Can you really make money by planting a garden? Well, the answer is “yes” if you’re a homeowner. Results of a 1999 Gallup poll showed that a well-designed and well-maintained landscape yields as much as a 200 percent return, and can add 7 to 15 percent to a home’s value. Landscaping also helps sell houses, a phenomenon realtors refer to as “curb appeal.” According to Pam McQuinn of Red Door Realty in Halifax, “Curb appeal can make or break the sale of a house. In fact,” says Pam, “you only have one chance to make a good impression when driving up to a prospective new home. People start thinking about the possibilities from the street, so curb appeal is very important to create a first and lasting impression. Houses with curb appeal definitely bring a higher price, and sell more quickly.”

As for saving the planet, “going green” is a hot topic these days. The good news is that giving back to the planet is easy. Plant a flower, a shrub, or a tree, and you will be contributing to a more dynamic Earth because plants remove carbon dioxide from the environment through photosynthesis, and the result is clean air. A single planting can help, if only ever so slightly, to reduce soil erosion, regulate water cycles, and reign in climate change.

If you have an established garden, there is still more you can do to contribute to a healthy environment. Ideally, you already make your own compost and use water-efficient soaker hoses. But if you don’t, you can purchase organic matter to add to your soil, use eco-friendly slow release plant food, and water responsibly. Introducing these practices will boost the immune systems of your plants so they are better equipped to stave off weeds, pests and disease. The blissful result will be a pleasing “micro-climate” that is good for Mother Earth.

It has long been said that gardening feeds the soul, and that planting and tending a garden is a pleasant distraction from work and family issues that aids in the reduction of stress. In fact, it is safe to say that gardening has a direct and lasting impact on mental health. But did you know that tending your garden for a ½ hour a day is a good workout as well? Recent studies have shown that gardening is great for developing muscle tone, building core body strength, and increasing metabolism.

Apparently, according to many scientists and health professionals, gardening tasks such as pruning, weeding, digging, or planting burn at least 265 calories an hour, which is more than one burns in an hour of brisk walking, or even swimming. The exertion level in raking is equal to bicycling 10+ mph. The effort in cutting grass with a hand mower, tilling a garden, or shovelling dirt is the equivalent of a fast paced aerobics class. Many of the key elements in a good moderate low-stress exercise regime can be achieved while gardening. Of course, in order to achieve maximum benefit, it is important to remember to warm up all of your muscle groups by adequately stretching to limber up.

So there you have it. You have built up some equity, you have jumped on the “green” bandwagon, and you are the radiant picture of health. Not bad for a day spent smelling the flowers, wouldn’t you say?

Holly Winchester heads up the Garden Design Team at Goody Baskets in Halifax, and she welcomes e-mail at manager@goodybaskets.com

It’s that time of year, when a Crocus here and Snowdrop there creep cautiously out of the ground. We know for sure that spring is here, because the sweet song of returning birds is in the air, and you can smell the mud.  Garden season is soon upon us, and now is the time to plan your garden for 2011.

For those of us who have established gardens, it is a very exciting time.  Our dreams are filled with best intentions. Our hearts race as we thumb through every garden magazine we can get our hands on, anxious to know what is new.  We can’t wait to get out there and up to our elbows in rich, dark, nutrient laden dirt.  Life is good during garden season, and we have four or five glorious months ahead!

Having tried different things over the years, we experienced gardeners have paid our dues.  Our lessons have been learned, and we have the courage to forge ahead, safe in the knowledge that we are on the right path, and that the new hostas and daylilies we planted last year will be along shortly, like old friends who are as excited to see us as we are to see them.

But there are those who walk among us who are facing the garden challenge with uncertainty.  Some are new homeowners, others have made a stab at gardening in previous years, and both are now face-to-face with an overwhelming dilemma.  “I know what I want,” they say, “but where do I start?”

My advice to them is simple.  Get help.  Take advantage of experience.  It is surprisingly affordable to employ a garden designer to come in and get you on the right track, and the money that you will save by avoiding the inevitable mistakes that you might otherwise make will more than justify the expense.

Most garden shops have design staff that can, for a modest fee, come and look at your site, make recommendations, even draw you a garden plan complete with plant selections, colours and sizes.  Included in a good garden plan will also be step-by-step instructions on how to create your garden from scratch, and “care and feeding” for the years to follow.  With plan in hand, you can go to your favourite garden centre with confidence that this year is going to be different from other years.  This year, your garden is going to be fabulous.

Imagine that.  Flowers make you feel good.  Well, okay, so that’s no surprise, but a behavioural research study at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, found that flowers actually have a measurable impact on health.  Specifically, they say, “The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction, and affects social behaviour in a positive manner far beyond what is normally believed.”  In this 10-month study, participants across the board experienced and demonstrated that flowers impact moods in a natural and healthful way.  These participants described positive long-term changes in their emotional health with the presence of flowers, resulting in a lessening of depression, anxiety and agitation, a higher sense of contentment and fulfillment, and an increased inclination to participate in social and family situations. 

Sounds like flowers are the perfect counterpoint to February – the notorious purveyor of the blues.  I guess there is only one thing to do.  Send a posey or two to everyone you know and love.  And, while you’re at it, pick up a little bouquet for yourself, too.

In her 1913 poem, ‘Sacred Emily,’ Gertrude Stein wrote: “A rose is a rose is a rose…”   Over a century earlier, William Shakespeare also referred to the classic favourite in ‘Romeo and Juliet:’ What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”  But are these accurate statements?  Is it fair to the rose to imply this predictability?   In fact, the genus “Rosa” contains well over 100 species, and the variety in colour, size, and shape is vast.  So Gertrude Stein was mistaken.  As for Mr. Shakespeare, while it is true that many roses have a heavenly scent, roses don’t always smell sweet.  In fact, some roses have no scent at all, and there are varieties that have unpleasant scents.  I recall once receiving a bouquet of orange roses that had the faint smell of cat pee.  They were beautiful to behold, but not so nice on the nostrils.

Roses are the first choice for Valentine’s Day, and red roses are at the front of that line. And rightly so, because red roses convey romantic love. However, there are meanings associated with other colours of roses that might convey more adequately the sender’s intended message.  Purple roses, for example, signify that the sender has fallen hopelessly in love with the recipient at first sight.  Coral roses represent desire.  Orange roses express enthusiasm. Yellow varieties indicate joy and friendship; pink or peach blooms connote gratitude and admiration; white roses indicate reverence and humility, and “black” roses promise the death of old habits and the rebirth of new ones.

If you ask me, that’s an awful lot of pressure to put on a flower.  Hopefully, the sender gets it that actions speak louder than roses…

So this week we celebrate the sometimes sweet smelling, always beautiful, and often misunderstood  rose in all it’s multi-faceted glory.  From all of us at Dean’s Flowers:  Happy Valentine’s Day!