Spring and summer seem like light years away. The ground is cold and covered in an unforgiving blanket of snow and ice, and the barren landscape is a far cry from the lush green Eden we hold so dear. Whether you’re a gardening addict or you’re just missing your connection with nature, here are five ways to get your garden “fix.”
#1: Go a-Foraging
Now is the perfect time to start collecting seeds. Bring your paper envelopes or baskets and take a stroll through your yard and neighbourhood. You’ll quickly notice seed pods shooting out from their brown stems all over the side of the road and in your yard. We recommend bringing gloves and a pair of clippers, as some seed pods are difficult to pinch off. Keep your seeds in a cool place until next spring’s planting or gift them as presents.
#2: Bring Evergreens Indoors
Christmas isn’t the only time of year you can bring your evergreens inside. The snow and cold go to great lengths to sever our connection with nature, but you can always find winter-hardy plants that would make great decorations in your home and liven the place up a bit. Try sprigs of holly, yew, cedar, and pine. Tie them around your mantlepiece or hang them above your doorframe.
#3: Visit a Greenhouse
Stepping into a warm and humid greenhouse can deliver an exquisite shock to your system and completely reset your emotional state. Plus, the negative ions produced by the plants are an immediate mood-booster. Here you’ll get to experience your own little spring oasis with the smell and site of fresh blooms and healthy leaves.
#4: Order/ Review a Seed Catalogue
Depending on how intense of a gardener you are, you may already be daydreaming about next year’s planting. The winter months are the most suitable time to do just that! Order a seed catalogue from your favourite heirloom seed company and start ordering. Select your favourite varieties plus a few you’ve never heard of before to keep it interesting. Getting your seed order in early allows you to start your indoor planting in late winter.
#5: Prune Trees
Just because it’s the end of the year, it doesn’t mean that your gardening duties are over. Winter is the time of year for pruning your fruit trees to support better fruit production in the spring and summer. Because your dreams are dormant at this time, pruning them now causes less trauma to the tree.
Spring might still be far away, but this slow time of year allows you to sit back and plan for the upcoming season. What’s another way to get your gardening “fix?” Order a fresh bouquet of flowers or subscribe from Karen’s Flower Shop!