The National Home Gardening Club is a membership organization dedicated to sharing a love for gardening. Members receive six issues of Gardening How-To Magazine and gain special privileges to enter contests, receive gardening advice, post in forums, trade seeds, test new garden products and gain special members-only discounts. The best way to know if a membership is worth your while is to visit www.gardeningclub.com and take it for a one-month free test drive, which will give you full access to the site, as well as a free issue of their informative magazine.
Regular members of the National Home Gardening Club receive the Gardening How To Magazine, the ability to test new (free) gardening products, full access to the club website, a chance to win club giveaways, gardening tips from other members, professional answers to your gardening questions, free gifts, newsletters, books and videos. Life members of the gardening club receive all the same things as regular members, but with lifetime access. They’ll also get a Life Member ID card, key-ring, gardening mat, gloves and gifts valued at $165. Premier Life Members receive all the benefits of regular life members, plus get a $45 gift certificate to www.createmycookbook.com, discounts from retailers, a free hotline with answers from a gardening expert, discounts on club seminars and garden events, free online vegetable/herb garden planning service for one year and travel discounts.
Annual dues for the National Home Gardening Club range from $12 to $18/year, with annual calls for renewal. Life members pay a one-time fee of $250, including a dues deduction if they were previously a regular member. Many participants choose to pay installments on their membership fee. Gardeners ages 65+ will receive a $50 discount. A Premier Life Membership costs an additional $99 (or six installments of $16.50) on top of the regular Life Membership. In the forums, home vegetable gardening and home flower gardening enthusiasts say that the Life Membership is worth it just to not have to remember to pay dues again. They also say they like getting the bi-monthly magazines and gifts.
However, most life members of the National Home Gardening Club will tell you they joined for the friendships. “Honestly, it is the people that make the site,” one member writes. Some avid gardeners talk about sharing their gardening experiences with people they met on the site over ten years ago. There are many active members from around the country on the club’s website, especially in places like Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma and Texas, which have from 137 to 646 topics each. The “Seed Swap” section in the forum is pretty hopping too, with over 2,009 topics. Whether you’re looking for orange cosmos, cotton, red yucca, tropical hibiscus, cacti, sweet pea, peter peppers, pink columbine or roses, you will find them here for free! Just send some of your extra seeds in return! This club has its rewards if you are interested in these activities.
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