About GardenDecoded
Steve Davis
Founder and editor of GardenDecoded
About me
Hey, I'm Steve a software developer/engineer by trade and have a wide interest in many things. From Earth bound creations, product development, quantum entanglement to UFO/UAPs. My wife Vuong and I, share a passion with nature. In talking with her, creating Garden Decoded popped into my head, as I wanted to allow others to understand what we have all around us everyday, that keeping us alive in our gardens, forests and parks. I am also the founder of Helium22, its my company where I help to collaborate with others to help fix problems in the world :)
I've created Garden Decoded because I think we should get more in touch with planet Earth. We all are so busy now, and we've forget where we are living, and the importance of plants that we're dependent upon to survive.
Recently in May 2026, I purchased an Earth mat and blanket. Wow!, I have never slept so soundly in my life, and having slept so well, I've started have amazing dreams, with the body to relaxed. I definitely recommend one.
There is real benefit to earth mates, earthing (or grounding) provides significant health benefits by reducing inflammation, lowering stress, improving sleep quality, and enhancing cardiovascular health. The core theory is that direct skin contact with the Earth allows your body to absorb negatively charged electrons, which act as natural antioxidants to neutralize free radicals.
OK, that's me, would love to hear from you, and your suggestions,
See you inside,
Steve
GardenDecoded exists to help people build and maintain a better garden, starting with the thing most gardening questions begin with: what is this plant, and how do I keep it alive?
Where the data comes from
Botanical names, authorship, ranks and family classification come from World Flora Online, released under CC0. We hold 434,570 accepted species and 1,048,358 synonyms, so a plant found under an old name still leads to the current record.
Photographs are sourced through GBIF. Each contributing dataset carries its own licence, so we filter hard: only images released under CC0 or CC BY are used. Images licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Every photograph is credited to its photographer with its licence shown.
Growing guidance is ours. Botanical databases describe what a plant is, not how to grow it, so sunlight, watering, soil, hardiness, pruning and propagation notes are written by hand. That is why they exist for some plants and not others — we would rather leave a section blank than invent it.
Who writes it
Growing guides and articles are written by the GardenDecoded editorial team, checked against authoritative horticultural sources, and dated when last reviewed. Guidance assumes UK conditions unless a page says otherwise. Our editorial policy sets out how content is researched, reviewed and corrected — and if you spot a mistake, the contact form goes straight to us.
Alongside the plant database, we publish practical gardening articles — soil, light, pruning, propagation and problem-solving — written for real UK gardens.
What this site is not
- Not a cultivar catalogue. The free botanical datasets cover wild and botanical species. Named garden cultivars are not included.
- Not an identification service. We can show you what a species looks like, but we cannot tell you what the plant in your garden is from a description.
- Not a safety authority. Toxicity notes are a starting point, not a clinical reference. Check with a qualified source before eating, applying, or planting anything where safety matters.
How it is paid for
GardenDecoded is free to use and funded by advertising, including Google AdSense and affiliate links. Ads are confined to defined slots around the page content and never inserted into the middle of guidance text. Advertising has no influence on which plants we cover or what the guidance says.
GardenDecoded is an educational gardening reference. Botanical data comes from World Flora Online and GBIF; growing guidance is our own. Always check a plant's toxicity and local invasiveness status before planting, and never eat or apply a plant based on this site alone.