Jack Coyier

In his 10 years at Garden Gate magazine, Jack Coyier has photographed some of the most beautiful gardens across the country and has come away inspired by the spirit and passion of the vast gardening community. Jack wants his imagery to enrich the gardening experience of the Garden Gate community and help gardeners achieve their dream gardens. When not on the road photographing, Jack spends time in his suburban garden with his wife, twin boys, a herd of deer and a smattering of rabbits.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED...

Avoid the middle of the day. If you take a photo of a flower you really like, revisit it at different times of the day. In morning and evening, shadows aren’t as deep, and there’s a nice direction to the light.

Move around. It’s easy to focus a photo on a beautiful flower and forget the background. Look at it from several angles to be sure the background sets it off well.

Instagram has been a great way to share images from our travels and connect us to gardeners we wouldn’t have known otherwise. Be sure to check out our feed and say hello @gardengatemagazine.

Buffalo, New York, gardeners are the most passionate group of gardeners that I’ve met. I don’t know if it’s because of the harsh winters and short growing seasons, but they have a great garden walk and passionate community.

Tuscan melons are amazing. I grow Melone Retato Degli Ortolani from reneesgarden.com. It has a super fresh cantaloupe flavor and produces more melons than other varieties I’ve grown.

There’s a big land grab coming this year. Our backyard has basically been a soccer field for the last several years. But it’s time to expand the vegetable beds.