Is Gardening Only for the Rich?

I’ve been engaged in several conversations, both online and off, over the last month about barriers to gardening and how it is seen as being a rich person’s hobby or pastime. This comes as quite a shock to me because for years, I’ve felt the undercurrent of judgment that comes from gardening as something that was looked down on as lowerclass and a task you hired others to do. So, which is it?

Well, it is neither. Yes, it is a privilege to have access to your own land and the free time to nurture plants in it, but it is certainly not something out of reach of even those at the lowest rungs of the economic scale.

In the recent book The Urban Garden, which I co-wrote with Teri Speight, we take great pains to describe how gardening is accessible to all income levels, ages, classes, and ethnic groups. We describe how growing spaces can be carved out of even the tiniest city lot, balcony, or rooftop.

The land you garden on need not be your own. It can be rented or bartered for. It can be at a public garden where you volunteer. It can be at a school or work space.

Like any hobby, gardening can get pricey, if you let it. You can certainly rack up credit card debt buying the latest “rare” houseplant or fancy gadgets, but you don’t need those. You can garden with just a trowel, cloth gloves, and a pack of seeds from the dollar store.

My personal take is that gardening is a wide world of types and levels of investment and interests—from the DIY “hands in the dirt” folks to those with “point and have planted” staff and designer budgets. I’m not going to judge others and hope that others reserve their judgments as well.

Sincerely,

Kathy Jentz, Editor/Publisher, Washington Gardener KathyJentz@gmail.com

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Volume 18, Number 1

ISSN 1555-8959

© 2023 Washington Gardener All rights reserved. Published monthly. No material may be reproduced without prior written permission. This magazine is purchased by the buyer with the understanding that the information presented is from various sources from which there can be no warranty or responsibility by the publisher as to legality, completeness, or technical accuracy.

Reader Contest

For our March 2023 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, we are giving away a Tree Diaper TD24R for plants of up to a 12-inch rootball or 3-10 gallon shrubs/trees. (value $33).

TreeDiaper (https://www.treediaper.com/) was created by a Richmond, VA, couple, both Virginia Tech chemical engineers, who wanted to find a way to recycle diapers. It has now turned into TreeDiaper (although the product isn’t made of recycled diapers). It’s proudly made in Ashland, VA. TreeDiaper is a patented, multi-functional plant protection system featuring slow-releasing irrigation, auto-recharging with rain/snow, salt damage mitigation, weed control, and extreme weather protection. It also reduces water and fertilizer runoff, so it decreases erosion/pollution. When used properly, it promotes healthy outward root growth that facilitates establishment of newly planted trees and shrubs, and enhances longterm health. You mulch right over TreeDiaper, so you don’t even see it.

To enter, send an email to WashingtonGardenerMagazine@gmail.com by 5:00pm on March 31 with “Tree Diaper” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in this issue and why. Please include your full name and mailing address. The winner will be announced and notified on/about April 1. o

Your Ad Here

Are you trying to reach thousands of gardeners in the greater DC region/MidAtlantic area? Washington Gardener Magazine goes out in the middle of every month. Contact KathyJentz@gmail.com or call 301.588.6894 for ad rates (starting from $200). The ad deadline is the 5th of each month. Please submit your ad directly to: KathyJentz@gmail.com.

February 2023 Issue

I loved the article about butterflies in shade (in the February 2023 issue), it has given me hope!

~ Kathy May, Kensington, MD

My favorite article in the February 2023 issue is “Seed Potatoes and Potatoes from Seed,” as I have no experience growing potatoes but have been considering doing so. This article served as a reminder to give potatoes a try this year.

~ Beth Wasden, Laurel, DE

My favorite article in the February 2023 issue of Washington Gardener was the book reviews. I am interested in two recent books, The Climate Change Garden and The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook, and both of these had good descriptive write ups/ reviews. I also enjoyed seeing the photo contest winners and runner-ups.

~ Lisa Lyon, Bethesda, MD

A short and sweet article. I really enjoyed the Plant Profile in the February issue. The picture of the Northern Spicebush is so cheerful. I thought: “What a wonderful way to bring some bright color to my winter garden.” Then I read it gets 6 to 12 ft tall, which really wouldn’t fit in my backyard, nor do I have the moist soil it requires. But one can still dream!

~ Jennifer Whalen, Silver Spring MD

My favorite article in the February 2023 issue is “Almost” Native Common Dandelions, since it promotes these much maligned but beautiful and beneficial plants.

~ Mary Finelli, Silver Spring, MD

My favorite article from the February issue was the Garden To-Do list because a lot of those tasks would have slipped my mind otherwise!

Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR) is an easy program to participate in and really does not take any extra resources than what you may have in your garden. In normal times, about 35 million people wonder where their next meal will come from. Most of these are children. That’s where PAR steps in.

PAR is such a simple program: It urges gardeners to Plant A Row (or a container) dedicated to feeding the hungry, and then take the harvest to someplace or someone that needs it. Once you have donated, send an email to KathyJentz@gmail.com with the total (in pounds and ounces) of what you gave. That is all there is to it. Easy. Effective. Adaptable and Helpful.

~ Ashleah Younker, Rockville, MD

My favorite article (in the February 2023 issue) was the winners from the photo contest. It is always inspiring to see the wonderful photos that people take and how they often are able to provide fresh views of familiar subjects.

~ Wendy Bell, Takoma Park, MD o