The Grumpy Gardener

About The Grumpy Gardener

Get your garden growing with the humor and wisdom of editor Steve Bender, Southern Living’s very own Grumpy Gardener.

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Get your garden growing with the humor and wisdom of editor Steve Bender, Southern Living’s very own Grumpy Gardener.

He writes an entertaining, informative, and inspiring weekly column that puts the fun in foliage. The Grumpy Gardener covers such topics as: “Why you’ll never grow mums as pretty as the ones at the garden center”; and “Do ever wonder why people plant pampas grass?” Her tackles your toughest questions and plant inquiries like: “If you ever see these weird things sticking out of your crepe myrtle, it's bad, bad news.” Or, “Do the leaves of your hydrangea look like this? Here's what to do about it.” Steve Bender also gets real about gardening road tests with posts like, “Grumpy goes high-tech with a mysterious device that blows leaves halfway to Mars!”

 

Lots of readers are peppering the Grumpy Gardener with questions about transplanting. Steve Bender writes, “A common thread is people have a tree or bush that’s too big for the spot it’s in, so is it OK to move it now? Grumpy’s answer — a big, fat noooooo.” Follow along with the Grumpy Gardener as he explores the trials and tribulations of gardening, landscaping, and planting gold in the South.

 

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