In 1985, a primitive IBM computer and a daisy-wheel printer were acquired, which allowed text to be printed out in justified columns.

Petria MacDonnell joined GR's staff at the beginning of 1986 as the magazine's first gardening editor, later succeeded by Chip Rosenblum, Barbara Abler, and Don Parker.

Among the regular contributors in the magazine's early years was Peter Jones, who had a column in every issue until his death in 2009.

Cody Grivno and Dana Kawala, both from Model Railroader magazine, help the staff by writing in-house product reviews and offering technical support.

Each issue contained hobby-related articles on a variety of subjects, including featured garden railroads, how-to projects, landscaping and gardening, photo galleries, new product information and reviews of products relating to large-scale trains, such as locomotives, rolling stock, sound systems, books, and more.

Regular departments included "Garden railway basics," aimed at beginners; "Plant portraits," a featured miniature plant targeted toward railroad gardeners; "Greening your railway," a gardening/hardscaping column; "One-page project", where readers shared a short how-to project.