Lecture & Book Signing with Jenks Farmer
Join us on Saturday, November 8th from 2PM-4PM at the Workshop for an unforgettable Lecture & Book Signing with Jenks Farmer.
Getting a Meadow Is Like Getting a Puppy — Debunking Trendy Myths of Modern Gardening is a lecture that promises to pull back the curtain on the lawn-and-meadow craze that’s swept the gardening world. Jenks’ new book pulls no punches. Over more than three decades, he’s ridden the tide of hype, stumbled in his own beds, and watched as flashy simplifications promised paradise but delivered more confusion than clarity. Now, with candor and a lot of practical experience, he aims to help Southerners and aspiring gardeners actually succeed by understanding the real interplay of plants, soil, climate, and even the often-forgotten role of fungi.
What makes this presentation different is its grounded, no-nonsense approach. Jenks isn’t here to sell you a one-size-fits-all miracle; he’s here to lay out the fundamentals. When you know how soil chemistry works, how moisture moves through your landscape, and how different organisms interact below the surface, you gain the tools to tackle any gardening project whether you’re growing vegetables, nurturing flowers, shaping shrubs, maintaining a lawn, or attempting a meadow that looks effortless but isn’t.
Get ready for a fast-paced, informative, and occasionally candid exploration of modern gardening. Join Jenks as he shares the realities behind the meadow craze and helps you cultivate a landscape that stands the test of time and climate. This isn’t just a lecture; it’s a roadmap to building a garden that reflects your values, your climate, and your patience.
About Jenks Farmer
Augustus Jenkins Farmer speaks and writes with a soulful, funny, and unflinchingly honest voice. Jenks, as he's known, created two of South Carolina's largest public gardens: Riverbanks Zoo Botanical Garden and Moore Farms Botanical Gardens. He combines academic credentials from Clemson and University of Washington with hard-earned lessons from the hundreds of gardens and landscapes he's planted, nurtured, and occasionally killed.
Jenks has designed and planted gardens from Charleston to New Orleans, acted as Director of Horticulture for Historic Columbia, and Secrets of Southern Gardening: Pro-Tips for Success, was released in August 2024 and is the only independently published book on the Garden and Gun Big Fall Reading List. Secrets of Southern Gardening: Pro-Tips for Success will be available for sale.
