do we need the experience of a quality sterling silver necklaces

Or, do we need the experience of a retail store too? sought-after environmental expert and speaker. irony that Smith & Hawken, Scotts latest acquisition, should become leverage This summer, Countryside, a new magazine that elevates country life to a spiritual plane, carried an eight-page spread of country fashions that featured everything from children in yellow rubber garden clogs (Smith & Hawken, $22) to a woman hanging up the wash in a cotton print jumper (Tweeds, $69). "You're not going to put on just anything. Sporting my canvas gardeners pants with the insertable solid garden spade. Smith owns Mulligans book store in Ukiah. I think it was moving into a falling apart yet charming house in the S.F. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. In the absence of enthusiastic garden mentors, boutique outfits like the old S & H definitely have their place. I'm furious at S&H (as I pin my japanese farmer pants together each day) for now carrying only 'fluff' gardening items.Try www.duluthtrading.com look for 'skillers' work pants w/knee pads !! Now we can look to the seedbed. Like Laura I haven't been able to afford anything from their beautiful store but it's still sad to see them go. (And How Do I Fix It? ", But if you can't get there, you can open the magazine. Maureen, I don't know where to begin. the Marin fog. Plantanista (Maureen D) | "There are big bucks under those chrysanthemum petals," said Rosemary Kent, features editor at the magazine, which is published by Hearst in Manhattan. "Cotton, hemp, silk, linen all come from plant materials that are sprayed with pesticides and herbicides and then processed and dyed, which adds to pollution.". Thanks, Alex, These shade-loving ground covers are good for the environment and say something about where you are, Lacy form and fiery fall color make Japanese maple a welcome tree for garden or patio, This dramatic, ruby-tinged grass bridges the gap between red and green, short and tall plants, Get a glimpse of the Huntington's Japanese Garden today along with its storied past in a glossy new book, Balance, enclosures and the forms of nature combine in serene Japanese garden design. Outside my front door is a mossy, oversized, concrete acorn bought from Smith & Hawken that greets all who enter. in part to an overly optimistic focus on the clothing line. Craig @ Ellis Hollow | every garden clog, every piece of gorgeous, pricey teak furniture came to love to see what Hawken might do with another opportunity to fill the needs of I have used an old pair of sweat pants and sewn in a pocket at the knees from the inside and insert pads in them. On each curve plant a shrub or grass to hide the bends and perhaps create a path using stepping stones or wooden slices (although these are contentious depending where you live). (I hear Western Hills has new owners and may be open again by appt.). The line expanded to include chintzy table way to my front porch. tool that would last my lifetime. said Tovah Martin, the horticulturist at Logee's Greenhouses in Danielson, Conn. Ms. Martin gardens in a bleached-out sundress that she can hike up over her knees when she has to dig in the dirt. I have 2 pair of Smith and Hawken gardening pants. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Posted by: I knew Bright side is, there's gotta be a vacuum left for some energetic person to fill. Wonderful. Posted by: represent for me a vision of organic garden glam, magnified by the sumptuous You might give these a try, not exactly sure if they are what you are after, but I have the shorts and LOVE them! Sounds like Smith and Hawkin had more holes than scabbard and had to call it a day. The remnants of the Italian ethnic population there was encouraging - old ladies would give me surplus greens, not knowing they were being cutting edge. All rights reserved. In reality, apparently not much. When Dan Eskelson tweeted yesterday morning about them closing, I couldn't believe it. I had tears in my eyes from the title alone. "There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didnt bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring. " Suggest you look at the Acer palmatum var. Although I'm skeptical of lifestyle marketing, especially when it comes to something as basic as gardening (e.g., growing food), companies such as S & H helped keep the idea of grassroots gardening alive after the hippie commune era and before the current garden chic era. And the company went through several changes in The other is even older and doesn't have the elastic (I wish it did) BUT it does have multiple pockets like a carpenter's pant. A woman on page 8 has been cutting irises with her Felco pruners, in $69 flowered pants (also with tagua nut-buttons). Was a customer for years. My openning irder with Scotts for 2008 was in excess of $145,000 just for one of our storesfor '09 $38,000. lost. http://tiny.cc/qhmaw. But this was a store whose mere existence provided solace and optimism, that there was this guiding intelligence out there focused on garden stuff. Here is a link that might be useful: gardening clothing, Seeking red-color small Japanese Maple tree to grow in container, If you can't find what you are looking for you could just take a comfortable pair of pants and sew pockets on the knees for the pads to fit intoLillie. I spent my money on big iron arches--a fancy one for my city yard and simpler ones for my vegetable garden. "We believe that good tools are the most satisfying to use and the least expensive to own," the Smith & Hawken catalogue says, and you believe it, too. Haven't liked the store since it went all upscale, like every other damned store in that market. I've admired Smith & Hawken from afar. They also had a sense of humor which I still appreciate everyday as I come and go beside the acorn. "Clothing is our most polluting crop," Mr. Hawken said. Posted by: In some ways, the awakening of the gardener in many of Frances, Posted by: A loving homage to the beauty of functional, well made They had little pockets in the knees for stuff-in knee pads. catalog subscription. empire of ones own. It was such an honor and pleasure to do a guest post for GR on a subject I felt so passionately about. Hawken started a software company and became a highly Anne (in Reno) | Smith was selling organic flower for the extra-long wooden shaft as I should have, it feels as if a permanent I remember reading Paul's 'The Next Economy' and then saving my pennies to invest in a fork and scuttle hoe from S&H (we were living hand to mouth, so that took awhile) because I knew they would last me a lifetime. The look says you are an active, hands-on kind of person who loves the earth and the rain forest and the poor laborers who make your beautiful cotton clothes. So you must have a pair of $34 elbow-high goatskin gloves ("They fit like dress gloves," the catalogue says, "but are designed for serious work") and a $58 pair of genuine British Wellington boots. "Our customers don't get terribly excited about paying a lot of money for garden fashion because it tends to be their old clothes," Mr. Raap said. It says, 'I've got things to do with my life.' Posted by Susan Harris on July 09, 2009 at 09:39 AM in Taking Your Gardening Dollar | Permalink. time ago for me. Mr. Tyler bought Betty for $2,000 and keeps her running with rubber bands and paper clips. Lovely essay, Maureen, but I won't really miss the current incarnation of S&H -- last time I looked, there were no tools, no real garden equipment, but only outrageously expensive outdoor dining furniture and tchotchkes. ", But Will Raap, Gardener's Supply's president, is fond of Greenknees pants, a double-kneed type with a elastic waistband made by Denman of Brea, Calif. (Denman also makes hand-forged steel hand ploughs, which it says have been used "by Korean farmers since the dawn of the Iron Age."). Hawken, a superb writer, honed his craft on the garden porn | Things I've Learned in the Last Month . "For a moment, you are the woman hanging up the laundry." You can toss the pads out as needed or make them as thick as you want. ): A Visual Guide to Easy Diagnosis and Organic Remedies, Jeff Goodell: How to Cool the Planet: Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix Earth's Climate, Susan Leigh Tomlinson: How to Keep a Naturalist's Notebook, Love Albrecht Howard: So You Want to Be a Garden Designer: How to Get Started, Grow, and Thrive in the Landscape Design Business, Sydney Eddison: Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older, John Greenlee: The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn, Suzy Bales: Garden Bouquets and Beyond: Creating Wreaths, Garlands, and More in Every Garden Season, Linda Chalker-Scott: The Informed Gardener Blooms Again, Ginny Stibolt: Sustainable Gardening for Florida, Jeff Gillman: How Trees Die: The Past, Present, and Future of our Forests, Dell: Sustainable Landscaping For Dummies (For Dummies (Home & Garden)), Amy Stewart: Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, Suzy Bales: Suzy Bales' Down to Earth Gardener: Let Mother Nature Guide You to Success in Your Garden, Julie Moir Messervy: Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love, Amy Stewart: Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful, Amy Stewart: From the Ground Up: The Story of A First Garden. Certainly, nothing from their sturdy/pricy line of garden tools and furniture. Then the stores opened. July 09, 2009 at 06:38 PM. I too echo the comments of this beautifully written post. I Don't Have a Garden, but I Watch One on TV, Flora & Fauna Books - Natural History Book Store, Gardens and Plants of UBC Botanical Garden, UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, Royal Horticultural Society - RHS Plant Finder. The only thing you can be sure about is change. I'll always love my S & H spade, now naked of its warranty. I'll greatly miss this store, even if it had veered away from its original roots. Soon after that, the long-shanked English Garden Spade made its spade I bought so long ago. Duluth Trading (a company I order long tail tee shirts and Fire House Pants from offers these for women: https://www.duluthtrading.com/womens-heirloom-gardening-pants-16765.html, I have some that are wearing out. Like you, Maureen, I cherish the 'real' tools I bought from Smith & Hawken, but more than that, is the acorn. First, wonderful, wonderful piece, and since I am very familiar with your gorgeous prose, thoughtful stance and diplomatic opinions, this is hands-down the best of the best. you appear to have by your fence. That explains so much. dissectum red maples. I'd highly recommend to anyone working as a hort professional, landscape designer, etc., that they read "Growing a Business". Laura Livengood Schaub (InterLeafer) | a Business, a practical and inspirational guide to expanding a lifestyle There have been several mentions of their quality products, something they were well known for. I am known in my family for being stingy (I call it thrifty), so S&H was purely a look-for-ideas destination for me; fortunately, my husband is much more willing to spring for quality, and the beautiful wood bench in my garden was purchased by him from them for a long-ago birthday. Does anyone recall these pants and have another source for the same or similar pants? I am actually the Assistant Buyer for Gardening for Smith & Hawken and the plan is that we are going to be bringing back the Japanese Farmer's Pants in Spring 2008. And a $72 gardener's watch (water resistant) and seven-pocket gardener's pants (in khaki, blue or spruce) with pockets at the knees for removable neoprene pads. But as with all things, you get what you pay for and quality costs. "His wife's brother had the truck in Texas, and they dragged it up here with the idea of selling it.". Posted by: that sold thousands of tools, trugs, and boots. Me being only 10 I didn't really understand all the fuss. Elizabeth Stump | pictum, The right maple in the right place shines in hot summer sun, With such a wide range to choose from, theres a beautiful Japanese maple to suit almost any setting, Go for garden gusto during the chilly season with the fiery red stems of this unusual Japanese maple, Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers, Outdoor Lighting & Audio/Visual Specialists, https://www.duluthtrading.com/womens-heirloom-gardening-pants-16765.html, Native Alternatives to English Ivy, Japanese Pachysandra and Periwinkle, Stroll Through a Magnificent Japanese Garden, Newly Renovated, Lay of the Landscape: Create the Beauty of a Japanese Garden, Backyard Ideas: Writer's Studio and a Japanese-Inspired Garden, Great Design Plant: Japanese Painted Fern Weaves a Garden Tapestry, 11 Japanese Maples for Breathtaking Color and Form, Great Design Plant: Coral Bark Japanese Maple, a Winter Standout. RIP. The tagua palm grows in the Ecuadorean rain forest. "American Livestock caters to the dairies," Mr. Swain said. "Everybody brought in the things they loved that they hated to see wear out, because nobody was making them anymore," Mr. Hawken said. The newly capitalized company moved on to open 25 retail But are brick and mortar stores for lifestyle products dead in general? July 09, 2009 at 02:16 PM. Unpacking the tool was a ritual during which I began to Susan aka Miss R. | I don't know if this will help but here is a place that sells patterns for these pants: Here is a link that might be useful: try this. us may be related in some way to those misty black and white photos taken in And what eco-gardener can do without Smith & Hawken's storm-green farmer's style canvas jacket with buttons made from tagua nuts? "I get on the subway with all that grime and dirt, and I get into these pages," Ms. Kent said. Plants can include: Hostas, Hellebore, Azaleas and Rhodos (but they require a different peat earth) Nandina - do NOT plant dwarf bamboo without rhizome barriers as they can be very hard to keep in check. This is very sad news for my local Marin County economy and for the rest of the country who enjoyed to stock their home and garden with well made products from S+H. Moving beyond languid But S&H stores clearly hand an allure for so many of us. "She doesn't go very fast, but she's strong," said Mr. Tyler, whose garden wardrobe emphasizes Agway dungarees, worn for four years now. Works great. Then, as the years passed, the catalogue started to be less relevant to me. perfect garden clogs, he soon published Growing Hi all, I am usually over on the Home Forums. Posted by: So here's my question; Did they price themselves into closing or is there an opportunity for another store (startup) to fill the void? Joe | "It had a little 'For Sale' sign on it, and the guy who sold it had a secondhand store down on the Lower East Side," said Mr. Tyler, a fabric designer who lives in the Chelsea section but gardens in East Hampton, L.I. Beautifully written essay from the heart and hand of a gardener. Any bamboo should have a rhizome barrier. For Some Gardeners, Sartorial Weeds Just Won't Do, https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/garden/for-some-gardeners-sartorial-weeds-just-won-t-do.html. it would be the last time I visited the store. I can remember my grandparents owned S&H tools and would rant and rave at the quality. Everything I ever got from Smith & Hawken, I liked. What a crushing Maureen, you have a gift for distilling feelings into words. Here's link to an online dealer of all cotton Japanese gardening pants or as the Japanese say "monpe". -- ANNE RAVER, See the article in its original context from. Frances | This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. !39 in Boston and thousands of bulbs to go. It was a little expensive, but it seemed worth it for such quality. form of plant crack, I know Ill never go wanting. I've had many friends over the decades work for Smith and Hawkens , who had always been a decent company to work for. and dreamt of ways to make gardening my career. Everything changes. wish I could just replace them. & Hawken is shutting down, the lock is now on the door that closed some July 09, 2009 at 01:31 PM. Wonderful things and decent prices considering the high end nature www.kinsmangarden.com, Posted by: It's been years since I've been able to afford anything from Smith & Hawken, but I too have a tool that I bought from them at least a dozen years ago; it's a simple black watering wand that can shoot a stream 20' or mist a seedling. I never bought from them, but always enjoyed walking through their stores and ogling at the very expensive, upscale items. I wish I had a pair that combined the best qualities of both: Lots of pockets, padded knees and an elastic waist! Mr. Swain espouses simplicity and durability. "And for a moment you fall into it," she said. I was also inspired by Paul Hawken's recent address to the graduating class at the University of Portland. We gardeners love our quality tools and the ambiance of shopping at S&H. "I get downright cross looking at those catalogues. You've captured perfectly what happens when a corporation like Scott's believes they can completely redefine (and in this case subvert) another company's brand and message, yet somehow still maintain its value, cachet and customer base. Posted by: July 09, 2009 at 06:09 PM, S&H quality went down hill after the Scotts purchase. Gardener's Supply sold them for a while, but they weren't hot in Vermont. cohort and double-digging biointensive gardening guru, John Jeavons , to import and market a You can get one with either a bluebell or a hyacinth on the pocket, with short sleeves ($19) or long sleeves ($20). lol! Lee Valley for solid, long wearing tools, and interesting and useful gardening items you didn't know you needed. arrangements through Whole Foods last I heard; and other retailers have made Like me, gardeners July 09, 2009 at 05:26 PM. Long As Hawken pursued his true calling as an green July 09, 2009 at 10:14 AM. July 09, 2009 at 01:16 PM. Who needs to brag when you own the Trigger of the garden world? Unlike other garden supply catalogs, whose stuff was always too dinky, Smith & Hawken got the scale right. What's wrong with your old stained jeans and frayed T-shirt? ". Calif, where Sarah Hammond's plantings at the Mill Valley store were worth the trip, along with the excellent nursery selections that seemed to be synchronous with exciting stuff happening just over the bridge at Strybing Arboretum, and I always came home with a car stuffed with plants. "I think of her as an old rake," he said, "an old tool that never stops working. It was swallowed whole Posted by: Smith and Hawkens has stopped carrying their "Japanese Gardening Pants". By thinking name alone can carry the acquired company forward, the parent company ordered them to cut down on quality to save a few pennies most probably. YIKES! But I love the fact that we still have the minds behind the original concept, here and continuing to contribute, trying to steer us in the right direction. "The cotton is organically grown in Texas, and we're working with people in Oaxaca, Mexico, to fix natural dyes to clothing using iron oxide instead of heavy metals," said Paul Hawken, who founded Smith & Hawken with David Smith 12 years ago. of Miracle-Gro. July 09, 2009 at 01:41 PM. on Wednesday night to celebrate the closure. (indeed, there is a Smith) imbued the catalog with a new gardening persona, The company is in Japan but ships worldwide! Posted by: Let's hope Mr. Hawken will resurrect the original idea! photography of pretty people getting dirty and having fun doing it. Denise | Over twenty years later, and I still use it again. Guest Rant by Maureen Decombe, a/k/a Plantanista, following Scotts' announcement that it's closing all 56 Smith & Hawken stores by the end of 2009. Mr. McGregor's Daughter | Like you, I was enamored of all the fantastic garden tools and clothing in the catalogue. It was still pretty good. But more than that, the garden is like a balm to a sore, sore world. ownership and management, finally landing in the portfolio of Scotts, makers The new catalogues are not just talking fashionable perennials and old roses and heirloom seeds. GOOD AS AN OLD RAKE, WITH BETTER MILEAGE. The corporate headquarters is just 3 miles from my house in Novato and the main retail store is just a few more miles down the road. I miss S&H before the takeover by Scott's. I spotted a patio set I liked from Target of all places. serious gardeners for quality garden tools. So that's what happened to Smith & Hawken. But, I keep patching and repairing the ones I have. Big and sturdy. NordicTrack and The Nature Company. Will Raap said: "The further we get from good, honest work, the more we need the trappings of it. Maureen, fantastic piece--and very sad news. Smith & Hawken had authenticity and a high level of quality which gained my trust. They're talking "the look.". at least once a week. Downsizing, maybe, but not gone, just like that? Squirrelgardens | Id Their quality used to be worth saving up for. Maybe my pants should get a Hall of Fame award!Martha. But who's going to wear the $89 tagua-nut farmer's jacket slopping the hogs? And the Target thing, it was a counter pitch against the Martha Stewart brand at Kmart. Posted by: I would never part with it. I have some good news for you. "Why get something new all wrecked up?" TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. According the Marin Independent Journal, Hawken threw a party This works good for gardening, or painting. Replied to your previous post. making organic gardening a hip to be square hippie pastimestill a waft of And it's a hybrid that breeds true to the genius of its parents. And if Im ever in the market for an easily-dissolved Though Ive not cared "I use her for getting rocks at the quarry," Mr. Tyler said. purchased in 1993 for $15 million by a firm best known for marketing the Later I bought two other hoes from S&H, and though they were fancy stainless steel hoe heads and walnut handles, as actual hoes they were/are fairly worthless. I wonder how long Scott's has owned them and how much their attitudes had to do with the increases in prices and the junk-ifying of the stores. Posted by: It's not like I'm kneeling on wet concrete that would cause my kneecaps to dissolve.". IT'S January and you're in your garden, picking the most fragrant sweet pea from Thompson & Morgan, digging up the oldest, bluest potato from Seeds Blum, squeezing the sweetest French Charentais melon from Shepherd's Garden Seeds. Second, about Smith & Hawken. This is not "a look," Mr. Hawken insisted, nor does his clothing "say" anything. July 09, 2009 at 11:14 AM. I would love to have another, and cannot find it anywhere, certainly not at Smith & Hawken. ", "I think we're going to care how we look in the garden," Ms. Kent said. Then he described the look and what it says: "It's comfortable. . Twenty years ago, that tool was a triangular hand hoe, which I still own and use everyday. And ironically they've already outlived S&H. Dee/reddirtramblings | benefits of Miracle-Gro to keep that lawn clean & green. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. I'll support the local gardening stores selling good, cheap tools. July 09, 2009 at 03:39 PM. Ones that came up in my search for Men were listed at $357. They carried nothing like it. Paul & Dave had left the building. Ralph Lauren probably made you forget this, but linen used to be work clothing. Smith & Hawken validated gardening as a hip pursuit. Every tool, "Most of us aren't professional players," he said. Posted by: Grasses are Mexican feather grass to complement the scale of the Miscanthus (?) full-circle irony, eventually returned to Palo Alto, the town in which Smith stores throughout the country. I bought many more of these hoes for friends over the years, and although I'm sad S&H is closed, I can understand why.~~Dee, Posted by: This fall, Smith & Hawken will offer a line of cotton clothing that is unpolluted by pesticides or processing chemicals. But I need HEEEELLLLP and I couldn't find a more suitable garden forum. I hope A.M. Leonard gets some fall out business from S&H closing shop. Though my lifetime guarantee is probably now moot, and Im Posted by: So could we classify clothing as an accoutrement (of the gardener)? But not through his knee. And now that Smith My mother-in-law sent me a fantastic edging spade and beautiful pots from them. And you can dirty up an elegant Long-Haul Linen Shirt (in dill, fog, off-white or adobe) and toss it in the washing machine. Jenn | One week after they gave a presentation at our APLD meeting and gave all 40 members present a beautiful white orchid? NOT six months, FIVE YEARS). And I am one who would always browse the S&H store whenever I could. The irony is not lost on me when I consider that my business has changed considerably as well, and I too am in the process of contemplating some new doors. that Hawken, ever the entrepreneur, has his mind on the garden tool business Copyright 2006-2011. I recently thought of Jeavons, Hawken, and Smith as I Let's face it: Real gardeners just aren't that fashionable. But I would like the doors with their shovel and fork handles -- they would look very handsome on my newly rebuilt shed. visionarybeginning with the publication of The A landscape lighting company moved into the building and is struggling to stay afloat there. Mr. Hawken, 45 years old, has made money naturally since 1966, when he started a natural foods business called Erewhon Trading Company in Boston. Wait. Visiting the store in Houston was still a delight however. Perhaps those hoes were an indication of the beginning of the end Posted by: His rubber boots, by Tingley, cost $25, and his hat is an old cowboy hat from Costa Rica. Not the garden frou frou ones that cater to the well off (even though I am pretty much well off), Posted by: So that's the white orchid I'll take from all this. July 09, 2009 at 05:40 PM. July 09, 2009 at 09:54 AM. The company, in Mill Valley, Calif., has grown from a $40,000-a-year business to a $60-million-a-year business; this year it will send out 20 million or so copies of 19 different catalogues. She was parked near the corner of First Avenue and Second Street in Manhattan. By clicking Accept I agree to this, as further described in the Houzz Cookie Policy. Anyone can read what you share. I used to get great gear there, had a pair of gardening gloves from them that lasted FIVE YEARS (do you hear that west country gloves people? deep cuts into the market share built on a simple desire on the part of Hawken And that's how it's pictured on page 18 in the Smith & Hawken clothing catalogue: A dusty workman stands by a pile of bricks, and boy, is his $69 Long-Haul Linen Shirt dirty. "For years, we've looked to Seventh Avenue for fashion. When it was sold the first time, the quality changed and those tools were replaced with lesser mortals. They had the best tools and handmade Felco scabbards. However in my older age I can now appreciate their fondness with such a quality company. Amy Stewart, Michele Owens, Elizabeth Licata, Susan Harris. Ah pictures! Mr. Tyler has had a couple offers from those who would like Betty in their own East Hampton driveways, but the truck has a strong hold on him. As an entry-level gardener, I saved for a couple of months to get my spade back in the day, and have never regretted the sacrifice. Clothing that's designed for work, like the flannel shirt, makes us feel that connection, even if we just put it on to go shopping. were practical types who liked to muck up only a couple of sets of drawstring Roger Swain, the host of the PBS television series "The Victory Garden," said: "When I'm kneeling down, my knees are on good soil, so what's the big deal? For a short while, the Mill Valley S&H had an incredible book section as well. The swath of Japanese anenomes that was planted by S+H original horticulturist Sarah Hammond was about to burst into bloom. The founding principle had been Smith & Hawken's clothing looks like L. L. Bean crossed with Banana Republic.