When Southern Living’s The Grumpy Gardener speaks gardeners listen.
For more than 40 years Steve Bender has strived to make gardening fun. His writings about southern gardens and his hands in the dirt experiences are sought after by beginning and expert gardeners.
Steve takes great joy in answering your garden questions every day at Southern Living Blog and The Grumpy Gardener on Facebook .
Steve is quoted often. Usually in distain tones since he coined the term “Crape Murder”.
His book Passalong Plants, co-authored with Felder Rushing, was named the best written garden book of 1994 by The Garden Writers of America
His new book, “The Grumpy Gardener,” is an amusing and informative guide to plants culling from a compilation of “Grumpy Gardener” blog posts, selected articles from Southern Living, mixed in with a lot of new stuff.
During his tenure at Southern Living, Steve edited a number of gardening books for Southerners, including The Southern Living Garden Book.
This is an encore and remixed episode.
Time Line00:00 Introduction to The Garden Question Podcast
00:38 Meet Steve Bender: The Grumpy Gardener
02:05 Planning Your Garden: Tips from Steve
02:58 The Importance of Planting for Mature Size
07:21 Lawn Care Insights: To Mow or Not to Mow
11:46 Watering Wisdom: Keeping Your Garden Hydrated
13:38 Navigating Regional Gardening Challenges
16:11 Understanding Climate Zones and Microclimates
25:33 The Truth About GMOs in Gardening
29:51 Steve's Earliest Garden Memory
31:26 A Childhood Rooted in Gardening
32:53 From Hobbyist to Garden Communicator
34:37 Joining Southern Living Magazine
36:37 Memorable Gardens and Inspirations
38:35 Books and Writing Career
42:30 Funny Garden Stories
47:34 Influences and Mistakes
56:29 Favorite Plants and Final Thoughts
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