Down and dirty in the garden

I lot of what I wear in the garden is tried and true and old. My favorites are from Smith & Hawken, when there was both a Smith and a Hawken at the helm of that company. I requested my first catalog in 1981 after seeing a tiny ad in the back of the New Yorker magazine.

The catalog was black and white, mostly offered tools and all the images were illustrations, not photographs. I was immediately hooked on the company's authenticity and the quality of their merchandise. As a result, most of my tools are imported British Bulldog brand; meant to last not just a lifetime, but generations (as long as I take care of them properly ...).

I bought both the gardener's smock and original garden pants depicted in this Smith & Hawken catalog when they sold more items that were functional instead of garden tchotchkes. I'm still wearing both items quite a few years later. 

The clothes I wear most often — and that have held up best over time — also came from Smith & Hawken. I've been wearing the same pair of charcoal gray "original gardener's pants," as the company called them, since about 1991. Made of tough cotton canvas, they are amazingly durable and cut for bending and moving in the garden. Seams are double stitched and reinforced and there are pockets for removable neoprene foam knee pads. There are also plenty of other pockets and loops for all my gear. I also ordered a "gardener's smock" — really a V-neck jacket with snaps and three pockets — at the same time and that I'm still wearing. 

Granted, I have not worn these pants continuously; sometimes I switch to shorts in the summer when it gets too hot and humid. But they are more comfortable, and offer more freedom of movement, than anything else I've found; certainly much more so than jeans. And I always use some kind of kneeling pad — in addition to the slip-in pads — which has also helped their longevity. Frankly, they are so sturdy and long-wearing that, in our capitalist economy, they were probably considered counterproductive at some point. You only need to buy a pair every 10 years or so — which makes them great for the consumer but not the company. 

I know a lot of people just wear their old jeans for gardening, and probably think I'm crazy for buying clothes specifically for gardening. But I tend to feel that what I wear to work in the garden is no different than any other tool I use to make that job easier, safer, more comfortable or more satisfying. 

We snapped this shot of gardeners' work gear in the gallery at Wave Hill, a 28-acre public garden in the Bronx, on the palisades above the Hudson River. It is a stunning location and is one of the great American gardens that should be on everyone's list to visit. This apron belonged to Marco Polo Stufano, Wave Hill's first Director of Horticulture and the guiding genius of the place, now retired. 

Currently I'm looking at the pants at Duluth Trading Company and also trying to find a local supplier for Snickers/Skillers, a brand of Swedish work pants that were recommended in "Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness" by garden designer Bunny Guinness and physiotherapist Jacqueline Knox, as replacements for my ancient S&H pants. I recently checked their book out of the public library and it has lots of info on exercise, injury prevention and ergonomic designs as well how to dress in the garden. 

These women know what they're talking about as this little excerpt shows: "... get into the habit of regularly wearing a hat, along with high-protection factor face cream, even if you are only planning on spending a few minutes gardening. After all, as most of us know, five minutes working in the sunshine can easily turn into an hour!"

Here are the straightforward and serviceable gardening clothes of Gelene Scarborough on display at Wave Hill in 1998. 

When I was young my hair was blonde and I had the pale complexion to go with it — which meant that I sunburned easily. At the time, my mother worked for a dermatologist and cautioned her daughters about staying covered up in the sun. Her advice was way ahead of its time; I followed it then and still do, since my complexion and propensity to burn have not gone away with age. 

As for hats, I wear brimmed (usually straw) hats more than baseball caps. Partly it's a case of liking them and partly for health reasons. A dozen years ago, "Operation Hat Check" was inaugurated at Farm Progress Days in Wisconsin. This was an initiative of the National Farm Medicine Center to urge farmers to wear wide-brimmed hats because they offer more protection from the sun for the face and neck than the typical farmer's cap provided. Skin cancer in the farm population was a topic of much study and discussion at the time and I adopted a wide-brimmed hat as a result. 

I also have mosquito netting (from S&H) that fits over the crown of my hat with an elastic band to keep it in place. At the bottom are loops to hook the netting over the buttons of my shirt. If the mosquitoes are bad enough to wear the netting, you can bet I'm wearing long pants and long sleeves!

This photo of me was taken around 1997 when we began construction on our current garden. In the intervening years I've become more conscientious about what I wear when I'm working in the garden — for both health and safety reasons. One of the benefits of getting older is that I am OK with the "crazy old lady gardener" look and now dress more for garden function than fashion.

As for gloves, I've probably tried most of them and have dozens on hand at any given time including rubber gloves for grabbing gunk out of the pond and disposable latex-style gloves perfect for weeding moss. It seems like almost every job could use a specific glove, so I tend to switch them over the course of a day in the garden. And there are times when I do like to go gloveless — especially at the beginning of the gardening season when getting one's hands right in the dirt feels so wonderfully rejuvenating and sensual!

Mark's garden gloves at the end of the season!

Though I have both rubber boots and clogs, I rarely wear anything but lace-up leather boots in the garden. I like the fact that I can sit and weed my moss garden or grab a shovel and move a plant without having to stop and change footgear if I've got my boots on. We also have a variety of paving materials in our garden, including a lot of stepping stones and stone steps, and they are all easier to navigate with sturdy footgear.

There are times, however, when one has to give in to nature and wear — or not wear — what makes sense for the job and the moment. This photo of Mark (below) was taken one particularly rainy summer when he was trying to clean up a muddy construction site aka our garden-in-progress. The mud was virtually sucking his boots off so he decided to just give in ...

What do you wear in the garden when you're not sitting for your garden portrait? I'd love to hear if you've got a favorite kind of gloves or hat or sunscreen that you swear by. I'm always looking for good solutions to everyday garden concerns. And since I won't be out in the garden working for at least another six weeks, there's time for me to implement your suggestions to update my work wardrobe!

Comments

[Pam/Digging]

I definitely go for the crazy gardener lady look, Linda. Floppy straw hat (the sun is brutal here), sunscreen, light-colored t-shirt, loose-fitting pants, and gardening clogs with socks (so as not to feel the dirt that gets in them). No gloves usually, which means I always have dirt-stained hands and ragged nails--not pretty.

I should live in a cold climate because I overheat easily and am always red-faced and sweaty when the temperature gets over 80 degrees. Oh well. Bloom where you're planted, right? I may be a mess when I work in the garden, but the plants don't seem to mind.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Pam — When the temperature gets over 75 degrees here I start to fade! I've had years where I was out there in 80+ weather digging new beds and moving huge clumps of daylilies and hostas but I get pretty cranky when it's that warm. When it's like that I sit under the apple trees and weed the moss garden. It's best to do barehanded but it's also the home of squishly slugs — so disgusting to pickup unexpectedly. I think all of us gardeners could easily be identified by our hands!

[Joni Webb]

I love that picture of you working!!!!! too cute. about 20 years ago my mother in law and I put in our garden. she was visiting us from out of town and didn't have proper gardening clothes - so she borrowed my sweats that were too big. I will never forget that sight of her for one week, caked in dirt, with sweats barely holding up. Thanks for the memories.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Hi Joni! Sometimes ya just gotta wear what's there. I always think of you in your gorgeous house, never outdoors and dirty ...hmmmm.

[Dreamybee]

Ewww-picking up an unexpected slug! Hate that!! I don't know that an expected slug is any better though!

I don't have any particular gardening garb, but I am pretty susceptible to mosquitos, and so I always put on Cactus Juice, which doubles as sunscreen. It's not all chemically nasty like Off! and it doesn't turn you into an oily mess like Skin So Soft, and it works really well. We buy it by the case and keep some under the sinks in our bathrooms and kitchen, some in the car, some in the beach bag...wherever.

[Dreamybee]

I tried to put in a link for the Cactus Juice, but it doesn't look like it took. If you want to check it out, it's here: http://www.cactusjuicetm.com/ProductDetail.php?id=1

(I don't get a commission or anything off of this, I just like it!)

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Dear Dreamy — thanks for the information and the link to the Cactus Juice! I am going to have to check it out. It is definitely something that a cold climate gardener would not hear about except by this kind of back-and-forth on the Web.