Garden Club

Gardening Content/Garden Club

May 2021

Goal

The goal of the Gardening Content program is to build a robust library of accurate, science-based gardening guides. The objective is to inspire and inform readers about all aspects of gardening, with emphasis on vegetable and flower growing, lawn care, and indoor gardening with houseplants. We believe that when we support new gardeners with factual, helpful information throughout the gardening journey, they will return for more inspiration and more products from The Home Depot.

Gardening Content

Garden-related articles live in ETCH articles and are discoverable on the Garden Projects & Ideas ALP. The content is optimized for search and curated in partnership with the Earned Media team. Garden-related articles are distributed to partners and channels including the Outdoor Living Pod, CRM/Garden Club, and the Print team.

Gardening activity is affected by seasons and regions, and due to HD’s footprint, we serve a national (and when you include HD Canada and HD Mexico, an international) audience. Therefore, content is crafted with an emphasis on a national audience and care is taken to specify regions according to the USDA hardiness zone map.

Garden Club History

Garden Club is a CRM program with an active blog from 2012 until 2020. The content existed on a Wordpress subdomain (gardenclub.homedepot.com) and was served up in targeted weekly emails that featured Garden Center coupons. Garden Club paused FW9 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Garden Club returned as a banner in the promo email in Q2 2020.

Planning

Historically, Garden Club quarterly planning began 4 to 6 months out. (Ex., Q1 planning began in August). Deadlines were 10 weeks from deployment to accommodate the email team’s build and proof process. With the new PAM modules, CRM turns around emails in 3 to 4 weeks.

With that in mind, currently, Garden Club planning is on a shorter cadence and the deadlines for content featured in email align with CRM’s kickoff date (usually 3 weeks). Refer to Smartsheets for dates.

Outdoor Living Pod planning is in two parts: 1 H and 2 H. Their email sends are “always on” and so we now provide content in “stories” based on segments and the customer journey.

For all partners, once the editorial calendar is set, the Content team enters the Workfront requests. A Workfront template for DIY/Garden Club emails has been developed to align with our partners needs.

Images

Garden Club relies primarily on stock images and vendor-supplied images available in Aprimo DAM.

• When selecting images from Adobe or Shutterstock, verify plant identification.

• In Aprimo DAM (and stock photos, too), verify that the plants are live and not silk (faux). THD sells faux plants like houseplants, orchids and poinsettias.

Organic and Sustainable

As the world’s largest home improvement retailer, The Home Depot sells more organic-branded product than any other competitor. Additionally, surveys of our readers and new gardeners indicate that organic gardening (that is, gardening without synthetic chemicals or herbicides) is top-of-mind and preferred. Towards that goal, gardening content emphasizes building healthy soil, teaching Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques, and encourages organic weed control methods as a first line of attack.

Sources for Gardening Content Expertise

Cooperative Extension Service publications are a free source for science-based gardening advice. Many are peer-reviewed, the standard in academic horticultural advice. To search, add "site:edu" to your search engine query.

For Live Goods questions, check with Dan Stuppiello (Div. Merch. Manager for Live Goods) and assistant Kimberly Impagliazzo. Additionally, we have access to the network of HD exclusive growers and vendors for questions about products, plants and how to grow and care for them.

Vendor Content

The currently existing vendor content is carried over from the WP subdomain. Stories are credited as “Presented by” with the vendor’s name at the beginning.

Photo credits are at the end. “Photos by” and the photographer and vendor name.

As of June 1, 2021, new vendor gardening content is not available. See the Garden Club Vendor Content SOP for guidelines used when the program was active.

Simple Tips/Garden Sense

These were brief, 300-word gardening tips used in the email program from its beginning until Q1 2018. Beginning with Q1 2018, the program became “Garden Sense.” The Simple Tips were written by an agency (Garden Media Group) and were deployed by region in the weekly emails. Some of these garden tips and projects were migrated in Etch Articles in 2020. The Garden Sense program was paused FW9 2020. All Garden Sense (and Simple Tips) editorial calendars remain in Smartsheets. The Q2 2020 Garden Sense Smartsheet was created but not deployed.

Project Guides

Best-in-class garden project guides include clearly written, step-by-step instructions that align with step-by-step photos. Hero and thumbnail show the completed project, preferably as an inspirational lifestyle photo. The final section image shows the completed project.

Links

·      Try to include at least one product link in each guide section. Link to PLP’s, not PIPs.

·      Copy is brand agnostic, and rarely links directly to product.

·      Pull a proper canonical link. Never use “text search” links.

In listicle-type guides, it’s ok link off to other gardening guides within sections. Ex. Learn more in How to Grow Grapes.

Keyword tags

Tags serve several purposes. They help readers find relevant information in their search and tags help track performance  enabling us to curate and serve up content to the readers.

Plant Names, Botanical Latin and Cultivars

Gardening content aligns with AP style.

Per AP Style Guide (2011)

“In general, lowercase the names of plants, but capitalize proper nouns or adjectives that occur in a name.

Some examples: tree, fir, white fir Douglas fir, Scotch pine; clover, white clover, white Dutch clover.

If a botanical name is used, capitalize the first word; lowercase others: pine tree (Pinus), red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), blue azalea (Callicarpa americana), Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioica).”

Cultivars are the names that growers apply to their branded plants. We occasionally call out and link to cultivars in gardening content. Criteria for linking: must be sold online and widely available in Garden Centers.

Format for cultivars: Brand name followed by the common name in lower case, botanical name capitalized in parentheses, comma, followed by the cultivar in single quotes, first word capitalized, subsequent words lowercase.

Ex., Proven Winners’ butterfly bush (Buddleia), ‘Pugster blue.’

For consistency across the platform, defer to category page style for specific plant names.

Ex. include daylily,  crepe myrtle

Notes on Garden Copy

Indoor plants and houseplants are used interchangeably.

Shrubs and bushes, same.

 Word Style and Usage

• Backyard

• Bare root (as in roses)

• Birdhouse

• Fire pit

• Front yard

• Gardening gloves

• Ground cover

• Raised garden bed (not gardening), or raised bed on second reference

Holidays:

• Valentine’s Day

• Mother’s Day

• Father’s Day

• July 4 (verify with THD style)

More Notes on Style

Plants can fit into more than one category. Ex., hydrangeas are woody perennial shrubs known for their blooms. They are treated as annuals in northern zones. Another ex.: crepe myrtles are commonly treated as shrubs, but they can reach tree height. Guidance is to follow category page classification for the plants mentioned.

Garden Center is always capitalized. The Garden Club program made a point of calling out Garden Center associates for their expertise, (“as a Garden Center associate…”). We no longer make this call-out.

Master Gardener

Master Gardener is a volunteer training program available from Cooperative Extension Services in each state. Trainees earn a certificate by completing coursework and volunteer hours. In Georgia, trainees complete 50 hours of coursework and 50 hours of volunteer work in the first year to obtain a certificate. To remain active, MG’s volunteer at educational events and consult on approved gardening projects in their communities. Unlike “master electrician” and “master plumber,” it is improper to refer to a person as a “master gardener,” whether or not they have a MG certificate. When quoting a source who has a MG certificate, they are properly referred to as “Master Gardener Extension Volunteer.” Master Gardener Extension Volunteers represent the land grant universities through their certificate affiliation and do not endorse products. They are advocates for science-based gardening information.

The Difference Between Plant Food and Plant Fertilizer

Plant food is a natural process. Plant fertilizer is a product. Plant fertilizer products nourish the soil around plants. Plants, whether grass, houseplants, vegetables, flowers, shrubs or trees, pull the nutrients up through the roots via water. You may think you're applying fertilizer to the plant, but you're really amending the soil. (If plants are growing in healthy soil that meets all their needs, they do not need fertilizer, the soil provides all the nutrition the plant needs.) Plant food is the goal of photosynthesis, what plants create from the nutrients, plus water, sun and air.

Horticulturists and people who know plants will never use the term "plant food" to refer to a product. However, it's a popular term. HomeDepot.com resolves the issue inclusively: https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Plant-Care-Plant-Food-Fertilizer/Organic/N-5yc1vZc8qzZ1z1d45y?. Be aware that some fertilizer products are labelled "plant food."

In gardening guide content, preference is for use of fertilize and fertilizer. Use "plant food" only when describing a product that is labeled "plant food." It's okay in an inspirational feature-type story to describe "feeding" plants, but avoid using on a first reference.

Plant Lists and Regional Lists

• Lists of plants and regions are alphabetical. 

• For reading ease, plants are listed with common name followed by italicized Latin name in parentheses, where appropriate.

Ex. Daylily (hemerocallis), Black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia)

Health and Wellness Claims

• Be mindful of repeating marketing claims that are not verifiable by science.

• Be careful of advising on medicinal plants. We are not experts on medicinal plants.

• Make sure that plants you recommend for eating are sold as edibles, not ornamentals.

Safety

You can verify that plants are safe/unsafe for cats and dogs on the product page (see left rail filters).

When writing about herbicides and pesticides, including organic products, always include how to safely store products away from pets and children.

Food & Recipe Stories

Garden Club is well-positioned to tell garden-to-table and grill-to-table stories. These guides often includes recipes. We work with vendors and production partners like Food 52 to source recipe content. Emphasis is on fresh ingredients like vegetables and herbs that readers can grow at home. We run only original photography for recipes, never stock photos.

• Temperatures are written out. Ex., 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

•  Follow GC style for recipes.

Recipe Example., from How to Grow Corn

Corn on the Cob Smeared with Chili Butter Recipe

provided by Weber.

This is an easy recipe to multiply. Serve these ears of corn at your next barbecue and you'll wake up more than your taste buds.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 minutes

Grilling time: 12 to 14 minutes 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves 

• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste

• 4 ears fresh corn, husked

Instructions:

1. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (350 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. In a small bowl, mix together the butter ingredients. Lightly coat each ear of corn with butter.

3. Brush the cooking grates clean. Grill the corn over direct medium heat, with the lid closed, until browned in spots and tender, 12 to 14 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove from the grill.

4. Generously brush the remaining butter on the corn. Serve warm.