Today is the first day of February. Welcome!

As I write this post, the sun shines brightly and the floor of our earth is covered knee high in snow. It’s said that in the northern hemisphere, February is considered the last month of winter. Oh really! I’ll pretend this is true and turn my attention to spring 2021 when the hellebore “spring” out of their earthly bed. I need this visual!!

Just when we think we have turned the corner on time and weather, we are reminded that we still have a way to go, a time when we can once again uncover what lies beneath the surface. This metal obelisk, sitting in my garden, peeks its head from the mass of snow reminding me of what, again, might be.

This past month has been a time for reflection and planning; a time to set my intentions for the year. To be forward in my thinking. It’s also been a time where I more fully am recovering from my bout with Covid 19 which began in November and stayed around much too long, like winter.

I think you might agree that 2020 provided many of us with a bit more time on our hands, room to reflect on what matters in our lives, and way too many zoom calls. I’d say it also took me down the road of asking many existential questions.

Nature has always been the place for this review, one where I (we) can find refuge and expansion. A place where we could take off our masks, at times, and fully stand in the magic of our landscapes, woods, and waters. A time to smell the wonders of the earth. A way to get a broader and deeper view of the natural world.

Spring Forward

Recently, I’ve found my mailbox full of garden and outdoor furniture catalogs. As I (we) begin turning their pages, tagging desirable plants and shapes of new leaves that excite our senses, we also look to the forms that might shape our outdoor living rooms and the furniture we wish to place in them. Also, we are getting a clearer view of what are becoming important elements in our gardens and outdoor loving rooms/spaces.

Whether you already have a garden, a deck/patio, or wish to enlarge, renew, or create another one, this is the time to start journaling and sketching a few ideas for what you’d like your outdoor spaces to look like; how you want them to feel, and how you wish to be in them. Where the bed lines will fall and how you will use the vertical space in your yard to connect you to the yard next door.

One thing we know for sure is, our backyards, outdoor patios and gardens are taking on new meaning. They are places where we now work from as many of us no longer are going into our remote offices. They are places we play in, dream in. They have become our dining and living rooms, a place where we can share time and break bread with our loved ones.

Here is what we are seeing as the new focus in our garden and yards….

Weather is not a deterrent. Master the art of year-round outdoor spaces by equipping them with fireplaces, fire pits, heat lamps, fans, even outdoor cooking pits. Pizza anyone?
Go Tall. Make use of or create vertical spaces/forms especially in smaller areas where we at times feel squeezed by adding screens, trellis’ for growing vegetable gardens, and more.
Get on top. Rooftop gardens are all the craze. If you have a flat roof, use it as you’ll get a bit more value from your home’s structures. Benefits: energy efficiency, noise reduction, use of rain water and more.
Build walls, creatively. Paint them. Mix up the materials they are made of. Grow plants that cling to them. Use them as a vertical garden.
Think outside the garden. Use container gardens on balconies, porches, even place them amongst garden plots. Use them for edibles! Think of these containers as art forms.
Think sustainably. Compost using your “leftovers” and “scraps” from eating more meals at home and in doing so you provide continued nourishment for your garden soil.
Caring naturally. Create ways to be sustainable by using our natural resources differently …catch and store rain water for reuse in our gardens. Repurpose bath water, and more.
Get out front. Move your gardens out front by creating quiet and intimate areas with the use of burms and outer planting gardens thus reducing the need for more grass which needs to be overly tended to.
Turn on the lights.. Creatively add low voltage lights to the floor of your garden and/or shine them up into the canopies of your trees.
Think local. Learn about native plants; how to develop drought tolerant gardens while being kinder to wild life. This will add substance and delight to any garden.
Your view matters. Think about what you’re looking at through your windows both inside and out. Your natural world can be framed to offer 4 season delight.
Floral design comes home. Flower seeds, as we know, come in those sweet packets. They are attractive, affordable, and provide an easy way to experience a new flower or herb.. One of my favorites is Zinnia. They come in so many beautiful colors and never disappoint. Stake out an area for a trial run. Add in some parsley or another favorite herb. Cut and arrange them daily to suite your fancy.
Edibles are all the rage. They offer an easy way to get your children eating more greens while learning the art of tending to a garden. Give them their own plot to tend to. Watch the joy in their hearts.

Here’s to a beautiful and luscious 2021.

Peace

Sandy