It’s that holiday time of the year and for many people, garden chores become just one more demand on the list of priorities. If you feel that way, take a moment. Yes, this is a superb month for planting winter annual flowers, perennials, winter vegetables and most experts like it for California natives. Yes, it’s a great month for pruning shrubs and trees as they head into dormancy. Yes, there is an ever-increasing pile of crisp brown foliage and dead flower heads demanding your attention before pests decide to move in and claim the stuff as a winter home. But unless you are one of the lucky ones who isn’t feeling overwhelmed by all the demands of the season, you can shift your attention away from all the have-to’s (a sure way to make even the most enjoyable projects discouraging), and look at your garden differently – at least for a little while. Gardens need to be considered and designed for the health and welfare of the gardener as well as his or her family, friends and pets. You need to claim a retreat area in your garden so you can escape all the other ‘stuff’ that can pile up in your life. Often November will offer comfortable afternoons cool enough to bask in the sunshine even at midday. Take out a stool if you haven’t already designed an area with comfortable seating. Bring a frivolous book. Or your favorite pet. A pair of binoculars. Or maybe nothing at all. And schedule in a 30 minute break in your day. Enjoy the fruits of your labors and the gifts of nature. It can refresh you like an extra good nights’ sleep and set you back to work with a new and more energetic view on the chores that await you inside. If you take care of yourself, you’ll work more enthusiastically than before, doing not only a better job, but a faster job. And taking care of yourself is the best investment you can make. You can never replace yourself!

Try to shift away from any work that needs doing in the garden and focus on the gifts your garden can give back to you.

See if there are any nice smelling or interesting looking greens, branches, dried flower or seed heads that might add seasonal decoration to the interior of your house or table top. Look around for nature’s gifts to keep children amused such as interesting stones, curious formed plants, insect homes, chunks of bark or seedpods. If you have a cat, think about all the natural cat toys growing around you – long dried leaves, stems, pine cones, catnip plants (Nepeta Caterria), dried seed heads, etc. Parrots love pine cones. (I recommend zapping ‘em in the microwave for 40 – 60 seconds first to ‘sterilize’ them.) Just watching your pooch blissing out in an upside-down back scratch session, can remind you of the joys of simple things. Sometimes all the preparation and fussing in the world isn’t more satisfying to those you love than a big hug or a moment of quality time in the garden. Our gardens can offer us therapy in planting, watching things grow, getting our fingernails dirty, and watching the magic of a fruit or flower or tree in full glory. They can also gift us with a sense of peace and a reminder that we are all made of the same stuff — stuff that was here long before we created all our overwhelming expectations. And will be here long after. Our gardens can remind us who we are, where we came from, and that the little things really are the important things after all.