NEW! The RightSize Flower Garden

THE RIGHT-SIZE FLOWER GARDEN

My new book, the Right-Size Flower Garden: Simply Your Outdoor Space with Smart Design Solutions and Plant Choices, will be out February, 2015. This four-color, 175-page, hardcover is being published by St. Lynn’s Press. I wrote this book after my own journey of right-sizing gardens to fit my changed lifestyle after my husband’s accident. This book is geared towards aging and time-pressed gardeners (isn’t that most of us?) who want better balance between gardening activities (both time and money) and other interests or commitments. The Right-Size Flower Garden retails for $18.95. I will  announce pre-sale opportunities in a future newsletter.

The book’s introduction will give you a sneak preview to what I’m so excited about sharing.

Introduction

I’m not alone; there are a lot of us out there. Unsuspecting people that caught the gardening bug. Then the gardening fever took hold. We relished digging lawn out to expand gardens. We gardened anywhere we could – including up! This contagious reaction worked fine for a while. Then ‘life happened’.

Our bodies ‘suddenly’ seemed to age, we discovered new hobbies, adorable children or grandchildren arrived on the scene, job demands changed. We gardened ourselves into a corner. Like deer in the headlights, some of us chose to remain motionless as we watched our gardens slowly fall into disarray. Others made a frenzied dash and doubled efforts to keep up with maintenance, almost burying themselves in the compost pile in the process!

I always thought of myself as a low-maintenance gardener. My first three books focused on tough love plants and practices. I was doing fine until August 27, 2011. My husband had a tragic accident and broke his neck. By God’s grace, he was not paralyzed, but his ability to help me with the gardens and lawn was dramatically impacted. He had to retire and I needed to get a full time job with benefits for the family. That abrupt bump in the garden path forced me to take a new look at what I considered to be low-maintenance.

This book shares the successful, transforming steps that ‘decluttered’ my landscape. In some ways the exercise is similar to spring cleaning or decluttering closets and rooms. The end results are exhilarating!

We’ll walk arm-in-arm as I help you re-evaluate each garden: which ones stay as they are, or are downsized, or – gasp – eliminated! Next we’ll take a look at the plants: which ones stay, or are switched for higher-impact, lower-maintenance varieties, or…(you can fill in the blank). Finally, I’ll equip you with design solutions to create gardens that are as close to auto-pilot as you can get. (This lovely outdoor patio creation and photo are the brilliant works of Steve Silk. Steve is a talented garden photographer, designer and author whose work is featured in my book.)

After implementing the recommendations in this book, you’ll spend 50% less time on chores and the landscape will be more beautiful than ever! I still love my time in the garden, always will. But now a healthy balance is back. Who said you can’t have your cake and eat it too!