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Garden Talk

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"GardenTalk", a regular feature for The Gazette, brings to you the combined experience and expertise of Holly Lake's dedicated gardeners and others. A continuing focus will be subjects of interest to anyone who has ever bought a packet of seeds or dug a hole in the ground for a plant, as well as the dedicated and sharp-eyed observers of nature. "GardenTalk" will not only inform you each issue but solicits your ideas and personal gardening experiences which you may wish to pass on to others. The hope is that "GardenTalk" will enrich us all as well as help make Holly Lake even more beautiful.
If it weren't for the bitterly cold winter, perhaps we would have less appreciation for spring. Winter offers valuable downtime for plants and gardeners. We can use that downtime to look at the garden primarily from indoors, browse through magazines and catalogs, dream of an early and very long spring and plan. Plan is the key word for winter; we plan which seeds, or new plants we want to try, we plan in order to correct mistakes we made last year, to advance in our gardening and decorating prowess, and improve our outdoor living spaces. Now is the time to make a folder of pictures of garden vignettes that you would like to replicate. Also taking pictures, especially black and white pictures, of your garden throughout the year helps reveal flaws or holes.
Another winter "to do" is to take stock of your garden tools. This year promise yourself you will get new gloves that fit. For a healthy garden, you will need all sorts of devices and tools. Take inventory and go shopping. Do you need to purchase any soil amendments? If you didn't clean your garden tools before you put them away last season, you can try to renew them now by wiping them all over with linseed oil; it is good for the wood handles and keeps metal parts from getting rusty. Get a new tub trug or wheelbarrow to use as a carryall for garden tools and a receptacle for garden clippings. Then, when the time comes, you will be well prepared.
Freshening up your garden areas is fulfilling and it adds value to your home. Look at the interior style and color scheme of your home and how it does or does not relate to your outdoor living area. Would pots of certain color or shape make your space more cohesive? If you need new or more pots, plan for them now to get first "dibs" and before you are ready to plant in them. Would a new rug under patio furniture make the patio more inviting? How about seat cushions - do they need replacing? With weather resistant materials and fibers, fashion can follow you outdoors. A fortune can be spent on pots, outdoor rugs, art, electronics, furniture, cushion and pillows. Do your research!
For these last cold days, browse magazines and collect pictures of the best gardens or patios that might fit your personality and lifestyle. Make a few garden resolutions that you can keep. Longer, warmer days will be here before you know it; make this the season when you achieve your outdoor living dreams!

"Winter brings unkind weather. We huddle behind doors, attending to neglected tasks. Demeter, goddess of the hearth, rules. Activity now centers on kitchen stove and cozy fireplace. Seasonal downtime permits reveries of the garden to come. Flights of fancy and imagination flower. Neglected books become friends again. Reorganization of everything beckons, but hibernation instincts threaten good intentions." From the book, At Home with Carolyne Roehm, by Carolyne Roehm.

Ann Reynolds
Certified Master Gardener