The Planthunter

The Planthunter - a new Australian online magazine which celebrates plants, and the ways we interact with them.

Image by Anna Thomas for an article in The Planthunter's debut edition, out this month.

Image from 'Botanical Roadtripping', an article by Richard Unsworth in The Planthunter's debut edition, out this month.

Image from a conversation with Sydney based florist Dr Lisa Cooper - an article by Georgina Reid in The Planthunter's debut edition.

The Planthunter - a new Australian online magazine which celebrates plants, and the ways we interact with them.

The Planthunter is a brilliant new Australian independent online publication which launched just this month.  Sitting somewhere between blog and online magazine, The Planthunter celebrates plantlife in all its forms, and is the brainchild of super clever Sydney based landscape designer, writer and sometime photographer Georgina Reid.  Each month The Planthunter will publish new content tied to a specific theme, and for their launch edition that theme is a little unexpected - Death! I've never met Georgina personally but I have to say, judging by her beautiful work on the launch edition of The Planthunter, and her warm, generous responses to our interview questions below, I'm guessing she is one awesome lady! Her intuitive emphasis on ensuring unique, interesting, and 'super dooper high quality' content is a passion we seem to have in common! The Planthunter combines an intelligent and entertaining edit of plant-related content, from thoughtful opinion pieces, to conversations with a great variety of clever planty folk, to Pinterest-worthy gardens for  inspiration at home, and a healthy pinch of horticultural know-how - it's a fantastic, informative and very inspiring mix. 'Wandering across the cultural landscape, secateurs in hand, The Planthunter explores the endlessly curious connections between people and plants' says Georgina of her friendly little publication. 'It is beautiful, interesting, irreverent, and important, and there is nothing else like it'.  Couldn't have put it better myself. We asked Georgina a few questions about her own career trajectory, and the genesis of The Planthunter !

Hi Georgina! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

I am a landscape designer and writer with a plant obsession. I have been designing gardens for nearly a decade now, beginning my career with Jamie Durie many moons ago – a baptism of fire! In 2011 I started my own landscape design studio – Reid & Friends. The Planthunter is a culmination of the many years I have spent thinking about the varied relationships between people and plants, through designing, writing and gardening.

How did your obsession with plants begin? Do you have an inherent green thumb or horticultural/garden design background?

I think I have green blood! I grew up on a farm, with a horticulturalist mother and plenty of space to build gardens, cubby houses, and the like. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of traipsing around behind my mother while she gardened. I suspect I was more of a hindrance than a help in those days! I have been gardening all my life, in one way or another, although it took me a long time for me to take my love of plants seriously. I tried out all sorts of other creative careers until one day I stumbled upon landscape design. That was that, I was sold! I quit my job in the media and threw myself into studying landscape design and horticulture.

Briefly can you tell us about The Planthunter – how will it operate, how regularly will content go up, what can we expect to see from you?

The Planthunter content is organised around monthly themes. As you probably know, the theme for the first month (November) is death. This story explains why I chose it. The theme for the second month (December) is celebration. Yes, a little lighter! We already have some wonderful contributors on board for this one and it’s shaping up to be rather lovely. Phew! Some other themes we have up our sleeves include shelter, memory, theatre, sex, myth and plenty of others. Enough for a few years! We will be uploading a minimum of one or two stories a week (hopefully more!), depending on how much content we have (although for the first issue I wanted to get all the content live prior to launching so readers could get a good feel for the site from the get-go). The Planthunter is a labour of love at this stage! I need to make sure I am spending time on my design business too, as that’s how I earn my keep. And, most importantly, I want to make sure the content we are posting is unique, interesting, and super dooper high quality! If this means posting less often, then that’s how we will roll. Quality over quantity and all that jazz! Expect the unexpected! Expect a collection of stories rich with warmth, authenticity and humour. Expect tales of everyday people creating astounding beauty. Expect a splash of style, a big chunk of know-how, and inspiration by the bucket load. Expect to fall in love with plants. A modest goal for a friendly little planty website, non?!

Who's involved in The Planthunter?

I am the ringleader of The Planthunter circus, supported by lion tamer Amber Creswell Bell and tightrope walker Hayley West. We have a number of wonderful contributors on board including Hetty McKinnon, Anna Thomas, Richard Unsworth, and many others, including your lovely photographer friend Brooke Holm, who is contributing to the December issue!

What's next for The Planthunter?

I have heaps of ideas for The Planthunter, however, given it’s only two weeks old, I am focusing on the basics – creating and sourcing amazing content, building a strong contributor and readership base, and spreading the word via social media. Once we have found our feet, and I have some spare time, the fun begins! Events, workshops, and secret plant societies – I have so many plans for The Planthunter! I can’t want to implement them but at the moment I am trying my hardest to be super disciplined – the responsibility of creating a beast like The Planthunter is only just sinking in! You can check out The Planthunter and subscribe to their newsletter updates here!  It's top quality content and 100% free so you really would be crazy not to!

Image from The Planthunter's debut edition.