Customer Rating: 
Summary: Artsy, inspiring, great source for ideas and trends
Comment: I've been a subscriber for 4 years, it was given at first as a gift ( nice idea, that).
NOT a how -to.
Not even educational about plant specifics, as Horticulture Mag. is.
But, very inspiring, and worth saving stacks of them for those dreary late winter and muddy early spring days when one is tired of looking at the drab landscape. This magazine provides stunning color and design concepts to translate into one's own garden space.
One of the few magazines I keep on hand for bursts of motivation and ideas.
A drawback is that it is published 7 x a year, sometime in 2 month intervals, sometimes comes once a month, and it is hard to immediately know when a issue does not arrive on schedule. ( which has happened recently).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gardening as a Lifestyle
Comment: I have subscribed to Garden Design for some time, and have given it as Christmas presents. As someone else noted, the cover is seductive, and I think that is how I got hooked years ago. The little quotes on the bottom of every page make me read the magazine through multiple times. I keep my back copies to reference whenever I need an idea for my garden (especially useful in the rainy winter months).Be aware that this is not a magazine that is heavy on gardening, but it is heavy on design. You will learn very little about horticulture, but a lot about what is trendy and stylish, and I guess like many fashion magazines the fun here is in being a voyeur.
Would I ever paint the wall around my back yard hot magenta as one designer did? Probably not -- but I thought about painting it terra cotta. Would I ever buy the $2000 umbrella and stand to dine under -- definitely not, but I would love to dine under one.
So Garden Design is fun and frivilous, inspiring and thought provoking. Just don't look for information about what is wrong with your tomatoes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pros and Cons
Comment: Pros: It is beautiful to look at. The feel of it is nice and the photography is top notch. It showcases innovative design & people in the industry.Cons: Not very practical in terms of instruction. It's good for getting ideas but there isn't much instruction on how the garden shown got to that point. It has a lot of product reviews that are, for the most part, for very expensive products.
I don't look forward to reading it as much as say "Fine Gardening" which I read cover to cover.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Comment: I am a landscape design student and I love this magazine. Excellent articles accompanied by excellent pics and not as many ads as other magazines (the ads are getting very obnoxious). This magazine is really helping me through school.
Customer Rating:
Summary: For Avid Gardeners
Comment: I'm not an avid gardener, so this magazine is a little out of my league. Garden Design is written for those who are really passionate about cultivating their gardens and are committed to being a more successful gardener. But I can't resist the breathtaking cover of each issue and the luscious photos throughout! Just because I'm not a pro doesn't mean I don't enjoy this magazine. Although it is thinner than most (around 105 pages), it is full of garden inspiration from extensive articles on shaping a garden from nature to short snippets about a particular flower. Some departments include Access (how to incorporate some of the ideas into your home), info on where to find things (when you have to have that Aster featured on the cover), From the Editor, Dirt (backyard birding, fall cleanup, etc.), Technique, Sage Advice, and Options (to find out what all the rage is in gardening), not to mention the lengthier features from month to month.
