As a garden consultant for Hornbach, the well-known DIY chain, I have been providing customised garden advice for a number of years now. Previously, I did this in person at the branch in Amsterdam, my home town. But this year, everything is different.
Out of necessity, garden centres have become more popular than ever before. After all, what else is left when you – either alone or with your family – are confined to your garden, balcony or rooftop terrace? My advice is to just get out there and start sowing and planting. Good times will return again; after all, if there’s anything nature can teach us, it’s that you can’t keep a good weed down. Even during difficult periods like this.
Naturally, it’s been quite a shock to the system: keeping at a distance of 1.5 metres, and being advised to avoid each other at all costs. Working from home, instead of being able to meet in person and daydream together about how your garden is going to look. No more eager guests seated at wooden tables among beautifully landscaped borders, the scent of spring blossoms in the air, and birdsong in the background.
Are we missing out on all of that this year? No, absolutely not.
We have computers, internet and smartphones, and we can see, hear and reach each other. It may seem a little remote, but perhaps we’re actually closer than ever; this time it’s just from my studio at home. Okay, in these quarantine-plagued times you may sometimes see an attention-seeking Just and/or Lotus (my twins) in the background. But what does it matter? Get out there and tend to your garden.
It almost seems as if the distance is bringing us closer together rather than driving us apart. For example, I’m now receiving requests for garden advice from all over the Netherlands. When I sit down at my computer, I get a bonus digital tour along with the usual photos and floor plans.
So keep those gardening advice questions coming!
See below for an example of online gardening advice.
This is what the garden looks like now
This is how it can be
