169 - Inside the Mind of Southern Living’s The Grumpy Gardener - Steve Bender

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 Line

00:00 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