The Winter Garden

from December 2021 Issue 157

Adding Lightness to the Season with Flower Remedies

ENJOYMENT YEAR ROUND

Bernie Dinter, Horticulturist and owner of Dinter’s Nursery

Gardening has become increasingly popular with the pandemic keeping people at home and looking for safe and satisfying activities. It is an activity that can be creative, nurturing, and beneficial for the environment. There are many people who will appreciate gifts that help them cultivate their outdoor spaces.

Early in the New Year, weather permitting, is the pruning season for fruit trees and summer flowering shrubs such as roses. Quality hand tools such as a good pair of pruners will be appreciated for years to come. Remember to include a holster so as not to lose this valuable tool. If they have a pruner, then consider a handy folding saw for those larger cuts. A garden knife does a multitude of tasks from pulling weeds to digging small planting holes. Along with knee pads this makes getting down into the dirt a much easier task.

Early spring is also the start of seed sowing and there is lots of equipment from windowsill heating pads to mini greenhouses to help start seed. Seed packages make great stocking stuffers along with small hand tools and gloves. Birdhouses and mason bee houses are also appreciated for those other visitors to the garden.

If there is an outdoor living space, it can be enhanced with decorative wall art in attractively shaped and painted metal sculptures. To add the element of sound, the gentle ringing from a wind chime sets the mood. Consider adding some whimsey with small concrete sculptures peering out from under the plants. They can be gnomes or other cheerful little creatures.

Finally, if you are not sure what the recipient is looking for, a gift card is always welcomed as they dream of what is needed for spring. In our coastal climate, spring often arrives soon after the festive season.