“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.”
~ Claude Monet (French impressionist painter; 1840 -1926)
Gladly shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& delighted beneficiary of James’ garden artistry)
Author Archive: Betty Hanselman
A RETURN TO PARADISE
As Joni Mitchell so somberly puts it in her song, “Big Yellow Taxi”, this culture too frequently “paves paradise to put up a parking lot.” Consequently, land care professionals, like Hanselman Landscape, are left to deal with the repercussions: uninspiring lots with minimal links to natural beauty, water issues, and a have-it-now mentality that often requires costly redos.
James Hanselman, owner of Hanselman Landscape, knows paradise. He grew up there, he says, “in the mountain valleys of a tropical island, surrounded by natural beauty and interacting with nature every minute of each day.” Upon returning to the United States, he was saddened to find that “in this land of magnificent beauty, paradise was being discarded to make room for yet another development.” It became his mission to reverse the trend and bring paradise back into the daily experience of his clients.
Want to capture your own slice of paradise? Subsequent posts will feature inspiration from James Hanselman for turning your yard into a relaxing space you’ll love coming home to.
Contributed by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& fellow pilgrim)
GARDENING IN JANUARY
“Anyone who thinks gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year. For gardening begins in January, begins with the dream.”
~Josephine Nuese (little-known author of The Country Garden; sometime garden designer, mother and school bus driver; 1901-1974)
Where do your garden dreams take you, when you look out on your garden in the cold months of the year? Are you envisioning a larger outdoor gathering space for loved ones or perhaps the addition of a beautifully-shaped Japanese Maple or Pine to honor the birth of a new grandchild or the passing of a beloved? Regardless of your January garden dreams, we can help you realize them when the weather warms. Talk to us now (717-653-1273). We’d be delighted to partner with you in the dream-come-true!
Shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& garden dreamer)
GARDEN DELIGHTS – EVEN IN WINTER
For some people, winter can be a rather bleak time of year. I understand that mindset and shared it for many years. But my attitude towards winter is slowly changing, now that I have a garden.For a number of years, I have been taking daily walks. Since we have a fairly long driveway, I tend to stay on our property when I walk. This puts me in our garden almost every day of the year. As a result, I am party to some spectacular seasonal events. Of course, I notice (and often announce excitedly to my family) the first robins and crocuses in the spring, or the first phalanx of geese flying south in the fall.But even in the winter, when the trees are bare and the lawn is an unsightly brown, there are delightful things to observe and celebrate. And, because there is so little competition for attention in this otherwise drab and colorless season, each discovery becomes that much more exciting. Even a brisk walk to the mailbox can be rewarding. Just the other day, as I walked to get the mail, my approach startled three cardinals in the shrubbery: what a delight to watch them swoop ahead of me down the driveway!In any other season, with so much color and hyperactivity, this spectacular event may have gone unnoticed. But on that cold, gray day, those scarlet harbingers of joy had my undivided attention! I’m discovering that a garden is a treasury of delights… even in winter! Joyfully shared by Betty HanselmanGardener’s wife (& year ’round garden joy seeker)
HAPPY NEW YEAR
“Every man should be born again on the first of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle, if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but, on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take interest in the things that are and are to be, and not in the things that were and are past.”
~Henry Ward Beecher, from “A Completed Year” (American preacher, social reformer, supporter of the abolition of slavery; 1813 – 1887)
We wish you joy in your home and garden in the coming year!
Sincerely,
Your friends at Hanselman Landscape & Gardens
We specialize in delivering natural beauty and the delight of sharing it with loved ones. If you’d like us to partner with you in this endeavor, contact us now: 717-653-1273. We’d love to get started . . . !
CHRISTMAS MUSINGS
“There is one more good thing about Winter — he brings Christmas. Through the bleak December the thought of the coming festival is pleasant — like the reflection of a fire on our faces…. Christmas-day is the pleasantest day in the whole year. On that day we think tenderly of distant friends; we strive to forgive injuries — to close accounts with ourselves and the world — to begin the new year with a white leaf, and a trust that the chapter of life about to be written will contain more notable entries, a fairer sprinkling of good actions, fewer erasures made in blushes, and fewer ugly blots than some of the earlier ones. And to make Christmas perfect, the ground should be covered and the trees draped with snow; the bleak world outside should make us enjoy all the more keenly the comforts we possess; and above all, it should make us remember the poor and the needy; for a charitable deed is the best close of any chapter of our lives, and the best promise, too, for the record about to be begun.”
~Alexander Smith, “Winter,” (Scottish poet and essayist; 1829 – 1867)
Thoughtfully shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& “Christmas All Year” advocate)