In a digital landscape dominated by algorithm-driven content and chronological social media feeds, there exists a more thoughtful corner of the internet where ideas grow organically and knowledge is cultivated with care. Welcome to the world of digital gardens—personal knowledge websites where creators share their thoughts, discoveries, and intellectual journeys in non-linear, interconnected ways.
Unlike traditional blogs with their rigid chronological structure and polished posts, digital gardens invite wandering. They’re spaces where thoughts can be planted as seeds, nurtured over time, and connected in surprising ways. As you explore these gardens, you’re not just consuming content—you’re following the creator’s thought process, witnessing the evolution of ideas, and perhaps discovering unexpected connections of your own.
Let’s take a tour through some of the most fascinating digital gardens worth visiting in 2025.
Maggie Appleton’s Garden
Maggie Appleton’s digital garden is often cited as one of the most influential in the space, and with good reason. As both an anthropologist and designer, Maggie brings a unique perspective to her garden, which contains explorations on topics ranging from programming and design to cultural anthropology and philosophy.
What makes Maggie’s garden special is its visual approach. Rather than just text, her notes often incorporate beautiful illustrations that help communicate complex concepts. She also uses a plant metaphor to indicate the maturity of her notes—labeling them as “seedlings” (rough ideas), “budding” (somewhat refined), or “evergreen” (fairly mature).
The garden’s design is clean and intuitive, making it easy for visitors to follow connections between ideas. For newcomers to the concept of digital gardens, Maggie’s Brief History & Ethos of the Digital Garden is an excellent starting point to understand the philosophy behind this approach to knowledge sharing.
Gwern Branwen’s Website
Gwern.net is a profound digital garden focused on topics like artificial intelligence, psychology, statistics, and self-experimentation. What sets Gwern’s garden apart is its academic rigor—notes are extensively researched and often include original analysis.
The minimalist black-and-white design with an e-book aesthetic may seem overwhelming at first due to the sheer density of information, but it perfectly serves the content’s scholarly nature. Gwern also pioneered the practice of adding metadata to indicate the completion status and importance of each note, helping visitors decide where to invest their reading time.
Some standout areas to explore include the extensive writings on spaced repetition systems for learning, analyses of Japanese animation, and investigations into darknet markets. Gwern’s garden exemplifies how digital gardens can serve as spaces for serious intellectual exploration outside traditional academic publishing.
Andy Matuschak’s Working Notes
Andy Matuschak’s notes represent one of the most influential implementations of the digital garden concept. As a researcher focused on tools for thought and learning systems, Andy’s garden is both a showcase of his ideas and a demonstration of the very knowledge systems he studies.
The unique side-scrolling interface of his garden allows visitors to follow chains of thought horizontally, with new notes sliding in from the right as you click on links. This spatial metaphor for knowledge navigation creates an intuitive sense of moving deeper into connected ideas.
Andy’s garden contains deep explorations of topics like effective note-taking systems, spaced repetition, and tools for thought. His notes on “evergreen notes” have been particularly influential in shaping how many people approach personal knowledge management. The garden also demonstrates the concept of “thinking in public”—you’re not just seeing finished thoughts but witnessing the ongoing development of ideas.
Tom Critchlow’s Digital Garden
Tom Critchlow’s digital garden blends personal and professional insights from his work as a consultant for media and technology companies. What makes Tom’s garden interesting is how it blurs the line between personal website, blog, and knowledge repository.
His garden features exploratory essays on topics like independent consulting, the future of media, and strategic thinking. The navigation is particularly user-friendly, with a clear sidebar that helps visitors orient themselves while still allowing for serendipitous discovery.
Tom’s writing on the concept of “small b blogging”—focusing on personal knowledge development rather than audience growth—has been influential in the digital gardening community. His garden exemplifies how these spaces can serve both the creator’s thinking process and provide valuable insights to visitors.
Joel Hooks’ Digital Garden
Joel Hooks’ garden offers a refreshingly straightforward approach to digital gardening. As a co-founder of egghead.io (a platform for developer education), Joel brings both technical expertise and educational insights to his garden.
Unlike more visually complex gardens, Joel’s uses simple left-aligned text with minimal styling. This deliberate choice puts the focus squarely on the content rather than the presentation. His garden covers diverse topics from programming and online business to raising kids and media consumption.
Joel has been vocal about rejecting the “personal brand” approach to online presence in favor of authentic knowledge sharing. His essay on treating his website as a digital garden rather than a blog has inspired many others to adopt this approach.
Neil Mather’s Garden
Neil Mather’s digital garden stands out for its approachability and conscious effort to guide visitors. Neil openly acknowledges that his garden is a work in progress and not particularly organized—which perfectly captures the spirit of digital gardening.
What makes Neil’s garden especially welcoming is the clear guidance provided to first-time visitors. Rather than leaving you to wander aimlessly, he offers suggestions on where to begin exploring topics ranging from technology and politics to nature and culture.
This garden demonstrates how digital gardens can be personal spaces that remain accessible to others, striking a balance between the creator’s organizational system and the visitor’s need for navigation support.
Salman Ansari’s Digital Garden
Salman Ansari’s garden takes a unique approach by combining aspects of a traditional personal website with a digital garden philosophy. The landing page clearly introduces who Salman is and what he does, making it immediately accessible to new visitors.
His garden showcases his creative pursuits and passion for digital gardening itself. The simple navigation bar provides structure while still allowing for the exploration that characterizes good gardens.
Salman’s approach demonstrates how digital gardens can serve as professional calling cards while maintaining the organic, interconnected nature that makes them valuable tools for thought.
Tools for Growing Your Own Digital Garden
Inspired to create your own digital garden? Here are some popular tools that can help you get started:
- Obsidian: A knowledge management app that works with local Markdown files and visualizes connections between notes. Many digital gardeners use Obsidian for private note-taking and then publish select notes to their public garden.
- TiddlyWiki: One of the original tools for digital gardening, TiddlyWiki is a versatile one-file wiki engine that requires no server setup.
- Roam Research: A note-taking tool designed for networked thought, Roam has been instrumental in popularizing the concept of bidirectional linking central to digital gardens.
- Quartz: A static site generator that transforms Markdown content into functional websites, popular for publishing Obsidian notes to the web.
- Foam: A personal knowledge management system built inside VSCode that brings Roam-like features to the popular code editor.
- Jekyll/Gatsby: Static site generators that can be customized to create digital garden websites, offering more flexibility for those comfortable with some coding.
Why Visit Digital Gardens?
Unlike algorithm-driven platforms that serve you content based on engagement metrics, digital gardens offer a more human, idiosyncratic experience. Here’s why they’re worth your time:
- Follow thought processes, not just conclusions: Digital gardens show how people think, not just what they think. You can see how ideas evolve and connect over time.
- Discover unexpected connections: The non-linear nature of gardens means you might stumble upon ideas and connections you wouldn’t encounter in more structured formats.
- Encounter works-in-progress: Not everything in a digital garden is polished and complete. This creates space for more experimental, tentative thinking that often doesn’t make it into published articles.
- Experience a more human internet: Digital gardens represent a more personal, less commercial approach to knowledge sharing online—a refreshing alternative to platform-mediated content.
- Find your own path: There’s no prescribed way to navigate a digital garden. Your journey through someone else’s thoughts becomes unique to you, guided by your own curiosity.
The Future of Digital Gardens
As more people seek alternatives to social media’s fleeting streams and the commercialization of the web, digital gardens offer a compelling vision for a more thoughtful, personal internet. They’re not just websites but spaces for thinking in public, cultivating ideas over time, and sharing knowledge outside traditional publishing formats.
The digital gardening community continues to grow, with new tools and approaches emerging regularly. Whether you’re just visiting or planning to start your own garden, you’re participating in an experiment to reclaim the web as a space for human thought rather than algorithm-optimized content.
So take some time to wander through these digital gardens. Follow your curiosity, discover new ideas, and witness the beautiful complexity of human thought unfolding in these unique corners of the internet.
Who knows? You might be inspired to plant some seeds of your own.