Editorial Guide
Outdoor Living Magazines & Websites
Looking for an outdoor living magazine? Start with the kind of help you need: plants and garden design, practical project instructions, or regional lifestyle inspiration. These seven publications offer different mixes of print, web and video.
Publisher pages checked .
Golden Yards publishes this guide. We keep our own publication outside the seven-title comparison and explain our role below. The entries are alphabetical and unranked.
Compare at a glance
Follow a publication name for its sources and details. On small screens, scroll the table sideways.
| Publication | Start here for | Format and access |
|---|---|---|
| Better Homes & Gardens | Everyday gardening and seasonal outdoor ideas | Print subscription, web and app editions |
| Country Living | Country-style gardens, porches and outdoor decorating | Six print issues a year; digital and web options |
| Fine Gardening | Plant selection, growing techniques and garden composition | Print subscription and web; check the selected issue bundle |
| Garden Design | Garden layouts, planting inspiration and design examples | Web, newsletter and webinars; print ended in 2018 |
| Garden & Gun | Southern outdoor culture, gardens and lifestyle stories | Six print issues a year; web and digital options |
| Sunset | Western homes, gardens and indoor-outdoor living | Print/digital options; annual print output may vary |
| This Old House | Outdoor project techniques and how-to video | Web, TV/video and a member magazine archive |
How we selected and checked this list
We checked the linked publisher pages for subject coverage, publication format and access options on September 14, 2026. The reader-fit suggestions are our editorial interpretation of that coverage. This is a selected reading list, not an issue-by-issue quality test or a complete directory. Subscription offers and access conditions can change; check the selected offer before ordering.
Better Homes & Gardens
Everyday gardening and seasonal outdoor ideas
Plant care, lawn questions, container ideas and seasonal garden projects sit alongside the wider brand's home and food coverage.
- Format and access
- Print subscription, web and app editions
- Before you choose
- The gardening section is part of a broader home magazine. Check which print and digital benefits the selected subscription includes.
Publisher sources
Country Living
Country-style gardens, porches and outdoor decorating
The outdoor section brings together plants, lawn care, outdoor decorating and seasonal ideas within the publication's country-living perspective.
- Format and access
- Six print issues a year; digital and web options
- Before you choose
- Use the style ideas as a starting point, then choose plants and materials for your own climate and site. The publisher lists six paired-month issues annually.
Publisher sources
Fine Gardening
Plant selection, growing techniques and garden composition
Regional plant picks, garden design, sustainable landscape ideas and gardening techniques make this a useful starting point for readers focused on the planted landscape.
- Format and access
- Print subscription and web; check the selected issue bundle
- Before you choose
- Match regional advice to your growing conditions. Confirm the issue count and digital access in the offer you choose, including treatment of combined issues.
Publisher sources
Garden Design
Garden layouts, planting inspiration and design examples
Browse garden and landscape photographs, plant information and design ideas, including small spaces, containers and regional gardens.
- Format and access
- Web, newsletter and webinars; print ended in 2018
- Before you choose
- The publisher identifies Autumn 2018 as its final printed issue. Older print reviews and back issues should not be mistaken for a current print subscription.
Publisher sources
Garden & Gun
Southern outdoor culture, gardens and lifestyle stories
Southern homes, gardens, food, travel and sporting culture shape the publication's view of outdoor life.
- Format and access
- Six print issues a year; web and digital options
- Before you choose
- Choose it for the Southern cultural and design perspective. Check the selected subscription for included digital issues and archive access.
Publisher sources
Sunset
Western homes, gardens and indoor-outdoor living
The Western United States provides the setting for its homes, gardens, design, food and travel coverage.
- Format and access
- Print/digital options; annual print output may vary
- Before you choose
- The publisher's current print terms are content-based and do not guarantee a fixed number of issues. Review those terms if a regular print delivery is your priority.
Publisher sources
This Old House
Outdoor project techniques and how-to video
Its lawn-and-garden coverage includes yards, patios, pathways, fences and landscaping, with project instructions and video across the wider site.
- Format and access
- Web, TV/video and a member magazine archive
- Before you choose
- The linked Insider resource provides digital magazine archives. Archive access alone does not establish a subscription to new monthly print issues. Confirm the current offer if print is essential.
Publisher sources
Questions about outdoor living magazines
- Which outdoor living publication should I start with?
- Choose by the question you want to answer. Fine Gardening and Garden Design are starting points for plants and garden composition; This Old House for project techniques; Sunset for a Western lifestyle perspective; Country Living for country-style outdoor ideas; Garden & Gun for Southern culture; and Better Homes & Gardens for broad seasonal home-and-garden reading. These are editorial fit suggestions, not ranked scores.
- Is Garden Design magazine still available in print?
- Garden Design says its Autumn 2018 issue was the final printed issue. The brand continues through its website, newsletter and webinars. Existing back issues are different from a subscription to newly printed issues.
- Which options have current print subscriptions?
- The linked offers include print subscriptions for Better Homes & Gardens, Country Living, Fine Gardening, Garden & Gun and Sunset. Country Living and Garden & Gun state six issues per year. Sunset says annual print output can vary. Check the selected offer for issue count, delivery location and digital access. This Old House is included here for verified web, video and digital-archive access.
- Can I use a magazine article to set my project budget or permit plan?
- Use an article to collect ideas and questions, then check its date, location, scope and sources. For your project, confirm requirements with the relevant local agency and obtain a quote that includes site work, utilities, materials and other applicable costs. Golden Yards also publishes planning guides and calculators; their assumptions and illustrative examples need project-specific confirmation.
Full disclosure: this is us
Where Golden Yards fits
We publish outdoor project planning guides, local articles and calculators. Use our California landscaping guide to compare design and installation scope, or our driveway and paver guide to prepare questions about materials and site work.
Our driveway cost calculator lets you explore planning assumptions. Illustrative budgets are starting points for a project conversation; confirm your scope and price with a contractor. Our editorial standards explain how we approach coverage.
Turn your outdoor ideas into a project plan
Explore the journal for project scope, material choices and questions to ask before requesting quotes.
Browse the journal →