Cookie Policy
By This cookie policy in short
Short version. Four types of cookie, only one of which you cannot switch off. Reject the rest and everything still works.
- The types of cookies here are: strictly necessary, preference, analytics and advertising.
- Only strictly necessary ones are required, and they keep you logged in.
- Advertising cookies are optional and are set by partners, not by us.
- Cookie consent is asked before any optional cookie is set, and you can change it any time.
- Want to disable cookies entirely? Your browser can, and we show how below.
- All fifteen free tools work with every optional cookie rejected.
The full cookie policy follows.
Last updated: 30 June 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how Gardening Guider (gardeningguider.com) uses cookies and similar technologies when you visit the website or use our community. It should be read together with our Privacy Policy.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your device through your browser. It lets the site remember things about your visit — such as that you are logged in or your preferences. We also use related technologies such as pixels, web beacons, and browser local storage, which we refer to together as “cookies” in this policy.
Why we use cookies
We use cookies to keep you signed in, to remember your choices, to keep the site secure, to understand how the site is used so we can improve it, and to support the advertising that keeps our guides free to read.
Types of cookies we use
- Strictly necessary: needed for the site to work — for example, logging into your account, submitting forms securely, and remembering your cookie choices. These cannot be switched off in our systems.
- Preference cookies: remember choices such as language or display settings to give you a smoother experience.
- Analytics cookies: help us count visits and see which guides are popular, in an aggregated way, so we can make the site better.
- Advertising cookies: set by us or our advertising partners (such as Google and its partners) to show more relevant ads and to limit how often you see the same ad.
Third-party cookies
Some cookies are set by other companies whose services appear on our pages — for example, advertising networks like Google AdSense, analytics providers, and embedded content such as YouTube videos. These third parties set their own cookies, which we do not control. Please see their own privacy and cookie notices for details.
Your choices and consent
When you first visit, our cookie banner lets you accept or reject non-essential cookies, and you can change your choice at any time. You can also:
- Adjust or delete cookies through your browser settings.
- Opt out of personalised Google ads at Google Ads Settings.
- Learn more about managing cookies at allaboutcookies.org.
Blocking some cookies may affect how parts of the site work, including staying logged in.
Global Privacy Control, and opting out of sale or sharing
We automatically honour Global Privacy Control (GPC) and Do-Not-Track browser signals. If your browser sends one, advertising and analytics cookies are switched off before anything loads, and we do not interrupt you with a banner. You do not need an account for this and you do not have to ask us.
We do not sell your personal data for money. US state privacy laws also treat some advertising as “sharing for cross-context behavioural advertising”, so to be precise rather than clever: if you allow advertising cookies, our partners may use that data to personalise ads on other sites, which those laws count as sharing. Switching Advertising off in Cookie Settings — the link in our footer, or the 🍪 badge — is our opt-out of sale and sharing. Rejecting every optional cookie leaves the whole site, including all fifteen free tools, fully working.
How long your choice lasts
Your consent choice is stored for 180 days, after which we ask again. We also ask again if this policy changes materially. Accept, Reject and Manage are given equal prominence in the banner, because a consent choice that is harder to decline than to accept is not a real choice.
Changes and contact
We may update this policy as our cookies change; the “last updated” date shows the latest version. For any questions, please use our Contact page.
How long cookies stay on your device
Cookies are not all the same length. Some vanish the moment you close the tab, others sit there for months.
| Purpose | Typical lifetime | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping you logged in | Until you log out, or a few weeks if you tick “remember me” | Us |
| Form security tokens | The browsing session only | Us |
| Your cookie choice | Up to a year, so we stop asking | Us |
| Display preferences | Up to a year | Us |
| Analytics | Months, depending on the provider | Third party |
| Advertising and frequency capping | Months, depending on the network | Third party |
Some of what we use is not technically a cookie at all. Your saved city, bed plans and unit preference are held in browser local storage, which never leaves your device and is not sent to us with each request.
Clearing site data in your browser removes those too, which is why a cleared browser forgets your saved garden plan.
Turning cookies off in your browser
Our banner controls the non-essential cookies we and our partners set. Your browser controls everything, including ours.
- Chrome — Settings, then Privacy and security, then Third-party cookies.
- Firefox — Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Enhanced Tracking Protection.
- Safari — Settings or Preferences, then Privacy.
- Edge — Settings, then Cookies and site permissions.
Most browsers also offer a private or incognito window, which discards all cookies when you close it.
Blocking strictly necessary cookies will break parts of the site. You will not be able to stay logged in, and secure forms may refuse to submit. Everything else, including all the free tools, keeps working without any advertising or analytics cookies at all.
Background reading on the technology itself: HTTP cookies.
Cookies and your rights
Where you live changes what you are entitled to, and we apply the stricter standard rather than the minimum.
In the UK and EU, non-essential cookies require your consent before they are set. That is why the banner appears before any advertising or analytics cookie is placed, and why rejecting is as easy as accepting.
In India, the Digital Personal Data Protection framework gives you rights over personal data we hold, including access and correction.
You can change your cookie choice at any time from the banner link, and you can withdraw consent as easily as you gave it.
What we never do is make access conditional on accepting advertising cookies. Reject them and the guides still read exactly the same.
For anything not covered here, see the privacy policy or use the contact page.
🌍 Works worldwide — metric & imperial
🔄 Updated: 11 Aug 2026 💯 Free to read — no sign-up needed
