Jenks Farmer played a pivotal role in developing two of South Carolina’s largest public gardens — Riverbanks Botanical and Moore Farms Botanical. He started on both rough-graded construction sites, managed their installation, and set long-term visions. Jenks has written about both projects, which spanned 20 years and now host over a million guests a year. Jenks has served on the American Horticultural Society’s book awards committee and has authored influential books such as ‘Garden Disruptors.’ He is one of the few Deep South horticulturists interviewed by Britain’s Garden Masterclass and the New York Times. In 2026, he’ll be the first garden writer to be inducted into the SC Academy Hall of Fame. Today, Jenks runs a garden design firm and organically manages a big bulb nursery on his family’s 1750s farm on Beech Island, near Aiken, South Carolina.
Jenks will be presenting his lecture Getting a Meadow is Like Getting a Puppy – Debunking Trendy Myths of Modern Gardening. He will pull back the curtain on the lawn-and-meadow craze that’s swept the gardening world.
Jenks Farmer played a pivotal role in developing two of South Carolina’s largest public gardens — Riverbanks Botanical and Moore Farms Botanical. He started on both rough-graded construction sites, managed their installation, and set long-term visions. Jenks has written about both projects, which spanned 20 years and now host over a million guests a year. Jenks has served on the American Horticultural Society’s book awards committee and has authored influential books such as ‘Garden Disruptors.’ He is one of the few Deep South horticulturists interviewed by Britain’s Garden Masterclass and the New York Times. In 2026, he’ll be the first garden writer to be inducted into the SC Academy Hall of Fame. Today, Jenks runs a garden design firm and organically manages a big bulb nursery on his family’s 1750s farm on Beech Island, near Aiken, South Carolina.
Jenks will be presenting his lecture Getting a Meadow is Like Getting a Puppy – Debunking Trendy Myths of Modern Gardening. He will pull back the curtain on the lawn-and-meadow craze that’s swept the gardening world.
