digital-garden creativity
I’ve been obsessed with digital gardens lately.
It’s my own personal space where I can share my inspirations, hyper fixations, and learnings. And best of all, not be beholden to algorithms and ads.
In case you haven’t heard of a digital garden before, think of it as a personal wiki. But instead of articles of everything under the sun, it’s just pages of things you’re interested in or curious about. There could be a page about sock patterns, thoughts on a movie you just watched, notes about a project you’re working on.
All these pages are connected together via tags/links and if tended to like an actual garden, it grows into a robust treasury of information and inspiration for others, but especially you.
They’re different from blogs because they’re non-linear and non-chronological. They’re different from Pinterest boards because you can put all sorts of things in them, not just photos.
With this unique structure, developers were amongst the early adopters since they could code this kind of personalized setup.
However, because of this, most of the digital gardens I came across were made and curated by engineers/developers. It wasn’t until I saw a creative’s take on a digital garden that I saw the possibilities of what it could look like for me: a metalsmith and designer.
This is my list of public digital gardens that I came across that inspired my own digital garden.
- Caro’s Digital Garden by Carolyn Yoo
This was the first digital garden that helped me visualize what mine could look like. I was particularly inspired by the How To section, because God knows the amount of How-tos I consume via YouTube and Substack and then promptly forget what I learned.
What I love about Caro’s is that most of the pages are just a few sentences. If you’re intimidated by the idea of writing complete coherent thoughts off the get-go, this shows that you can still have an effective digital garden with just a few notes. That kind of approach made the idea of digital gardening less intimidating for me.
Side note: Carolyn also wrote an amazing article about digital gardens that I recommend everyone to read.
Favorite pages: How to Write Mini Essays, How to Program Your Intuition
- Digital Garden by Harley Claes
A feast for the eyes! Every corner of Harley’s Digital Garden is filled with imagery. It’s also one of the best digital gardens I found that’s hosted on Notion.
What I love about Harley’s DG is that her garden isn’t focused on one category or one theme. Theres collections on Screen Addiction, next to Sanskrit and Pali, and Cool Websites.
Digital Gardens are the antithesis to a niched-down internet persona.
If you have a multitude of interests and felt like you could never show them all on the internet, you should definitely start a digital garden.
Favorite pages: Curriculums , Writing Resources.
- Mister Chad by Chad Bennett
A super robust collection from a designer covering topics like 3D Modeling, animation, graphic design and more. I honestly could spend hours going through Chad’s DG.
Chad is a professor in art and design at a college in Lansing, Michigan and I can 100% envision he and his students using this site as a library of information to reference and return to.
Favorite pages: Free images for commercial use and Books on creativity.
- The Garden by Maggie Appleton
Maggie is a developer with an eye for design, and it shows! She wrote fundamental articles about digital gardening if you are curious to learn more. Her garden’s design is particularly inspiring with beautiful typography and fun icon elements. The illustrations also bring a personal touch.
Favorite pages: A Brief History and Ethos of the Digital Garden, August 2026 Note (which I resonated so heavily as a mom of a toddler also grappling with the realities of the world)
You don’t necessarily have to be a creative to peruse these, though I intentionally tried to find those with a creative edge. I’ll post more as I come across them!
And yes, I have a digital garden! You can see it here.
But how about you? Do you have a digital garden? If it’s public, please share below!