Overview:
GardensOnLine first went live in March 2000.
Over the years the content has grown so that today the Garden Shop offers thousands of products for sale and the Plantfinder database contains over 3,000 detailed profiles of popular garden plants and other plants of interest. Other resources include magazine style articles, garden glossary, activity calenders, garden doctor and "How-To's" in text and video.
Its all about making the activities of researching, shopping and gardening easier by putting everything you need in one place.
Millions of people from around the world visit GardensOnLine every year. Garden information is timeless and relevant wherever you live and although we are based in Australia we welcome our visitors from Argentina to Zaire, Iran to Japan, the UK, Canada, US, France, New Zealand and even the lost kingdom of Bhutan! (and everywhere in between).
Philosophy:
GardensOnLine was created with the express purpose of encouraging people to interact more with nature.
The very act of engaging with plants and everything necessary to nurture and raise healthy gardens is the most restorative and satisfying of activities for people of all ages.
Understanding how each plant has it's own specific requirements, how the eco-system surrounding each plant is made up of thousands of interdependent micro-organisms puts life into a perspective that drowns out the minutiae of modern life that plague us. It also provides us with the perfect demonstration of how we could be better at organising ourselves, our families, our communities and our countries.
"If every person on the planet spent one hour every day interacting with and nurturing plants, the world would be a very different place. It would be kinder, gentler, more understanding and compassionate."
For those who are not lucky enough to have a cultivatable space available to them, then surround yourself with plants indoors or on your apartment balcony.
All living things send out energy in the form of vibrations which, although largely unnoticed by us, affect us dramatically in the longer term. It is easier to maintain a sense of peace and stability when surrounded by greenery and flowers than any other environment.
For millennia humans have shared a common dream image of perfection or utopia. It invokes an overwhelming sense of safety, well being and peace.
It is a lush garden.
It is our ultimate place to be.
The Team:
Bob Saunders - managing director and editor
Bob is a writer, photographer and filmmaker who founded Sydney based communication design agency 'Carbon5' in 1986. A passionate gardener since his late teens, Bob combines his media production skills with an intense desire to create something good and useful.
Annie Saunders - director of retail and CFO
Annie is the scientist and organiser 'par excellence' on the team. Trained as a hospital laboratory technician she has extended her scientific skills to horticulture at the excellent North Ryde TAFE in Sydney. Annie is a passionate bush-walker and gardener while also managing the complex operating systems of supply and fulfillment for the GardensOnline shop.
Charlie (Charlotte) Saunders - Retail Operations
Charlie graduated from North Ryde TAFE with a Horticulture Cert3 qualification in 2023 and is an enthusiastic grower of indoor plants and succulents. But prior to that she accumulated many years face-to-face retail experience. She has a personality that exudes warmth and friendliness, so who better to interact with our customers and suppliers, keeping sales moving and ensuring deliveries reach their new home ASAP. Charlie also boasts a brain that is ultimately ordered, a walking spreadsheet, making her the natural choice to keep the thousands of products in the Garden Shop in order.
Peter Stewart - senior web developer, programmer (Tropicweave)
With a background in pure code writing with Microsoft, Peter turned his attention to the potential of the internet in the mid 90's and has developed some very large and complex business process websites along the way for many major national and multinational brand names. Peter developed the entire first version of GardensOnline site and business systems from scratch and again for the current third generation site in order to ensure that we have the latest technologies at our disposal. He is also a keen gardener, looking after the technical requirements of GardensOnline from his small-holding in Hobart, Tasmania.
Jason Ellis - design (Carbon5)
As the original creative director of Carbon5, Jason took over the design of GardensOnline in the early 2000's, transforming it to a world class user experience along the way. He is also a keen gardener (as all members of the team have to be !) and a fanatical blogger and tweeter on all things regarding contemporary design and aesthetics.
GardensOnline is also grateful to the team who originally brought it to life back in 2000 - including Julie, Rachel, Simon, David, Peter, Nick, Kiet, Natalie and Adrian, along with help and encouragement from many other folk including Sue from Perth and Jill from Spain for their involvement and encouragement.