Some of the pertinent features of the growth‐induced noncubic anisotropy in flux‐grown garnets, developed for bubble devices, are reviewed. Earlier theories based on the concept of a growth‐induced ion pairing or a growth‐induced nonrandom distribution of ions in the rare earth sublattice are reinterpreted in terms of a two parameter phenomenological model. Torque measurements on several bulk garnet systems are then compared with this model, and the theory is then extended with reasonable success to epitaxial garnet films. The two phenomenological parameters in this model are defined in terms of site preferences dependent on the relative sizes of the rare earth ions, and in terms of magnetic interactions involving the anisotropic exchange fields acting on these ions. We show how this theory is able to account for the recent ESR experiments that have verified the hypothesis of a growth‐induced facet dependent site selectivity in the rare earth sublattice. We conclude by indicating how a study of this growth‐induced anisotropy can be used as a powerful new technique for investigating the anisotropic exchange fields acting on rare earth ions in garnets.