Go Behind the Scenes ofFine Gardening| Letter from the Editor

The editors hereatFine Gardeningare not “ just ” editor . To say that they wear many hats might be the understatement of the century . They are , in my humble opinion , proficient stage managers than you ’d find on Broadway . You often do n’t see their names tied to any particular clause , and so you might assume that their persona is just to ensure every “ i ” is dotted and every “ t ” is crossed within the text that you end up reading .

And yes , they do that .

But the editors here do so much more . I ’ve worked at a handful of other publications during my years in publishing , and in all of those experiences I ’ve never come across an editor in chief that is tasked with more duties than here atFG . Take , for object lesson , the gorgeous articleHow to Make Changes to an Overgrown Garden . That characteristic was choreographed by associate editor Carol Collins . What it took to create that masterpiece is nothing short of spectacular . First off , Carol drive several hours to New Hampshire not once but double to carry outthreeseparate photoshoots .

( Fun fact : Many of the photos you see in this magazine are shoot by the editor program , who undergo intensive camera education when they are take . These photo shoot can take place at any fourth dimension of year and in any North American fix you’re able to imagine . The editors are often want to be on - site by 4 a.m. and sometimes do n’t remove the pillow until midnight . )

OK , back to Carol . For this article , she went to New Hampshire in early spring to capture shots of large trees being cut out of a mature garden — an essential part of the overall fib . Then she returned in late summertime to photograph the garden again . This shoot required a circumstances of planning around a wedding taking lieu at the Trowbridge residency , an add together challenge .

Then the rough drawing came in from the author , and Carol worked her magic on the text , finessing it into a succinct and actionable article for our reader . She tech - edited the plant names , cross - referenced multiple source to get the zonal ranges right , etc . It was a process .

I chose this particular clause to highlight the role of the editor because it ’s a in effect exemplar of all the extras the editor can be responsible for . In this case , Carol create all the tree and shrub silhouettes in the article to make the principles trace come in to life . Then she went a step further and lent her aesthetic abilities to the sidebar , drawing every image you see of Laura , the author , pruning various shrubs .

And this , I promise you , is just one example of the effort it remove to produce these pages . I have n’t cite the lengths that our artistic production director and myriad others go to in rules of order to make each issue of the magazine . I ’ll save that for another letter . Meanwhile , I go for this background data gives you a not bad appreciation for the issue you ’re reading right now . I know every meter I read it , I ’ll opine of Carol setting up her camera tripod by flashlight in the teensy-weensy hour of the forenoon . But those photos were deserving it — right , Carol ?

— Danielle Sherry , executive editor

Issue 210is online now !

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