Spring this year feels a bit somber to me as we all deal with the unknowns ahead. One thing I am finding great comfort in is the predictability of nature. Many of us will have a lot more time at home in our gardens, if you are one of them I trust you will find gardening as a great stress relief from the day. If you are in the health profession, first responder, essential worker in the stores, utilities, etc or supporting our community in some way; I want you to know that I can’t even comprehend the amount of stress you are under right now. Just know I am grateful and pray for your wellbeing.

During these challenging times I’ve been wondering how I can help bring a little joy, knowledge or just a little break from the news into your life.

I decided to start sharing daily Landscape Coach Tips because it’s something I’m good at and can provide to you while at home. Plus Spring is not stopping for the novel coronavirus. These tips are things you can do in your yard with the items you have at home. They are being shared daily over on instagram / facebook and weekly here on the blog! Enjoy.

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 1: Make an Easter egg tree! I’m quite possibly the last person to realize plastic Easter eggs have holes in them. My kids looked at me with great concern when I asked how those neighbors hung their Easter eggs. Silas replied, ‘um mom…there are holes in the eggs.’ Face palm. 🤦‍♀️ So if you have plastic eggs at home then you too can have an Easter egg tree. The holes are tiny so thread, monofilament fishing line or a thin wire would work. Thread your string through the eggs, tie a knot and hang on a tree or shrub. Easy peasy and it’s bringing us and all the passerby’s lots of joy. I’m counting it as a coronavirus win!!

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 2: This tip comes out of our Observation tip from the Countdown to Spring event earlier this year. (If you missed that, check out this post). We talked about going out and observing your yard. Now that spring plants are popping up it’s a good time to look around your yard to see where you may have voids in your gardens. I then photograph those beds and make notations about what I want to plant. I also do this for my hourly coaching clients. I visit their yards, take photos and make notes of what new plants they should add. During COVID times, I visit their yard while they are inside their house and we chat on the phone as I walk around their yards. Changing times call for changing methods! So pop into your yard today and see what blank spaces you’d like to fill.

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 3: This Tip is for parents and kiddos. It’s brought to you from a strung out mom (aka me) whose brainstorming ways to entertain my kids during this ‘stay at home’ time. I’ve got three boys ages 7, 10, and 12….it feels like I have more than that because one of them has ADD and many needs. So last week we did an Easter Egg hunt in the backyard, since I have eggs lying around. In each egg I included a note with a challenge. The kids searched for the eggs (fought about how many they each had) then we opened one at a time and performed each challenge. Some boys wanted to choose specific challenges so we just rolled with it. Flexibility is my new mantra. Here is a sample of some of the challenges I included: Draw a chalk sketch on the wall, Hop on one foot while twirling, Sing your favorite song, Count how many plants are flowering, Find the stinkiest thing in the yard, Count the amount of spikes on one prickly pear pad, swing on the Hammock.
It turned out to be a fun game, the kids got some outdoor time, they learned to work together, negotiate, plus learned a little bit about plants. I’m calling it a garden win, parenting win, stay at home win and learning at home win.

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 4: A few weeks ago I trimmed all the seed heads off my yarrow plants but alas never actually picked them up. This week as I was picking them up I was wondering what I could do with them? Literally, now more than ever anything I touch I try to figure out if there is a second use for it. (Thank you Granny Guarino for all your great depression tales, she’d of been 99 this week). While staring at them with my son, he suggested we make them into a bouquet. Brilliant. SPRAYPAINT (thanks @rustoleum) to the rescue. It just so happened we had dregs of yellow, red, and orange paint lying around. (the warm colors per my son!) SHAKE, SPRAY, DRY, PLACE IN A VASE. DONE.

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 5: When it snows in April, which it inevitably always does, we cover our annuals and any newly planted seeds outdoors with sheets, drop cloths or old towels. Be especially sure to cover them overnight when freezing temperatures hit hard.

Can’t wait to hear how you unearth your yard this week.