Cultivating Beauty in Your Landscape
There are about a million ways to make your landscape beautiful. It’s no surprise that just about everyone wants a unique and beautiful outdoor space and it’s easy to get caught up in a highly curated and Instagram-worthy dream. However, for the average person in our region, that space is likely to look a little different.
How can you make your landscape dreams a reality? As a garden coach and consultant, one of my main jobs is to ask good questions and to listen to my clients and to discern what’s meaningful and beautiful to them.
Take a minute, grab a writing utensil, and consider what you want to see in your landscape each day.
- Save your harvest! Did you grow too many green beans? Do you wish you would never see a zucchini again? Is your basil a little too prolific? Now’s the perfect time to put a little bit of elbow grease in to preserve these flavors for fall and winter baking and cooling. Flash freezing is a great and simple way to preserve berries and beans: rinse them in a colander, lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and freeze them for a day or so before placing them in labeled and dated bags to go back in the freezer. Also do a quick search for what fruits and vegetables like to be blanched – and do that! Didn’t grow much? Head out to a local farm or farmers market to buy some produce and save that bounty – there’s no shame in supplementing this way and you get to support hard working local farmers, too.
- Harvest some seeds. You’ll be surprised at how easy saving seeds from the flowers in your garden and garden pots really is. Look for those flowers that have dried out on the stems (especially easy: zinnia, nasturtium, bachelor buttons, and marigolds). Pinch the back of the flower head with one hand, and pinch and pull the seed heads out with the other. Lay them out to dry in a cool, dark spot for a few days, then make sure you label them and store them in a cool and dark space in preparation for planting next spring. Free flowers!
- Watch your watering. When the temperatures are still high and your garden is still productive, still plan to water your plants deeply every few days, making sure to water early in the morning or late in the evening, just not midday when the water evaporates most quickly. It’s also a good time to check your sprinkler heads and drip irrigation to make sure you’re not watering the sidewalk or street, and to ensure you’re efficiently watering the plants you want to keep growing!
- Take five minutes to think about next summer. What has been thriving in your garden this month? What has been suffering? What would you like to see or grow in your space next year at this time? Write that down, do some research, order some seeds, or dream about how you can make that happen.
- Check on your neighbors. This is a good rule of thumb all year round, but especially in the high heat of late summer, it never hurts to give a call, especially to elderly neighbors. Send a text, or knock on a door to see if they need anything inside the home or outside in the garden, and if you can, do what you can. A delivery of a few cut flowers from your garden or from the farmers market never hurts, either!
As a garden coach, I also like to help people set and achieve attainable goals. Here are a few questions to help you move toward the goals that matter to you. Write your answers down, too…
- What is the goal that would feel like the easiest goal to complete today? (Or this week, this month?)
- Why do you want to meet that goal? How would it feel to accomplish it?
- What would it take to complete that goal? Consider time, resources, help from a buddy, etc.
- Look at your schedule. When can you realistically complete the goal you’ve identified? When will you start?
- What’s the most likely barrier to completing that goal? How can you move through it?
- What is the next step you can take to move toward completing it? And the next? Get to it.
Cultivating Your Perfect Landscape
In the amazing diversity of our region, there are many ways to cultivate landscapes that are beautiful, productive, and as high- or low-maintenance as you want them to be. Just like any other goal, keep asking yourself what you want and what it would take to get you there, and then keep taking those next appropriate actions to get you there.
A final tip: as you enjoy summer walks, adventures, or drives, snap a picture of things you find beautiful, whether a plant in a neighbor’s garden or the colors on a mountain hike. Then ask for help, do some research, and start small as you add or edit the beauty in your own space. As you start small, I can promise you that you’ll keep dreaming and you’ll soon cultivate the beautiful space you’ve always wanted (and that is also within your budget).
How are you cultivating beauty in your landscape? What inspires you?
Hailey Keller – Copy Editor/Contributor
A journalistic writer with an empathic soul, Hailey likes to (loudly) speak the truth and make sure everyone has a seat at the proverbial table. When not fervently championing the success of all those around her, Hailey likes to visit the Gaiser Conservatory within Manito Park, spend hours on Etsy and consume sugary treats.
Her time working at Eastern Washington University solidified her passion of advocating for those unable to advocate for themselves and establishing connections with people around the community interested in doing the same.
