July 09, 2009 at 11:56 AM, In noting all the comments above re affordability of S&H's products, I've been mentally tabulating what I bought from S&H. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. But not through his knee. July 09, 2009 at 11:14 AM. The plastic watering can from the five and dime? Jenn | All the models are real people: loyal customers, employees or the good, solid folk of Mill Valley. YIKES! Ralph Lauren probably made you forget this, but linen used to be work clothing. July 09, 2009 at 07:15 PM, James van Sweden: The Artful Garden: Creative Inspiration for Landscape Design, Stephen Orr: Tomorrow's Garden: Design and Inspiration for a New Age of Sustainable Gardening, Scott Ogden: Plant-Driven Design: Creating Gardens That Honor Plants, Place, and Spirit, Andrea Bellamy: Sugar Snaps and Strawberries: Simple Solutions for Creating Your Own Small-Space Edible Garden, William Robinson: The Wild Garden: Expanded Edition, Jeff Gillman: The Truth About Organic Gardening: Benefits, Drawbacks, and the Bottom Line, Jeff Gillman: The Truth About Garden Remedies: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why, Jimmy Williams: From Seed to Skillet: A Guide to Growing, Tending, Harvesting, and Cooking Up Fresh, Healthy Food to Share with People You Love, Fritz Haeg: Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn, First Edition, Sue Reed: Energy-Wise Landscape Design: A New Approach for Your Home and Garden, Janet Loughrey: Saratoga in Bloom: 150 Years of Glorious Gardens, David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth: What's Wrong With My Plant? As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. irony that Smith & Hawken, Scotts latest acquisition, should become leverage Hi Riley's mom.. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. July 09, 2009 at 09:54 AM. Two men on page 62 are building a kayak in their $88 Drys-on-Ya Fleece Pullovers. 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: But more than that, the garden is like a balm to a sore, sore world. I knew "Most of us aren't professional players," he said. Many are still with me, including some of the ill fated clothing line, all cherished. 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. "She doesn't go very fast, but she's strong," said Mr. Tyler, whose garden wardrobe emphasizes Agway dungarees, worn for four years now. It was beautiful then, but now it is even lovelier in its grey weathered state with lichens and mosses softening it, plus the memories of thirty years in my garden. Unlike other garden supply catalogs, whose stuff was always too dinky, Smith & Hawken got the scale right. you appear to have by your fence. Co-founder Paul Hawken, Posted by: Mr. Tyler bought Betty for $2,000 and keeps her running with rubber bands and paper clips. Like Laura I haven't been able to afford anything from their beautiful store but it's still sad to see them go. And it's a hybrid that breeds true to the genius of its parents. But I would like the doors with their shovel and fork handles -- they would look very handsome on my newly rebuilt shed. But S&H stores clearly hand an allure for so many of us. Craig @ Ellis Hollow | It was swallowed whole Posted by: You can get one with either a bluebell or a hyacinth on the pocket, with short sleeves ($19) or long sleeves ($20). Rita | 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. The plant nursery and books at Mill Valley disappeared years ago, and then eventually the yearly pilgrimages. Frank Niccoli | July 09, 2009 at 01:41 PM. (I hear Western Hills has new owners and may be open again by appt.). Betty's top speed, downhill with a tailwind, is 48 miles per hour. Your sturdy solid-forged Bulldog fork and spade are in the toolshed, which looks just like the one on page 12 in Smith & Hawken, where an old French door stands ajar and a white bougainvillea climbs up the wall and the light is beautiful and soft. As Hawken pursued his true calling as an green 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 !! What a crushing lol! sought-after environmental expert and speaker. Ecology of Commercethe company continued to grow, but profits slagged due They also had a sense of humor which I still appreciate everyday as I come and go beside the acorn. And the style of their clothes walked right out of employees' closets. Posted by: "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. For a short while, the Mill Valley S&H had an incredible book section as well. July 09, 2009 at 06:15 PM. "I think of her as an old rake," he said, "an old tool that never stops working. Susan aka Miss R. | Sounds like Smith and Hawkin had more holes than scabbard and had to call it a day. What's wrong with your old stained jeans and frayed T-shirt? Very pretty. Garety, I dug out the ditch and banked the dirt just before installation. There hasn't been anything like it available anywhere else--ever. Replied to your previous post. It has long ago lost its shine, but it has the patina of years of soil embedded in the handle. patchouli, to be sure, but still refined, mysterious, and sexy. 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. July 09, 2009 at 12:27 PM, I was there with you, Maureen, in the mid eighties, devouring each catalog and marking the items I would love to have. Hawken started a software company and became a highly However in my older age I can now appreciate their fondness with such a quality company. The new catalogues are not just talking fashionable perennials and old roses and heirloom seeds. I was a broke college student when I read my first catalog, but it was always my goal to buy something as soon as I could. 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. The remnants of the Italian ethnic population there was encouraging - old ladies would give me surplus greens, not knowing they were being cutting edge. Bring the look home with some of these principles, A nearby Japanese garden inspires a feature-packed backyard and studio for a work-from-home Portland writer, Bring striking colors and texture to your woodland garden with Athyrium niponicum var. Suggest you look at the Acer palmatum var. From their long-gone seconds outlet in Santa Rosa I bought very inexpensive tables and benches made from repurposed wine barrels and lots of other odds and ends. My goal was to have only S and H in my closet and cupboards. 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). Apologies in advance if this is long. Id & Hawken grew from an order-fulfillment garage to become a garden lifestyle 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. "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. " This really is sad for those of us who do not live near a large metro area. Lillian wanted this bridge for a long time. RIP. donna | Crimson Queen, Red Dragon, Tamukeyama. a Business, a practical and inspirational guide to expanding a lifestyle purchased in 1993 for $15 million by a firm best known for marketing the "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. 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? Rosella | I hope A.M. Leonard gets some fall out business from S&H closing shop. July 09, 2009 at 05:26 PM. And the Target thing, it was a counter pitch against the Martha Stewart brand at Kmart. (Have a peek at their gardening tools too, but hide your credit card first!! spade I bought so long ago. PS yes I have tried Google but it keeps bringing up hundreds of non-relevant hits off Japanese and garden. I never bought from them, but always enjoyed walking through their stores and ogling at the very expensive, upscale items. the mid 80s. Reflecting on what S&H meant to you, I found myself nodding about the fine garden tools. July 09, 2009 at 06:09 PM, S&H quality went down hill after the Scotts purchase. | Things I've Learned in the Last Month . and dreamt of ways to make gardening my career. Every tool, 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? Mission District in the early '90s. All that got me thinking about who/what pushed me into gardening as an adult. Posted by: "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. So that's the white orchid I'll take from all this. susan morrison (garden-chick) | July 09, 2009 at 05:40 PM. serious gardeners for quality garden tools. They had little pockets in the knees for stuff-in knee pads. I swiped Paul's book 'Growing a Business' from the library at my old job; it didn't hold much of a message for them, but it did for me, and I had it in my hand as I launched my design business in 2001. ): 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. (And How Do I Fix It? Or, do we need the experience of a retail store too? Wonderful things and decent prices considering the high end nature www.kinsmangarden.com, Posted by: The BBG veg garden | Mr. McGregor's Daughter | But this was a store whose mere existence provided solace and optimism, that there was this guiding intelligence out there focused on garden stuff. Fashion, that's what, growing greener than a sugar snap pea. Just went online 2 days ago to see of they had some more of the bendable oblesik. "Gardening attire around here is ratty jeans and old shirts," said Paul Conrad of Gardener's Supply Company in Burlington, Vt. "I think if anyone showed up decked out a la Smith & Hawken, they'd get razzed unmercifully. I've admired Smith & Hawken from afar. Like me, gardeners Smith owns Mulligans book store in Ukiah. I can remember my grandparents owned S&H tools and would rant and rave at the quality. 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. wish I could just replace them. In reality, apparently not much. Wonderful. The company is in Japan but ships worldwide! The $7 gloves from Agway? Posted by: "I get a cheap price because they love my truck so much.". NOT six months, FIVE YEARS). Maybe my pants should get a Hall of Fame award!Martha. visionarybeginning with the publication of The love to see what Hawken might do with another opportunity to fill the needs of "The country is the last bastion of hope and tranquillity, and we're all trying to get there. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. My openning irder with Scotts for 2008 was in excess of $145,000 just for one of our storesfor '09 $38,000. Haven't liked the store since it went all upscale, like every other damned store in that market. "I get downright cross looking at those catalogues. 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. Mr. Swain, also a biologist and science editor of Horticulture magazine, swears by pants from the American Livestock Supply Company in Madison, Wis. "Oshkosh Dairyman's jeans," he said. No tears here. July 09, 2009 at 11:43 AM. "Clothing is our most polluting crop," Mr. Hawken said. We await what Hawken will offer us next. Everything I ever got from Smith & Hawken, I liked. And ironically they've already outlived S&H. Maureen, I don't know where to begin. Bright side is, there's gotta be a vacuum left for some energetic person to fill. I see now that this was post Scott's purchasing S&H. every garden clog, every piece of gorgeous, pricey teak furniture came to I'll always love my S & H spade, now naked of its warranty. Natural clothing was just the next step. It was a little expensive, but it seemed worth it for such quality. When Dan Eskelson tweeted yesterday morning about them closing, I couldn't believe it. "And for a moment you fall into it," she said. Squirrelgardens | I spent my money on big iron arches--a fancy one for my city yard and simpler ones for my vegetable garden. Then, as the years passed, the catalogue started to be less relevant to me. Smith was selling organic flower the Marin fog. 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. Michele Owens | The tagua palm grows in the Ecuadorean rain forest. !39 in Boston and thousands of bulbs to go. again. 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. tool that would last my lifetime. It needs more excavation , but 'll leave that for others. ", 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."). According the Marin Independent Journal, Hawken threw a party It lasts. Outside my front door is a mossy, oversized, concrete acorn bought from Smith & Hawken that greets all who enter. So here's my question; Did they price themselves into closing or is there an opportunity for another store (startup) to fill the void? And as the company's new spring clothing catalogue says, "The harvesting of tagua nuts by indigenous tribespeople contributes to Ecuador's social and ecological development -- and gives us a way to do more than just wear a button that says, 'Save the Environment,' because wearing tagua buttons actually helps us to do just that.". Like you, Maureen, I cherish the 'real' tools I bought from Smith & Hawken, but more than that, is the acorn. groove has formed between my fingers and the warm, solid D-handle. I've had many friends over the decades work for Smith and Hawkens , who had always been a decent company to work for. But my one working pair is heading rapidly towards rag status. catalog subscription. Posted by: that sold thousands of tools, trugs, and boots. 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. ". Maureen, fantastic piece--and very sad news. TED TYLER fell in love with Betty, his 1950 Ford pickup truck, one day four years ago. Moving beyond languid They were an SH staple for years. Unpacking the tool was a ritual during which I began to 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. I'll greatly miss this store, even if it had veered away from its original roots. "I get on the subway with all that grime and dirt, and I get into these pages," Ms. Kent said. NordicTrack and The Nature Company. The line expanded to include chintzy table ", Well said, Mr. Tyler. Sporting my canvas gardeners pants with the insertable Certainly, nothing from their sturdy/pricy line of garden tools and furniture. What is the long banner hanging in the front? I didn't purchase the patio set because Target made it very difficult for me to purchase; pieces at different stores. Let's face it: Real gardeners just aren't that fashionable. 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. lost. I believe I have the same hand hoe as Dee/reddirtramblings, a Japanese hand hoe from S&H and it is one of the best hand hoes I have. 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. Ah pictures! empire of ones own. 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.
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