About Gartenspaß

Gartenspaß

Gartenspaß is a German monthly gardening magazine published by the BurdaVerlag – the offshoot of the flagship Mein schöner Garten brand for garden beginners and hands-on hobby gardeners. Billed as "Das Garten-Magazin mit den vielen Schritt-für-Schritt-Anleitungen" (the garden magazine with the many step-by-step instructions), Gartenspaß makes gardening easy – "Gärtnern leicht gemacht" – with practical DIY tips, seasonal plant care and illustrated guides that show every hand movement. Launched in 2000, the magazine celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025 – a quarter-century as the approachable, beginner-friendly voice of the Burda garden family, the magazine for real garden lovers with dirty hands.

Overview

Gartenspaß appears monthly as the accessible gardening magazine for readers who are discovering gardening or who garden with joy rather than ambition: the beginners taking their first steps, the young families greening their first garden, the balcony gardeners working in containers and the hobbyists who want practical guidance without the expert jargon. The magazine's formula – many step-by-step instructions, clear photography, seasonal topics, the "Garden-Basic" series – makes gardening approachable: each issue breaks the month's tasks into illustrated steps that turn novices into confident gardeners.

The editorial program follows the gardening year with the beginner's needs in mind: the spring's sowing and planting – the April issues with lawn care, island beds and Easter tulips; the summer's tending and harvesting – the June issues with beans, hydrangeas and the small farm around the house; the autumn's storing and the winter's planning – each issue with the practical instructions for its season. The "Garten Praxis" sections provide the hands-on content: from the obelisk for climbing plants to the slug fence, from dividing ornamental lilies to supporting perennials – the concrete projects illustrated step by step.

The readership is the gardening mainstream's younger, more casual segment: where Mein schöner Garten – Europe's market-leading garden magazine with its 178,000-copy circulation – serves the ambitious hobby gardener with opulent photography and expert depth, Gartenspaß serves the reader who wants to get started, to try things out, to experiment. "Today's gardeners want to experiment, to embrace a little wilderness," as deputy editor-in-chief Kornelia Friedenauer puts it – the editorial philosophy that welcomes the imperfect, the trying, the learning garden.

The magazine's visual and thematic evolution over 25 years mirrors the changing garden aesthetics and the readers' growing sophistication: where bright yellow, red and orange were "in" in 2000, softer pastel shades dominate today; where the first issues taught green-bean growing, today's issues teach homegrown ginger and chicken-keeping around the house; where insect protection was once a niche topic, it is now a central editorial pillar – from bee-friendly flowers to overwintering tips for beneficial insects, the ecological consciousness that the beginner's magazine carries to the next generation of gardeners.

History

Gartenspaß was launched in 2000 as an offshoot of Mein schöner Garten – the BurdaVerlag's extension of its successful garden brand to the beginner segment, the "lebendige Ergänzung mit praktischen DIY-Tipps und saisonaler Pflanzenpflege" (lively complement with practical DIY tips and seasonal plant care) for readers who think of themselves as garden beginners. The first issue's cover became an instant anecdote: the lady originally had red-painted fingernails and knelt on a towel – quickly changed, because Gartenspaß is a magazine for real garden lovers, "and dirty hands are just part of the deal." The correction set the tone: the approachable, unpretentious, hands-in-the-soil gardening magazine.

Over 25 years, the magazine evolved continuously – not only in content but optically, with new rubrics and fresh typography, the team constantly testing what resonates best with the target group. The insect-protection theme grew from a niche concern to a central pillar: the editorial team learned how much the topic matters to readers when a snow-forsythia post on the magazine's Instagram page triggered immediate critical comments – "but does it offer anything for insects?" – the social-media discourse that showed the readers' ecological engagement. Where the early issues taught green-bean growing, today's issues teach ginger cultivation; where the 2000 garden was bright and formal, today's garden embraces pastel softness and a little wilderness.

The editorial continuity has been remarkable: deputy editor-in-chief Kornelia Friedenauer has been with the magazine since its very first issue, developing it steadily with her team and bringing the latest garden trends to the readers – the quarter-century of editorial stewardship behind the beginner-friendly title.

The 25th anniversary in 2025 – celebrated by Burda with a retrospective asking "Aber – ist es nicht immer dasselbe?" (But – isn't it always the same?) – marked a quarter-century of the beginner-friendly garden magazine: the answer being that the garden, the gardeners and the magazine have all changed, from the 2000 launch to the contemporary title.

Content and Sections

The editorial program of Gartenspaß follows the gardening year for beginners, structured around the step-by-step instruction as the signature format. The illustrated guides show each hand movement – from sowing seeds to planting seedlings, from pruning shrubs to harvesting vegetables – the "Gärtnern leicht gemacht" promise fulfilled in every issue, the visual pedagogy that makes the beginner confident.

The seasonal topics structure the year: the spring issues on sowing, lawn care ("Alles für die Rasenpflege"), island beds ("7 Tipps für ein Inselbeet"), Easter tulips and spring festivals; the summer issues on harvesting pleasures ("Erntegenuss"), bean growing, hydrangea trends and the small farm with chickens around the house ("Meine kleine Farm: Hühner & Co. rund ums Haus"); the autumn and winter issues on the seasons' respective tasks – the complete gardening calendar for the learning gardener.

The "Garten Praxis" sections provide the hands-on projects: from the obelisk for climbing plants to the island bed, from the slug fence ("Schneckenzaun einbauen") to the perennial support ("Stauden richtig stützen"), from dividing ornamental lilies ("Schmucklilien teilen") – the DIY content that turns readers into makers, each project with its materials, its steps and its result.

The plant portraits introduce the varieties for the growing collection: from new strawberry sorts with care tips ("Leckere Erdbeeren: Neue Sorten + Pflegetipps") to the latest hydrangea bloom trends, from the most beautiful white varieties to the seasonal stars – the plant knowledge portioned for the beginner's appetite.

The insect-protection and ecology content – from bee-friendly flowers to overwintering tips for beneficial insects – reflects the magazine's ecological evolution: the beginner's magazine teaching the next generation to garden with nature, not against it.

Publisher and Organization

Gartenspaß is published by the BurdaVerlag Publishing GmbH – part of Hubert Burda Media, the media group behind Mein schöner Garten, Freundin, Bunte, InStyle and other titles. The deputy editor-in-chief is Kornelia Friedenauer, with the magazine since its first issue in 2000. The magazine appears monthly – the April 2026 issue (04/2026) and June 2026 issue (06/2026) documented on the Burda e-paper platform – and is available in print and digitally at gartenspass.com.

Digital Presence

The digital home of Gartenspaß is gartenspass.com, the portal that extends the monthly magazine into the digital channels. The Burda e-paper platform (verlag.epaper.burda.com) offers the digital editions – the monthly issues available as e-papers alongside the print magazine, from the current issue back through the archive. The social-media channels – including the Instagram page where the forsythia debate showed the readers' ecological passion – carry the brand into the networks where the gardening community discusses its passion, shares its successes and questions its practices.

With its 2000 launch, its monthly rhythm, its step-by-step-instruction formula, its 25th anniversary in 2025 and its position in the Burda garden family alongside Mein schöner Garten, Gartenspaß remains the beginner-friendly gardening magazine – from the first issue's towel-kneeling cover to the anniversary retrospective, from green beans to homegrown ginger, from the printed monthly to the digital e-paper, the magazine for real garden lovers with dirty hands.