The Right-Size Flower Garden: Simplify Your Outdoor Space with Smart Design Solutions and Plant Choices

New to us home 3 summers ago. Way way too much grass that we Spent the first whole summer getting rid of so we could finally have our meadow wildflower garden and some beautiful beds. Second Spring and summer we began to pick out flowers and shrubs; shopped for them & planted a few trees for shade but we had no rhyme no reason and no real plan and it quickly became obvious to us we were out of our depth and not really happy with how things were turning out. Did I mention we are retirement age and we also quickly realized that this was turning out to be way more work than we had expected it to be; just maintaining it and really just watering it which took hours sometimes twice a day. I bought hundreds of dollars worth of books -books on perennials books on annuals books on rock gardens books on shrubs books on every kind of flower possible. Lots of them have beautiful gorgeous pictures of flowers in them and I wanted them all but I knew that that was crazy. But I would go to the store or the garden center and I would see flowers that I fell in love with and I’d have to bring them home - still no rhyme no reason and no plan. Then a week ago I came across this book and I am so happy that I did I feel like the author of this book knows me knows my yard knows my husband and she is writing this book just to us a letter to us a manual to us a guide to us suggestions for us- questions to ask ourselves and thoughts to ponder about our garden & the hopes and the dreams we had for it. The book is funny she is just a wonderful gardener and it is a wonderful book just to read it for the things that she says about her gardens. I am enjoying this book so much and it has helped me immensely to make decisions to go out and look at my garden my very new garden and see where I’ve made mistakes where I put things in bad places where they don’t belong where I could move stuff and honestly there’s some things I’m going to be getting rid of actually giving them away to a neighbor because they just don’t fit in where I thought they would. Some of them are new some of them are things that are less than a year old & I should never have bought them. They don’t belong in my garden they don’t belong where I thought they would go. And this book is showing me how I can have a garden that I can enjoy that I can actually sit down in with a cuppa tea and relax. We have not been able to do that yet and we’re on our third summer here. all we do right now is work work work water water water & repeat. Oh and argue about silly garden stuff cause we are always so tried and short tempered. So thank you so much for writing this book for putting this book out there for making me laugh for opening my eyes showing me it was OK to get rid of some of the mistakes andto not feel guilty about doing that. Again thank you so much this book it’s worth more than any of the other books that I purchased in terms of practical ideas. I have a lovely gardening library I have some very very beautiful coffee table books and I still love looking at them still love looking at the gorgeous pictures but this book this book is a practical down to earth book that actually makes sense in a practical world for people like me who are getting older or downsizing and want to be able to sit back and enjoy their garden not just toil in it-hour after hour after hour. Thank you to the author for a wonderful book I love it. I think you will too. I Laughed out loud in some places because I could immediately identify with some of the things that she said. Get it you’ll enjoy it it’ll help.

Lots of information on gardening with perennials and low maintenance gardening. Great introduction to many specific plants. Will read more from Kerry Ann Mendez. I also recommend her webinars. I signed up for the 2022 webinar series. I have watched one so far. I bought an older set of webinars and am thoroughly enjoying them. They go right along with this book.

This book is excellent. The author teaches you how to design a garden that is manageable and sustainable without spending every weekend working on it. You will not be disappointed with this book.

I love Kerry's humor. I love that she had amazing big gardens and bought all sorts of amazing plants and her gardens were featured in magazines, but then she realized she could not keep on with the same size gardens any more. So, she knows what it's like to want more and more plants, but that there can be joy in downsizing the garden, too. Many times in garden books, I skim the words and focus more on the photo's but I read her book all the way through, three times. Of course, it does have wonderful pictures, too. I especially like the before and after comparisons. I'm wanting to keep the same large flower beds, but to reduce the amount of work by having more beautiful shrubs and less small plants and this book is very helpful for advice on some of the best multi-season shrubs. I first checked this book out from the library, but then had to have it for myself. Love it. I think you will, too.

I really loved this book. I have been gardening for years with varying results. My basic problem was not planning well. This book really gives me so much to think about before buying and planting plants. Picking the right plant is key. Kerry Ann suggest what to plant and more important why to pick certain plants. Key suggestions:No suckers, hate those thingNo pruning, or easy pruningNo deadheading, a little is ok, but why if you don't have toSterile seed headsNo dividing, that is a chore I would like to give upLong, long bloomersAvoid shabby foliage!! Poppies, Day LilliesThree seasons of interestand much moreThis year I am armed with so much knowledge when I go to the nursery, knowing what to pick and especially what not to bring home just because it is pretty. Thank you! Thank you! for this book.

if you, like me, are a senior gardener! Full of great ideas to make your garden more manageable as well as beautiful.

I can't imagine a better book for me - to make and keep great looking gardens without giving over a huge amount of my life to keeping them going. Her focused selection of high performance plants that require minimal care is exceptional. Can't wait for spring when I start taking steps to implement her suggestions.I attended one of her lectures which followed the same topics as in the book but with a two page sheet handout that provide a condensed list of plants for every growing condition in the northeastern United States. She moved not long ago and seeing photos of her new right-sized gardens, which she maintains with only 1-2 hours a month of effort, were nothing short of amazing.

I don't read garden book cover to cover. I use them as reference. This is the first one I read completely and am trying to follow to "right size" my gardens for my age and abilities and also for my daughters, who will have to take on the burden as I age out of caring for our beloved St. Lawrence River property, while they still work 500 miles away. (BTW, loons calling as I write this!) I love all of Kerry's books, but this one is so valuable to all types of gardeners. She addresses the many reasons and approaches to right-sizing, while artfully applying wonderful design strategies that could work just as easily for the beginning gardener. I hope this book is marketed to all ranges of gardeners.

Great book. Well written with lots of recommendations.