A new partnership for smarter gardening
What motivates gardeners? How much do they really know about soil? And what kind of content keeps them coming back? These are some of the questions we explored in a new collaboration between Hort2thefuture and the popular gardening app Fryd.
As part of the project, PhD student Xinyi Wang analysed more than 60,000 anonymous posts and comments from Fryd’s online community, covering the period from January 2024 to January 2025. With support from Newcastle University and AI specialists Arijit De and Atanu Dey, she developed a chatbot that helps uncover what gardeners are saying, thinking, and doing.
How the chatbot works
The tool is powered by a customised Large Language Model (LLM) and designed to work like a conversational assistant. Users can ask questions in plain language, and the chatbot responds based on what it finds in the forum data.
It combines advanced AI with a technique called Retrieval Augmented Generation, which searches for the most relevant information in the database of posts. This is then passed to the Llama-3 model to generate a response. The chatbot runs on a simple online interface, with filters for language and time periods.
What we are learning
According to Xinyi Wang, one of the clearest findings is that soil is rarely discussed in depth. Many users show only a basic understanding of soil-related issues. The real strength of the Fryd community lies in its supportive atmosphere. Gardeners are motivated by the chance to share experiences and exchange knowledge with like-minded people.
Helping to promote sustainable gardening
Steffen Abel, Co-Founder and CTO at Fryd, says the partnership is already having an impact. The model is helping the team identify which types of posts spark the most interest and what kind of content supports more sustainable gardening behaviours.
About Fryd
Fryd is a digital planning and advisory tool designed for gardeners who grow fruit and vegetables. It includes a community forum and has around 10,000 active users each month, across its English and German versions.