Book Review: The Budget-Wise Gardener

Murder at Manito, book review

The Budget-Wise Gardener by Kerry Ann Mendez (St. Lynn’s Press, 2018, 176 pp., $19.95) by Susan Mulvihill We gardeners love to save money, don’t we? After all, by stretching our dollars, we can spend even more on our passion right? Before I started reading The Budget-Wise Gardener, I envisioned it would be about starting your own plants from seed, recycling products, going to plant sales and so on. Well, I was only partially correct. Author Kerry Ann Mendez goes so much deeper than that, especially into plant selection and design strategies to ensure our money has been well-spent. The title of chapter one drew me right in: “How to Score Great Plants for Less... or Free!” It’s filled with tips to help gardeners get the most bang for their plant-purchasing buck. And Mendez knows many inside tips because she has worked in the horticulture industry for many years. We readers get to benefit from that insider knowledge. As she writes, “My job as your tutor is to build you into a sophisticated plant geek able to track down elusive deals while getting the highest quality for your money.” Mendez wants us to do a good job of assessing if a plant should be added to our gardens. Toward that goal, she shares tips relating to the many plant sources we have, be it a nursery, catalog, plant sale or generous neighbor. Each tip is well thought out, such as avoiding buying certain variegated perennials as they are prone to reverting to solid green. She lists early, mid- and late season cultivars of allium, astilbe, daylily, peony, phlox and iris to keep the bloom going. This book includes ways to get your money’s worth from perennials, biennials, ornamental grasses, bulbs and corms, annuals and flowering shrubs. While reading, I learned all sorts of new details about many plants I’ve grown or have been wanting to add to my garden. In chapter two, “Plant Sources and Treasure Maps,” the author begins with garden centers and nurseries. When it comes to dealing with mail-order companies, Mendez recommends going to The Garden Watchdog site (davesgarden.com/products/gwd/) for reviews of each company, and she includes tips for placing online orders. Mendez is known for her landscape design talents and plant selections skills. In chapter 3, “Design Secrets That Save Money & Time,” she profiles several types of gardens that are stunning yet require little effort on our parts, other than selecting the correct plants for the site. These include living rugs (using mixes of drought-tolerant groundcovers blended with annuals and/or bulbs), xeric gardens (with suggestions of types of plants that are ideally suited for dry areas), and gravel gardens in which one mulches dry areas with gravel or pea stone. For the “right-size meadow garden,” she details a downsized version that is more practical, and uses wildflowers and ornamental grasses; again, she emphasizes the importance of choosing the right plants for your setting, and suggests drought-tolerant natives. The author highlights “vine-yard” gardens where one uses vines for more than just vertical interest. And her “3 season garden trifecta” designs revolve around the use of knock-out perennials, ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs to give color and interest throughout the spring, summer and fall. There are plant suggestions based on differing light conditions. Chapter four, “Regal Containers on a Dollar-Store Budget,” focuses on how to create stunning container plantings. She suggests choosing perennials rather than annuals in order to truly get your money’s worth. Those living in colder climates will appreciate how Mendez includes winter storage of those containers as well. It’s refreshing that the author focuses on sustainable practices throughout the book -- something all gardeners should think of first. The Budget-Wise Gardener really gets down to the essence of gardening -- choosing the right plant for the right place -- so we can all spend our money wisely and enjoy our gardens for a very long time.The Budget-Wise Gardener by Kerry Ann Mendez (St. Lynn’s Press, 2018, 176 pp., $19.95)

We gardeners love to save money, don’t we? After all, by stretching our dollars, we can spend even more on our passion right?

Before I started reading The Budget-Wise Gardener, I envisioned it would be about starting your own plants from seed, recycling products, going to plant sales and so on. Well, I was only partially correct.

Author Kerry Ann Mendez goes so much deeper than that, especially into plant selection and design strategies to ensure our money has been well-spent.

The title of chapter one drew me right in: “How to Score Great Plants for Less… or Free!” It’s filled with tips to help gardeners get the most bang for their plant-purchasing buck. And Mendez knows many inside tips because she has worked in the horticulture industry for many years. We readers get to benefit from that insider knowledge.

As she writes, “My job as your tutor is to build you into a sophisticated plant geek able to track down elusive deals while getting the highest quality for your money.”

Mendez wants us to do a good job of assessing if a plant should be added to our gardens. Toward that goal, she shares tips relating to the many plant sources we have, be it a nursery, catalog, plant sale or generous neighbor.

Each tip is well thought out, such as avoiding buying certain variegated perennials as they are prone to reverting to solid green.

She lists early, mid- and late season cultivars of allium, astilbe, daylily, peony, phlox and iris to keep the bloom going.

This book includes ways to get your money’s worth from perennials, biennials, ornamental grasses, bulbs and corms, annuals and flowering shrubs. While reading, I learned all sorts of new details about many plants I’ve grown or have been wanting to add to my garden.

In chapter two, “Plant Sources and Treasure Maps,” the author begins with garden centers and nurseries. When it comes to dealing with mail-order companies, Mendez recommends going to The Garden Watchdog site (davesgarden.com/products/gwd/) for reviews of each company, and she includes tips for placing online orders.

Mendez is known for her landscape design talents and plant selections skills. In chapter 3, “Design Secrets That Save Money & Time,” she profiles several types of gardens that are stunning yet require little effort on our parts, other than selecting the correct plants for the site. These include living rugs (using mixes of drought-tolerant groundcovers blended with annuals and/or bulbs), xeric gardens (with suggestions of types of plants that are ideally suited for dry areas), and gravel gardens in which one mulches dry areas with gravel or pea stone.

For the “right-size meadow garden,” she details a downsized version that is more practical, and uses wildflowers and ornamental grasses; again, she emphasizes the importance of choosing the right plants for your setting, and suggests drought-tolerant natives. The author highlights “vine-yard” gardens where one uses vines for more than just vertical interest. And her “3 season garden trifecta” designs revolve around the use of knock-out perennials, ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs to give color and interest throughout the spring, summer and fall. There are plant suggestions based on differing light conditions.

Chapter four, “Regal Containers on a Dollar-Store Budget,” focuses on how to create stunning container plantings. She suggests choosing perennials rather than annuals in order to truly get your money’s worth. Those living in colder climates will appreciate how Mendez includes winter storage of those containers as well.

It’s refreshing that the author focuses on sustainable practices throughout the book — something all gardeners should think of first.

The Budget-Wise Gardener really gets down to the essence of gardening — choosing the right plant for the right place — so we can all spend our money wisely and enjoy our gardens for a very long time.