorry to all you bamboo lovers...

I do wonder how much attention some of these very specific forums get. The forums are just like the radio; turn the dial 'til one suits you.

It isn't like I dislike any of the forums...I just have a hard time imagining why some people frequent the forums that have super-specific topics, like "ginger", "salvia", "bamboo", etc. Just for fun, I looked at some of the more narrow forums to see if they get any traffic. Surprisingly, a lot of them do.

However, "giant vegetables" doesn't seem to very popular. On the first page, there is a post that was most recently updated 2 whole months ago! To me, that suggests there aren't a lot of people who are obsessed with "giant vegetables".

There's one where the people just post pix of their huge expensive-looking lawn mowers. They say nothing about their gardens.

Also read a newbie thread where a few guys used incredibly detailed science on people - missing the actual queston, and a fight ensues among experts over minutia. All either lectured or were rather cruel to the other in their attempt to claim expertise. That kinda stuff can chill any forum.

I haven't looked at all the forums, but have you glanced at the mean-spirited posts on the Perennial forum about Loosestrife? A couple of us have tried to mediate but to no avail -- some of these guys evidently have nothing better to do than argue and belittle each other and everyone else.
Take it outside!

Any forum where there are a lot of frequent posters, but a lot of unanswered posts. Especially if the posts are from newbies.

Also any forum where people take things way too seriously.

pdxjules -

You must be talking about pictures like this:
{{gwi:725043}}
We do that over on the "Lawn and Garden Tractor Forum".

Sometimes the guys talk about their gardens but not very often (it is a tractor forum) and yes, we do get a little antsy but we generally have a good time.

ED

Ed- now that's a lawn tractor!! Hooo-rah!!!

i cant post on the lawn care forum anymore - at least i try not to - but sometimes i cannot help myself. i still like to read it and wonder?

I read a little of the compost forum, talk about some nasty self-rightous so and so's. For goodness sake, I know I don't do it perfect, but at least I'm not putting it in a landfill.

dieter2nc its odd that you see the compost forum in that light because i have found it to be just the opposite... the compost forum really helped me alot - for many years i always thought about composting but when i had done some research it all seemed very techncial; with temperatures and ratios and do this and dont do this and alot of conflicting information....so i never got started; until i found the compost forum on garden web - they made it sound so simple and really seemed to emphasize to do what works for you and ignore all the other stuff ... i have found the threads that describe what people put in their piles very informative and often times amusing. and i now have my own compost pile -

dieter2, I have to agree agree with joepyeweed on that one.

Most of the posts I've seen basically say, "Compost happens." I haven't been doing a lot of composting lately (excuses 21-39) but the soil, compost and mulch forum has renewed my enthusiasm.

Here's a fun discussion. Very technical though ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: You know you've got it bad when...

Another vote for the compost forum!! Most of those guys are really nice, and very helpful. In fact, I really can't think of a forum I dislike, but I think the hosta people are having the most fun.

perhaps the composters have changed in the two years since I last looked. I posted one question there and had my mail box full of arguements until I figured out how to stop the posts from coming to my mailbox. Not that they weren't trying to be helpful, I guess, but there seemed to be two completely different opionions on the answer, and they were less than civil with one another. They went so far as to chastise one another on spelling issues.

so far, i have not found a bad forum...
jennifer

I haven't found any bad forums on here either. To be truthful, I normally browse only those forums that pertain to my garden (or what I desire to plant there).

Is there really a bamboo forum??! I'm sure there must be all different types of the stuff, but I would have a hard time getting excited over talking about tall sticks too - or tractors for that matter (though I think riding one could be fun!.

I think it really all depends on your taste. I couldn't see me spending oodles of time discussing daylilies because they are simply not my kind of flower. However, I can respect someone who does love that flower because their passion for it is probably right up there with my love for roses. To each his own.

The one thing I can't condone are those who loose sight of respecting others for their opinion. Belittling someone because they don't agree with you is akin to what I deal with when teaching 3 year olds. One would hope that by adulthood we'd pass the need of getting a time-out for bad behavior. Alas, with some people this is just not so.

Heather

I'm here for a change of forum. I like many forums, but I always wonder what's up with the Native Plant forum. I keep trying to post questions and stimulate some discussion because I love native plants, but for some reason the posts fall flat. I feel lonely there and wonder where are all the people. The most lively posts are always about identifying unknown plants. Geesh!

I don't have a least favorite, but there are a couple that I keep getting warned about. A few of the forums here are really getting bad reputations. So I just avoid those. Don't want to name them, in case they're a favorite of anybody here.

Not precisely a forum but:

for those of us who are Antipodean and post questions when it's our winter - we have a l-o-n-g wait until someone at the north end starts arriving at winter and is prepared to offer an answer.

I like ones such as Violets, Orchids and Hostas where the posters are friendly, well-informed, and seriously in love with their special plants. It's easy to learn a lot at those sites.

Wildlife is negative and argumentative, which makes me sad....and I like Salvia, owl!

I like the soil forum too. Found the posters friendly, funny & kind of wierd...but maybe I am wierd too... I didn't find them self righteous at all.

I found most forums informative, although some posters are a bit rude.

One particular thread in the perennials forum was rather nasty. A gardener complained about a new neighbor buying a large supply of perennials instead of starting them from seeds and that got the gardener's goat. Many posters joined in berating the new gardener...on and on.... I can imagine the new neighbor bleeding figuratively from the claws. Sad.

There are so many I don't visit it's hard to decide.

Al

First time I have ever dropped in on this forum. And, as to this thread, all I can say is: hmm, this thread is really kind of humorous isn't it? Isn't this thread kind of like the pot calling the kettle black to come to the favorites forum to "dis" other forums for having bad attitudes or boring topics? What's this whole thread about if not the same thing? I admit I use and enjoy many of the forums mentioned, so am slightly offended.

Also, FWIW, I am guilty of all of the above, from time to time. Being boring or very interested in a narrow topic. Ultimately, every forum is about exchanging ideas. My ideas, like my moods, run from hot to cold depending on what kind of hair day I'm having. I try to remember that coming, reading and posting is all voluntary so I should just enjoy the things that my taste say are good and ignore that which seems bad, boring or oeverly contentious to me. Some folks just enjoy a little bare knuckles debate sometimes. But, its true, some lose perspective. Ultimately, when it comes to what is interesting, worthwhile or not, one man's trash is another's treasure, they say. That is why I really enjoy the large number of forums one has to choose from on Garden Web. Everyone can suit themselves.

If everyone worried too much about whether their thoughts were interesting or civil enough to post, there wouldn't be much said and no one would be here, right?

Maybe, they should start another forum called "snooty folks looking down their noses at other forums and posters". Hope no one is more offended then I started out being. :)

I like them all! I have never had anyone be nasty or act
like they were offended because I asked a question.
I love gardening of every type. I might not try some
of these plants or trees if not for getting all the
information that is listed on these forums. I just this
year started composting, I have always wanted to do this
but it seemed to big a task to get started, But the good
people of the compost forum have been patient with me
and helped me through it. I have not been on all the
forums, but do try to look at a new one each week.
I might never know what I might be missing.
Cheers Lori

The Cutting Garden forum is my least favorite. There is a clique on that site that thinks they know all there is to know about growing cutflowers. Newbies don't stay around. So, I don't know how those people over there learn. I guess they just keep rehasing the same stuff.
It's pretty sad when one posts there, and some of them jump on you. I won't go back, and, wonder if anyone else has had the same experience.

So far, I have met only lots of friendly and helpful people.
I also like both the bamboo (never grew it) and salvia forums (never knew there was so many kinds.

i, too, like most of the forums, some ppl do get to techinal, but i just figure thats because they know so much more than me--lol--but everyone tries to be helpful, even a old-timer like me can learn. if i dont care for that forum, i just dont go back--living in the ozarks, i just cant understand the forum where ppl use commodes, or bathtubs, for flower beds, but --to each his own.

I visited a few forums a couple of times and quit, but it wasn't because of the forum itself, it was because of some of the posters. I guess in some of the forums, people can be sort of snotty, especially in the specific plant forums where you have serious collectors, but all in all, I've gotten lots of great info from them, and if I have a question, I've always gotten them answered in a timely fashion.

My least-loved forum du jour is "Aroids". Not that anyone is nasty, or it's boring or anything else. It's just that I was recently infected with the Aroid-collecting virus, and I don't really need another addiction :-) In short, the only forum I momentarily dislike is the one that corresponds to the start of (another) plant obsession on my part!

I am usually at the roses forum and I can't believe how much I have learned. I had planted some bamboo once and after a few years decided to take it out. Yikes! That gets a root system that is close to impossible to get out.

So far everybody has been polite & helpful at every forum I've posted on. I think gardeners tend to be very nice, laid-back people. Although, one forum I was lurking on in particular had a thread with around 100 posts on it with some pretty hot dicussion. It's fine with me if they enjoy having little arguments, but they lady that had posted the question asking for help was getting a little overwhelmed. And they didn't seem to be getting anywhere...
On the other hand, when two or more people disagree with each other, some posters get very uncomfortable with any conflict and take it [in my opinion] a little too seriously. I think it's ok to have a little debate, as long as the parties involved keep in mind that the person on the other line is a human too. That's my 2¢...

I still "dislike" the Aroid forum because I'm finding more and more plants I Must Have. It just feeds my plantaholism :-)

I don't mind a little argument from time to time, so that part doesn't bother me much. But then, I work in an argumentative kind of field, so...

You mean there is actually a salvia forum. whoopteedo! I want more salvias, need more spikey blooms for fall arrangements. This will be a terrific resource. Thanks.

As far as forums I don't like, I haven't visited many, but two that came across as snooty a few years ago was Interior decorating, which has now changed and I visited, cuz a cottage gardener encouraged me to returen. The other was art - it left such a distaste for me, I haven't been back. It is a show-off forum by people who think they know everything about art. chuckle. I am a professional artist and instructor - was hoping for some nice discussion - think again. Maybe I'll check it out and see whether it has changed too.

oogy, if it is a welcoming forum you want, come on over to the Cottage gardening forum, stop by our porch for a spot of tea or a cuppa joe, then we'll tour my garden and some others. If you keep visiting you will soon feel your self a fast friend of those frequenting the cottage. Plus we got a conversation side of the forum going, cuz cottage is a way of life, not just gardening. As if that weren't enuf, we were just given a gallery - how great is that. So come on over and meet some new cottage friends of all ages and from all places in the U.S., Canada, UK and Portugal, so far. It is so fun learning about a few things in the other countries too.
jan

Any exchange forum, the post office now owns the second and third morgages on my house ;)
*kidding!* I actually love trading, but I mostly just give my stuff away now, I have too much =)
GW

I have decided I don't like the Salvia forum for the same reason I don't like the Aroid forum. They both just feed my addiction to new and interesting plants. :-)