“You don’t have to say everything to be a light. Sometimes a fire built on a hill is all you need to bring interested people to your campfire.”
~ Shannon L Alder (American contemporary author)
https://www.facebook.com/HanselmanLandscape/videos/278626504078987/
OUTDOOR FIREPLACES: A Warm Welcome to your Garden!
There are few sights more welcoming on chilly nights than a blazing campfire or a glowing hearth. The smell of woodsmoke wafting across the valley on a crisp, cool autumn evening never fails to warm my heart and bring to mind special memories of campfire cookouts and raucous campfire songs with our children, or quiet conversations with friends–chairs pulled close–as darkness deepens, embers glow, and stars begin to twinkle. Many families are rediscovering these fireside joys by adding fire pits or outdoor fireplaces in their gardens.
One couple we serve recently added a fire pit behind their home, hoping to rekindle the memories of their African safari, when each evening ended with a huge bonfire around which their family and other guests gathered to swap stories of the day’s adventures.
Other clients enjoy cooking over open flames, and have hosted wonderful parties around their outdoor fire pits. Even after the grill is empty, they find their guests linger around the glowing coals, enjoying the warmth and closeness of firelight and friendship.
Although some townships do not allow open fire pits, most will allow outdoor hearths, and we have many ideas to get the embers glowing! So if you would like to incorporate the ambiance of an outdoor fire in your garden, call us: 717-653-1273. We’d love to add this warm welcome to your home!
Contributed by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& campfire devotee)
“I like the fall, the mist and all.
I like the night owl’s lonely call–
And wailing sound of wind around.
I like the gray November day,
And bare dead boughs that coldly sway
Against my pane. I like the rain.
I like to sit and laugh at it–
And tend my cozy fire a bit.
I like the fall–the mist and all.”
~ Dixie Willson (American screenwriter and author of children’s books and poems; 1890-1974)
Gladly contributed by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife
Whether inside or outside, may you find things of beauty to lift your spirit and bring you joy, even in November.
LIGHT YOUR WAY . . . .
If you have invested in a garden, it makes sense to stretch your enjoyment of the garden beyond the daylight hours. Landscape lighting is an efficient way to expand the usability of your garden, while highlighting special features and creating a soft, intimate ambiance in the same space. In your garden, landscape lighting installed by our skillful team will:
Extend the enjoyment—Landscape lighting allows you to enjoy your garden into the night, and opens a new way to experience the same environment. Well-planned lighting heightens intimacy and ambiance, and no glare interrupts your view. In the words of one long-term client, “You can see faces, but you can also see stars!”
Enhance the security—Safety and reliability are hallmarks of the lighting solutions we provide. Changes to walks, such as steps and turns, are natural reasons to illuminate your garden so that your family members and guests feel comfortable and confident as they move through your outdoor spaces late into the evening.
Ensure the performance—Using heavy-duty cast bronze fixtures and securely-soldered connections with stainless steel transformers, our technicians assure the long life and reliable performance of the lighting systems we install.
If you would like to upgrade your garden with subtle and carefully-installed night lighting, please let us know by calling 717-665-1273. We’d be delighted!
Contributed by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& joyful light-bearer)
Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel.
~ Aldo Leopold (American author, philosopher, forester, conservationist; 1887-1948)
Gladly shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& one of the “humbler folk”)
IN THE SPOTLIGHT . . . Acer japonicum ‘Mai Kujaku’
Japanese Maples are probably my favorite trees for many reasons: the innumerable variety of cultivars to choose from; the incredible differences in leaf shapes and bark textures, and–most relevant at this time of year–their glorious autumn display.
At the top of my list is the ‘Dancing Peacock’ Japanese Maple (Acer japonicum ‘Mai Kujaku’). In summer, the foliage is deep green. As autumn progresses, the green is tinged with scarlet before turning a brilliant golden-yellow with orange and scarlet edges. Eventually, the foliage is fully flame-red from a distance. Among the largest-leaved of Japanese Maple, the ‘Dancing Peacock’ provides abundant color for a long time.
When our children were small, we planted a tree for each of them on our property. Ian’s tree was a ‘Dancing Peacock’. Every day when he was young, he would walk past his tree on his way to catch the school bus. He would be the first one to see the colors creep into the leaves and to let me know I should come out and “look at all the colors!”
Although the boy is all grown up now, I still carry memories of golden autumn afternoons when he would grab my hand and we would walk down the driveway together to see his ‘Dancing Peacock’ strutting its stuff at the bottom of our garden.
–Contributed by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& wistful “empty nester”)
