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SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2022 |
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SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2022
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SECTION C
Bringing indoor living outdoors MARY PIEPER
M
For the Globe Gazette
ore and more North Iowans are choosing to create outdoor dining and entertaining areas in their yards, perhaps as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. People are staying home and entertaining more, so they are “trying to make it like a mini-vacation at home around a bonfire pit or looking out at the lake in a comfortable seating arrangement,” said Mitch Knudsvig, senior selling store manager at Slumberland in Mason City. Last year was Slumberland’s biggest year ever for outdoor patio furniture, so the company is expanding what it is offering in that area, according to Knudsvig. In addition to single chairs, the Mason City store now offers four or five different sectionals, a glider love seat, and more, he said. The store is also bringing in indoor/ outdoor pillows. After the pandemic began two years ago, “Everyone wanted to revitalize their backyards,” said Kate Rohde, inside sales representative at Midland Concrete in Clear Lake. Some commons ways to do that are pergolas, outdoor fire pits or outdoor kitchens, according to Rohde. When creating a patio or sprucing up an existing one, customers are buying pavers, she said, noting many different patterns and colors are available. “You can do more of a cobblestone-like look,” Rohde said. Midland Concrete is selling a lot of Rosetta outcropping that looks like pieces of natural quarry stone but is actually made of precast concrete. “They create a very cool design element,” Rohde said.
MIDLAND CONCRETE PHOTOS BY MARY PIEPER
An outdoor fireplace from Midland Concrete. Rosetta is popular in Clear Lake because it can be used in sea walls, according to Rhode. It also can be used in walkways. When it comes to outdoor
cooking, Blackstone is a hot brand right now, according to Sawyer Mishak, manager at Brothers Ace Hardware in Mason City, Clear Lake, Garner, and several other
The Blackstone outdoor griddles are the newest twist in the popularity of cast-iron cookware, according to Mishak. “We didn’t have them two years ago,” he said. Due to the demand for the product and the general supply chain issues happening now, the outdoor griddles “are really hard to come by,” Mishak said, noting as soon as one of his stores gets one in stock, “it’s pretty much gone.” Customers like the Blackstone griddles because “you can cook basically anything on it,” Mishak said. This includes steak, burgers, pancakes and eggs. The regular griddle is a gigantic cast iron plate, but Blackstone also carries smaller ones that people can easily take with them when they travel in an RV, Mishak said. During the COVID-19 panSHUTTERSTOCK demic, there’s been a surge in people wanting to build sunrooms and decks, according to Paul Despenas, vice president of marketing for Midwest Construction, which has locations in Mason City and Grimes. He said this isn’t the first time in recent memory when this is happened, noting a new term called “nesting” became common A pergola from Midland Concrete in after 9/11. Clear Lake. “People were afraid to go out,” Despenas said, “They were afraid to go to the movies, they were afraid to go to the mall, they were afraid to go to dinner, so everyone started building mancaves, fixing up the garage, and building decks and sunrooms.” Midwest Construction can help homeowners do things like screen SHUTTERSTOCK in their porch or put a roof over their deck and then screen it in stores outside North Iowa. “It’s a gigantic, blacktop grid- to create a sunroom they can use dle” like you would see at a diner, Please see OUTDOORS, Page C2 he said.
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE
to planting flowers and shrubs MARY PIEPER
For the Globe Gazette
Planting flowers and shrubs for the first time is like being a rookie at sports, according to Joyce Crowley, owner of St. Ansgar Greenhouse and Floral. “You aren’t going to be good at first,” she said. “It takes a little while. You have to ask some questions.”
MARY PIEPER, FOR THE GLOBE GAZETTE
MARY PIEPER, FOR THE GLOBE GAZETTE
Pictured are some pansies growing Joyce Crowley, owner of St. Ansgar Greenhouse and Floral, stands in the greenhouse with some spring flowers in in containers at St. Ansgar containers. Greenhouse and Floral.
The best people to ask are those who work at garden centers, as well as older neighbors and relatives who have a green thumb, according to Crowley. “It’s kind of a nice way to bond with your grandparents,” she said. “That’s what I tell younger customers.” One thing that makes it easier for first-time gardeners is that the tags on plants started in containers in commercial greenhouses indicate not only the name of the plant, but also whether they are supposed to grow in sun and shade and how wide they will get so you know how far apart to plant them, according to Crowley. She said some of the best flowers for beginners are annuals like marigolds and geraniums, but Please see GUIDE, Page C2
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