Another in my series of gardening/growing magazine reviews. This magazine cannot be bought off the shelf and is a subscription only magazine. Most people will know the Which ? organisation who regard themselves as the largest consumer organisation in the UK with 650,000 members. Which ? Gardening is one of its stable of magazines that offer a specialist approach to consumer testing such as money, computers, holidays etc.

Which ? Gardening currently runs to 66 pages. The advantage of being a subscription magazine is that there are no advertisements and only about 4 pages of promotions. The downside is the cost. The current subscription is £13.75 per quarter (£55 per annum). However there are additional money saving promotions that go with this together with free fact sheets on a wide number of gardening subjects and an expert help line. So Which ? Gardening should not just be seen as a magazine but a service.

I sampled three editions from 2003, 2007 and 2008. I also had a chance to look at a 1996 edition. What is noticeable is that in 12 years Which ? Gardening has reduced its number of pages from 100 to 66 and reduced its actual size to a smaller page. In 1996 you definitley would have more magazine for your money and also a better read with more content. In 2008 style has crept in and you will find a lot more photos dominating the layout.

As you can expect, there are a variety of articles that include consumer tests and product comparisons together with ideas on projects for the garden. The current edition has a comparison test of tulip bulbs offering recommendations for best buys. I find this fascinating because I'm not sure if I would have consulted before going down to the garden centre and choosing bulbs based on colour, variety and price.

My main interest at the moment is in purchasing an electric garden shredder. I am currently influenced in the comparison test conducted by Kitchen Garden . This suggested that the Ryobi Quiet Shredder RSH2455 was a recommended machine based on three points: it is a quiet machine that will not noise the neighbours up; it has a 12 metre cable to eliminate the need for an extension reel; it has a reverse action button to assist with any blockages.

Which ? Gardening tested shredders in 2003 and 2007. One observation I made was how the prices of shredders have dropped considerably in 5 years. Last year they tested 12 models but not including the Ryobi model that I am interested in, probably because it might not have been on the market in 2007.

However the point of this observation is that Which ? Gardening had recommended a Bosch as its recommended best buy based upon its ease of setting up and simplicity of use. Even though it was criticised for being very noisy and prone to snatching the stuff for shredding from your hand. It made no mention of a reverse action button or length of cable, two specifications that Kitchen Garden felt were vital assets in a shredder.

For what it is worth, my view of these tests is that they are not conclusive and can only act as pointers. Putting both the Kitchen Garden and Which ? Gardening tests reports together has given a greater depth to guiding me towards the purchase that I will probably make.

Would I subscribe to Which ? Gardening ? Probably not, for the reason that I would feel tied to investing £55 per year while also shelling out on other mags during the month. I'm also concerned that it might have dumbed down quite a bit over the last twelve years.