Monday letters: Morality, Roe ruling, Downtown Market, worker and garden tour thanks

Monday letters: Morality, Roe ruling, Downtown Market, worker and garden tour thanks

by Home And Garden
Monday letters: Morality, Roe ruling, Downtown Market, worker and garden tour thanks

Replicate on ethical values

From Roger Miller, created famous by Janis Joplin: “Freedom’s just one more phrase for very little still left to shed.” Freedom doesn’t necessarily mean everything if it does not have a sense of values underpinning it. So people want to run amuck and get dollars, sex and medication on need … or whatever else they want, without self-recognition. The Supreme Court disagrees. These days it’s time to mirror on moral values and education and learning and stop desirable to the lowest typical denominator in society. That freedom turns to tyranny.

Fred Stewart

Grand Junction

Victory for The us

Overlook what you are becoming told about the fight in between Republican vs. Democrat. Only the feeble minded consider that.

The wrestle in The united states is an ideological battle among real and phony … or right vs. mistaken.

There are hundreds of individual battles in this struggle, but let’s concentrate on just 1 for now: the Supreme Court docket and its the latest conclusions.

The Supreme Court docket is made to be a check out and stability on the government and legislative branches of our governing administration … not vice versa. It’s a court benched by people today who get things wrong or have rigid ideology, just like the rest of us. The Supreme Court docket has resolved cases erroneous in earlier courts that have been remedied (overturned) by more modern court rulings. Regardless of your unique ideology pertaining to Roe, 2nd Amendment or prayer in faculties, the rulings really should be primarily based on the Constitution. That is what has transpired not long ago. By way of all the handwringing and tears of people that sense they have missing anything, they are unsuccessful to comprehend that the issues now go to the states, exactly where the concerns belong. To have a one dimension matches all misses the place of states’ rights in our republic. 

When people call for “packing the court” because they did not get their way, they are really declaring that the law and what is ideal for The us doesn’t matter to them, they simply want their way as a result of a quick-sighted mood tantrum. These are the similar individuals referred to in the to start with paragraph.

When you look at that the make-up of the Senate and Home will be vastly distinctive (red wave) in 2023, do they then want that Legislature to increase 10 seats to the Supreme Court docket? Limited-sighted fits often have reciprocating effects.

The Constitution and states’ rights are the winners of recent rulings. All those who considered they had exclusive exceptions to both equally are going to have to come to terms with the fact that their beliefs were phony. Balance is restoring. If they just can’t reconcile truth of the matter in their lives, it is likely to be tricky for them for a when.

Individuals must all want the Constitution to be upheld. These are victories for The us.

Pedro Navaja

Glenwood Springs

Consider care for fawns

We are living in attractive Rulison and would just like to remind all people that fawn year has arrived. We have babies in all places. Remember to sluggish down for Mama, and hold out a next to make sure she doesn’t have a minor a person driving her. Thank you, absolutely everyone. 

Donna Kuipers

Parachute

Hats off to Midland personnel

To all the workers, bosses and fellow motorists on South Midland and government funders:

Following all we have all been by about the past 2 1/2 years, I want to compliment all who were associated with keeping us knowledgeable about delays and carrying out all the infrastructure operate so that we do not have to get it dug up once again in 6 months. It is gorgeous and nice to travel. I hope whomever place the artificial wall up on the east aspect of South Midland will repair their wall so that it is all beautiful. 

Marlene Manown

Glenwood Springs

‘The Fifth of July’

May the upcoming deliver regular forward progress

and a nutritious equilibrium. Honor the earlier, live 

in the instant, and the potential will get care

of by itself. Do not gentle fuse and operate away.

Stroll in peace and watch wherever you move.

Give a very little and get even extra. Really like

your mother and she will give, she’s

getting a beating and gasping for air.

Live free, this is The usa, land of opportunity.

And with that liberty comes duty.

Pleased Fifth of July.

Robert Basinger

Rifle

Reopen the Glenwood Springs market place

For lots of yrs we have had the outdoor marketplace in Glenwood Springs for the duration of the summertime. Locals like it, vacationers adore it, suppliers enjoy it. 

There are 1000’s of outdoor marketplaces all over the planet. They have been in a lot of international locations for hundreds of many years. When an difficulty comes up, they deal with it, arrive together and resolve the difficulty. I, and quite a few locals, would like this to be the way to resolve difficulties in the metropolis we adore, Glenwood Springs, not just near them down, performed, no discussion. 

The experienced way to fix an issue is to sit down, discuss it through and appear up with a option. Make sure you, the people want the out of doors marketplace back. Persons make issues, we all have built faults, we never give up. Let us do this, figure it out and let’s get the outdoor marketplace likely for everyone. 

Thank you, 

Rachael Windh

Glenwood Springs

Search for answers, not punishments on farmers industry

To a City Council that really should be involved:

In 2005, eight girls who ended up interested in the character of their metropolis, conceived of a lively weekly summertime function, the Downtown Glenwood Market. In the 17 several years considering the fact that its inception, basically tens of thousands of travellers and regional people have attended and comprehensively relished this celebration. Any civic-minded individual can see the constructive effects that have been liked by downtown companies, vendors and even songs enthusiasts.

Glenwood Springs has always put a significant benefit on its tourism attraction. I have an understanding of that an unfortunate accident transpired just lately, but I do not feel a gross overreaction was referred to as for. The metropolis need to want to guide these a profitable celebration to address the permitting complications and cure them, as opposed to canceling the party completely. Maybe the City Council can justify punishing the suppliers, the performers and the city in typical for some perceived troubles at the sector, but it is doubtful. 

A extra good tactic would be to immediate the city to operate with the market to resolve the troubles. In undertaking so, the council would help retain a pretty constructive occasion that is beneficial to every person. Punish or aid, not a really hard decision.

A number of yrs in the past, an overzealous city signal code enforcer attempted to ban the yellow “market today” signs. When it grew to become clear that the Metropolis Council was in favor of the marketplace, they directed the staff to amend the code to allow these signs. Council could see the constructive consequences of the market place and acted accordingly. It will be fascinating to see if this council is as able to uncover a optimistic final result.

Seventeen several years of volunteer operate (and a large amount of it) to produce and preserve the Glenwood Downtown Marketplace really should benefit some cooperation, not cancellation without having recourse. Seventeen yrs of volunteer operate (much more than you can picture) really should get the organizers a commendation, not a cancellation.

Jim Hawkins

Glenwood Springs

Republicans ‘totally in tune’ with Supreme Court attacks on ‘hard-fought freedoms’

This Supreme Court docket is so significantly out of line, it is difficult to believe that. They have not only declared a war on girls but appear to be to have no principle of the separation of church and point out. They are now allowing prayers at general public faculty sporting activities activities. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert stated just this week, “The church is meant to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church.” Really? That would convert every one human being who does not have the exact spiritual beliefs that she and the greater part of the Supreme Court docket do into second-course citizens. 

The maximum court in the land dismissed the point that the the greater part of people today in this nation support abortion, particularly from rape or incest. Does contraception go upcoming? Retain females house and pregnant, no matter whether they want to be or not, and force ultra-conservative and not-extremely-Christian values on all of us. Most Republican politicians are totally in tune with the Supreme Courtroom and their multiple assaults on our challenging-fought-for freedoms. Delighted Fourth of July.

Katherine Delanoy

Eagle

Glenwood Springs Backyard Tour thank-yous

On behalf of the Glenwood Springs Backyard Club, we want to say thank you to a lot of who served make our new Welcome to Our Gardens Backyard garden Tour so profitable.

Initially, the planners of our 2022 Garden Tour committee invested months in preparing conferences. Next, our sponsors enabled our club to have wonderful flyers, posters, pamphlets and adverts. Third, Kelly Cory of KO Creations shared her expertise and volunteered to layout individuals promotional supplies. 

Fourth, The Sopris Sunshine, KDNK, KMTS and the Submit Independent interviewed us and shared information and facts and stories about our upcoming tour with the general public. Fifth, the gardeners welcomed the tour friends to their lovely gardens for all to perspective and find out a lot more about effective gardening in our area.

We so considerably take pleasure in all the females and men who frequented the gardens and shared their compliments and appreciation. Those smiling faces will extensive be remembered. Thank you so much, everybody.

The GWS Back garden Club welcomes attendees to our conferences and new associates often. For facts about signing up for or about conference matters, be sure to connect with 970-384-2835.

Ann English, Judy O’Donnell and

Michele Diamond

Glenwood Springs

How to care for your garden during a heatwave | Home & Garden

How to care for your garden during a heatwave | Home & Garden

by Home And Garden

Drought and heat are inescapable challenges in the vegetable backyard. In the Southeastern United States, rainfall can feel like it’s feast or famine — there’s both way too a lot or not adequate. Unpredictable rainfall put together with durations of intense heat can make summer season the most annoying period (for vegetation and individuals) in the backyard garden. Damp summers direct to a wide range of plant ailments and out-of-command weeds, although droughts outcome in stunted, wilted crops that make small if they even survive.

Cory Tanner, director of the Clemson Extension Horticulture Application Crew, shared the beneath recommendations to assist your vegetable backyard thrive through the sweltering summer season months:

• Most vegetable vegetation require the equivalent of just one inch of rainfall per week to grow commonly. That necessity boosts when temperatures exceed 90 levels Fahrenheit.

• Really do not hold out right up until your crops are demonstrating worry. By the time they wilt some harm and lost yield has by now occurred. Keep away from drought strain from showing by irrigating your crops ahead of the soil will become very dry. Based on the soil kind and situation, dry soil can in some cases be particularly hard to rehydrate.

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• Use natural mulch (shredded leaves, straw, hardwood mulch, and so forth.) to cut down water evaporation from the soil and insulate the soil and plant roots from intense heat.

• Look at temporary shading to give plants aid in the course of periods of extraordinary heat. Most greens want total sunshine for greatest creation so shade need to only be applied briefly in the course of the best temperature. Floating row addresses suspended above a crop are a simple way to present momentary shade in the garden. Container gardens can be moved into shady web-sites briefly.

• Fruiting crops, like tomatoes, do finest when furnished even soil moisture. Stay away from major swings involving damp and dry soil, by irrigating routinely and deeply for the duration of dry intervals. Not only will this cut down drought tension, it will also minimize prevalent problems in tomatoes like blossom-stop rot and fruit cracking.

Watering ideas

• Utilize drip irrigation which applies drinking water directly to the soil, preserving it out of the air and off of the foliage. Drip irrigation is 90-95 p.c extra successful than sprinkler irrigation. It also applies drinking water a lot more slowly but surely which permits extra of it to soak into the soil and damp a deeper soil profile.

• Make certain you water deeply. Shallow irrigation can be more damaging than no irrigation at all. Make sure when you irrigate that the moisture is achieving a soil depth of at the very least 6 to eight inches. Otherwise, plant roots will focus near the soil surface building them a lot more susceptible to drought and heat stresses. Watering deeply encourages further rooting and a lot more resilient crops. Look at your system by digging into the soil profile periodically right after an irrigation cycle to see how deeply the soil is wetted. If drinking water is not achieving the recommended depth, then you will need to boost your irrigation time or the variety of irrigation cycles you run, or both, relying on your soil sort and irrigation procedure.

Attract pollinators to your garden

Attract pollinators to your garden

by Home And Garden

As our know-how of the normal surroundings proceeds to develop, many house owners are starting to place additional thought into the design and style and preparing of their landscapes. The indigenous plant movement, which is wonderful for sustainability, begs for the inclusion of pollinator-eye-catching crops. Why you may possibly check with?

“There are a pair of motives I consider men and women are accomplishing this,” states Adam Baker, technological advisor and pollinator ecologist with the Davey Tree Expert Co. “There’s a paradigm change developing exactly where men and women are obtaining absent from planting the exact same previous non-indigenous ornamentals that they have been for the past 50 decades. They’re wanting to diversify their landscapes by employing indigenous and pollinator attractive vegetation to assist bees, butterflies, birds and other animals.”

What’s the overall advantage? Regional vegetation appeal to community pollinators, which aids the complete ecosystem.

“It’s important because indigenous crops have an evolutionary relationship with the indigenous insects,” Baker says.

If pollinators are not pollinating the crops that people and animals consume, our crops endure, and we see a lack in fresh produce, as nicely as in other plant life.

Baker, who retains a bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences and a Ph.D. in entomology from the College of Kentucky, has conducted considerable research on the ecology and host plant interactions of monarch butterflies and other pollinators.

“While it’s tricky to know why people are focusing on this now,” he says, “it may well be since of the current COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve viewed that when there is a change in the globe, like a pandemic or the recession of the early 2000s, the environmentally friendly field does genuinely nicely. People are paying out more time at home and considering extra deeply and interacting with their outdoor spaces.”

In accordance to Baker’s study on the placement of milkweed (a native plant that monarch butterfly larvae feed on solely) in a landscape, the vegetation that are spaced, established off by mulch, and have a potent visual silhouette are more used for laying eggs than vegetation that are not as obtainable.

“Monarch eggs and larvae had been 2½ to four occasions far more considerable in gardens acquiring milkweeds evenly spaced in a 1-meter corridor around the perimeter than in gardens in which milkweeds have been surrounded by or intermixed with the other plants,” he clarifies.

To study more about the complete extent of his analyze, check out the Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution journal posting, entitled “Configuration and Site of Modest Urban Gardens Impact Colonization by Monarch Butterflies,” by visiting www.frontiersin.org/posts/10.3389/fevo.2019.00474/complete.

Throughout the 12 months, the Nevada Organic Heritage Software will help to educate communities about the great importance of our state’s pollinators and the very important roles these pollen movers engage in in supporting our normal surroundings.

According to the Nevada Division of All-natural Heritage: “As pollinators continue on to decrease throughout the world because of to habitat loss, local climate alter and pesticides, it is significant to offer indigenous vegetation for our indigenous pollinators. Even though pollinator gardening is normally centered on non-native honeybees, there are additional than 1,000 species of indigenous bees that use lots of different styles of crops to give meals for their younger.

“In addition to indigenous vegetation, nesting habitat is also very important. At least half of our native bees nest underground so leaving undisturbed bare floor in between crops will give them locations to increase the future generation of bees to pollinate future wild crops. Native vegetation are tailored to our weather (i.e., they are drought-tolerant) and need a lot less drinking water to preserve than non-indigenous or decorative species. Furthermore, other species in addition to pollinators rely on indigenous crops for food items and shelter also.”

You could not know that somewhere around just one out of each a few bites of food stuff you consume depends on the function of a pollinator. According to a push launch from the Nevada Department of Conservation and Organic Resources, pollinators are a keystone species in Nevada, supporting wholesome wildlands, ecosystem variety and a healthy meals source.

What everyday living species are viewed as pollinators, specifically in this article in the desert? Butterflies, bees, moths, hummingbirds, bats and doves all assist pollinate our desert vegetation. Native bees are the most vital pollinators in Nevada as their fuzzy bodies make these pollinating powerhouses greatly economical at gathering and transferring pollen.

Furthermore, there are a lot more than 600 butterfly and moth species in Nevada, from generalists that stop by many types of bouquets to experts this kind of asyucca moths, which are the only insects that can pollinate Joshua trees and other yucca species that are prevalent in the Mojave Desert ecosystem.

Even seemingly hearty plants including cactus benefit from pollinators, letting them to continue on their genetic variety and distribution of new crops.

As you can see, Nevada’s pollinators are critical to the overall health of the state’s agriculture, normal methods and quality of life. Sad to say, quite a few pollinator species in Nevada have gone through significant declines in current years, with threats posed by dwindling wetland habitats, invasive species these types of as cheat grass and wildland fires. Let’s do our part by planting indigenous and encouraging the pollinators to do their work.

Mad River Valley Arts Garden Tour

Mad River Valley Arts Garden Tour

by Home And Garden

This calendar year the Mad River Valley Arts Backyard Tour celebrates the gardeners in The Valley who have beautified the earth. There are 6 gardens on the July 16 tour, each and every situated in a various portion of The Valley. In each and every backyard garden there will be an artist, portray and/or exhibiting their function, which is all for sale.

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Individuals can check out a backyard on the incredibly top of North Fayston Highway, a household surrounded by perennial beds, slipping down rocky slopes full of color and texture. Edging the residence are primary partitions produced from wood logs. The proprietors have been building and nurturing these gardens due to the fact they moved completely here 20 several years back.

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The upcoming two gardens feel like mystery poems. One particular on Phen Basin Highway falls downhill and overflows with bushes, perennials, annuals, birdfeeders and sculpture. A riot of colour and casual design and style, it is a garden straight from the heart and palms of the house owners in accordance to organizers. The next on Roxbury Hole functions bouquets managed and surrounded by comprehensive and spectacular drystone partitions and terraces.

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There are extra gardens on the tour. A home and backyard garden in the vicinity of the Warren-Sugarbush Airport is surrounded by vistas around fields of waving grasses. Perennial gardens encircle the dwelling, with wonderful trees and lilac bushes as perfectly as a trellised terrace coated with grape vines. This residence has a vegetable backyard garden as effectively.

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1 of best gardens in the tour is identified on the top of Stagecoach Street. The sweep of the total location is remarkable. “The odor of soil and flowers pervade the substantial gardens and get folks to an unforgettable dry stonewall. It is important to roam far and extensive here to locate hidden sculpture in secluded spots,” previewed Bonnie Barnes, spokesperson for Mad River Valley Arts.

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Individuals will also be ready to go to the experimental gardens of George Schenk at American Flatbread. His curiosity and experiments are in the medicinal and therapeutic benefit of nutritionally dense meals. Schenk celebrates range both of those in foodstuff and in society and is always finding out and studying far more, Barnes stated. He is content to communicate about what he is doing when persons check out the Flatbread vegetable gardens.

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In addition to the gardens, tour contributors can look at out a show and sale of flower preparations by users of the Mad River Gardeners at the Competition Gallery in the Village Square in Waitsfield

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The tour is self-guided and a ticket holder might journey from backyard garden to backyard at their very own pace in rain or glow. Tickets may perhaps be purchased on the net beneath Functions: https://www.madrivervalleyarts.org/copy-of-functions-happenings or in person at the competition gallery: 1 to 5 p.m. On the day of the party tickets may be obtained at the Lareau Farm with checks or hard cash.  There is also a cocktail get together on July 15 in anticipation of the tour. On the ticket will be names, addresses and a map for the tour. Go to www.madrivervalleyarts.org for ticket charges and other facts.

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Criswells win June Garden of the Month | Home Style

Criswells win June Garden of the Month | Home Style

by Home And Garden

The Gettysburg Backyard Club, by its Backyard garden of the Thirty day period committee, introduced the June Garden of the Thirty day period award to Chuck and Donna Criswell of 55 Millhimes Road, Gettysburg, in accordance to a backyard garden club launch.

A couple miles north of Gettysburg and a little east of Hunterstown is a beautiful property comprising about 11 acres, a colonial-style home, and substantial gardens. 1 arrives at the Criswells immediately after passing through some verdant woods and an remarkable horse farm in which standardbred trotters are lifted. Then, turning on to Millhimes Street, a person soon sees why Nancy Spalding, Donna’s mom, nominated the assets. “Just stunning,” she suggests proudly.

Chuck Criswell grew up in the Hanover spot. On the other hand, his father purchased the land in the vicinity of Hunterstown in 1965, in which Chuck’s and Donna’s property now sits. Then it was merely a farm field with trees and stone outcroppings. Chuck discovered through checking out his ancestry that he has 18th-century roots in the location. He also has making and landscaping skills in his fingers and head, beginning with doing work alongside his father and, as a child, functioning happily in a garden center.

Chuck is an ardent American historical past buff and a backyard garden and property designer and maker. “Everything is in my head,” he suggests of his total and individual home eyesight. Donna has supported her husband’s creations for 14 years or so. This past January, she retired as cafeteria manager for the district’s elementary educational institutions. Chuck retired 7 yrs ago from his total-time work at Kinsley Building, Inc. Both equally are devoted to the maintenance and ongoing growth of their assets.

At the entrance of the property are a number of sections of driving rail fence crafted to 18th-century criteria. A choke cherry in a back garden mattress grows in close proximity to the fence. Down the light slope to the household are additional garden ‘islands,’ all nicely mulched and surrounded by very carefully-tended garden. Trees and vegetation this kind of as birches, ornamental plums, crepe myrtle, baptisia, bluestem grasses, cat’s pajamas, and daylilies, to name a handful of, grow right here. By element of the front entrance to the residence are deep magenta leafed sand cherries established off by yellow gold mound spirea. The entrance and aspect landscapes aspect many prairie fire crab apples, dogwoods, Chase trees, 5-shade redbuds, sweet gum, and white oak, to name a handful of. To the side, the Criswells have planted a tidy, rectangular vegetable and herb backyard garden with raised beds within an unstained recycled picket fence.

Handsome options of the ‘hardscape’ are the wonderful curving brick travel and walkways all laid by Chuck. Right after browsing Williamsburg and researching colonial architecture and gardens, he built the Criswell dwelling and its two back porches with a bit of enable in framing from Amish builders. Equipped to use some of Kinsley’s design equipment at ‘off’ times, Chuck moved massive rocks all over the landscape, created an ‘aha’ attribute on the entrance slope, and placed garden islands as guided by his designer’s eye. To enjoy also in the ‘hardscape’ are often whimsical accents these as stone or metal sculptures, colonial model towers or ‘tutors,’ and quite a few birdhouses, some made of wooden, some of the gourds, and some ‘clay bottle’ varieties. Chuck has designed a lot of replicas of what appeals to him and Donna, aside from locating ‘perfect’ products at product sales.

There are about two dozen backyard ‘islands’ or beds crammed with perfectly-picked plants, properly mulched predominantly from Nolt’s Mulch and edged by Donna. Each and every island is complete in by itself, irrespective of whether in direct solar or shade and flows as an integral aspect of the Criswell’ sea.’ Listed here is a profusion of crops, numerous received from ‘plant auctions’ and nurseries in Lancaster County (East Earl). Coloration, sort, and texture are beautifully knit alongside one another.

Additional vegetation in the gardens, in no unique buy, include birch trees, inexperienced big arborvitae, Stella d’Oro lilies, oakleaf, and firelight hydrangeas. There are also hostas, blue sea holly, globe thistle, magnificence bush, candy corn spirea, coppertina diablo, Liatris, hyssop, cone flowers, Japanese firegrass, German iris, and crimson crocosmia. Chuck advises gardeners to plant one section at a time, planting (or envisioning) in threes.

In 2015, a back garden club member wrote that a handful of photos and phrases were being not enough to describe the Criswell dwelling and gardens. She was proper, and in 2022 this author encourages you to arrive, glance, admire, and find out. Chuck and Donna are normally at residence and welcome people.

To nominate your home or someone else’s for the Backyard of the Thirty day period award, contact or textual content Deb Steckler at 717-357-3623 or go to the yard club’s web-site at www.gettysburggardenclub.com.

Growth sprouts for SMEs in e-commerce

Growth sprouts for SMEs in e-commerce

by Home And Garden





Key takeaways

  • The home-and-garden market is the next retail vertical to transition to e-commerce with over 50 percent of consumers in the United Kingdom and Germany participating in home decor and furniture shopping online, and over 40 percent in gardening.
  • Home decor and furniture SMEs have historically been slower to move online, but they have unique assets for success at e-commerce.
  • SMEs should capitalize on consumers’ desire for unique choices and varied inventory, and their growing demand for sustainability.

In the proliferation of e-commerce across the European Union, the first wave included nonfood categories such as books and electronics, commoditized and uniform items ideal for packing and shipping. Footwear and apparel followed, also buoyed by ease of shipping. Next in line is the fragmented, competitive landscape of home and garden, whose unique and often bulky products significantly increase the complexity of fulfillment, including such tasks as installation and removal.

To date, small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in home and garden have been slower to move online: only about 20 percent of the industry’s SMEs in Germany and the United Kingdom participate in e-commerce, compared with 40 to 45 percent of large companies. However, the increased availability of tech tools and easy access to online marketplaces enable SMEs to participate in the increasingly dynamic home-and-garden market.

To capture this opportunity, SMEs must first become more familiar with the specific tastes and behaviors of online consumers and recognize their own built-in advantages in fulfilling customer desires.

The home-and-garden landscape

The size of the online home-and-garden market—which for the purpose of this analysis includes furniture; home decor including wall decor, rugs, or lighting; and garden decorations such as plants or pergolas—has gotten too big to ignore. It is currently worth $25 billion to $30 billion across Germany and the United Kingdom in the three listed categories alone, and growth is forecast at 6 to 10 percent a year through 2025.

In their march toward e-commerce, home-and-garden’s SMEs must find ways to translate their distinctive attributes to an online setting. For example, SME’s have already set themselves apart from big-box retailers by offering products that showcase unique style, artisanal quality, and an assortment of vintage, niche, small-brand, and other goods that consumers can’t find elsewhere. In addition, SMEs are often defined by personalized service and approach, and they traditionally excel in curation, customization, and advice on physical layouts, attributes that are a particular draw for Gen Z and millennials.

It’s now possible to replicate these high-touch, in-person elements in the online environment via dedicated digital storefronts, attractive visual design, and augmented-reality features that can create an immersive experience. Similarly, education and advice are important parts of the customer experience in traditional home-and-garden markets—shoppers in gardening often need advice on the care and feeding of plants, for example—so SMEs are well positioned to find ways to offer personalized service online. Retailers that do so will find a ready and receptive audience.

A diverse playing field

Home-and-garden SMEs seeking to enter the e-commerce market will encounter a range of models, each offering different value propositions. Some might be valuable partners, either as suppliers or sellers of SME products. Others, such as vertical marketplaces or local gardening centers, could be direct competitors. All of them are valuable points of reference, and SMEs should consider borrowing successful strategies to develop a “best of breed” approach. It is critical for SMEs to consider the importance of combining customer-centricity with the ability to work effectively with large sellers. The latter entails mastering B2B complexity and developing managerial accounting to understand and help grow each seller relationship.

The following includes potential partners or competitors for SMEs to consider:

  • Horizontal marketplaces, such as Amazon and eBay, provide consumers with a comprehensive shopping experience in a wide array of categories in addition to home and garden. They can also provide SMEs with support in logistics and payments.
  • Vertical marketplaces focus on a single category, where their expertise enables them to create a better customer experience by providing knowledgeable recommendations. Examples include Etsy (home decor) and Patch (gardening).
  • Specialized pure digital players, such as Made.com or Westwing, emphasize storytelling and manual curation, effective approaches for products driven by design and personal choice.
  • Omnichannel, big-box retailers such as Hornbach and IKEA have dominated the brick-and-mortar category and are now catching up in e-commerce.
  • Local gardening centers, particularly in the United Kingdom, build on their depth of expertise and local personalized relationships.
  • New types of inspirational players—think Houzz and Pinterest—feature elements of social commerce.

Consumer insights

To understand consumer tastes and priorities, we conducted a survey of 5,300 German and 5,500 UK consumers during summer 2021. These two large markets are generally representative of the European Union as a whole—and thus a natural next step for SMEs considering expansion—but they differ in key ways. Overall, the United Kingdom has achieved an impressive level of online penetration, while German consumers have been slower to embrace e-commerce.

Over the past two years, the pandemic has reshaped customer behavior. Now, more shoppers are willing to consider online channels for home and garden—although interest differs by category. According to our survey, more than 50 percent of shoppers in home decor in the United Kingdom and Germany make the majority of their purchases online. This share rises to 64 percent of furniture shoppers in the United Kingdom and 56 percent in Germany. In gardening, 43 percent of UK shoppers and 31 percent of German shoppers buy through e-commerce channels.

Top factors for shoppers

Across the two markets, the following findings stood out in the voice of consumers:

Inventory is king. Across home-and-garden categories, a great selection of items is a top factor for consumers. A look at the home-decor category in both the United Kingdom and Germany reinforces its importance (Exhibit 1). Also high on the list are the ability to shop for other unrelated items, and the availability of stock, select styles, and hard-to-find items. Overall, factors related to inventory account for four of the top five purchasing criteria analyzed.

Exhibit 1




Inventory is the most important purchasing criterion for UK and German shoppers.





Home projects can be a catalyst. UK consumers indicate that more than 60 percent of their spending on home decor is linked to projects, such as home rehab. This share is even higher for the gardening and furniture categories. Creative projects, a desire to decorate, and key milestones, such as a new house or the birth of a child, are also frequent triggers for purchases.

Seasonality presents opportunities. Most smaller home-decor purchases peak right before Christmas, reaching levels two to three times higher than during the rest of the year. In gardening, the busiest period is March through May, as consumers prepare for planting season.

Sustainability matters more and more. More than 65 percent of shoppers across Germany and the United Kingdom indicate that sustainability is important or very important to them. SMEs are in a good position to cater to these consumers by providing a clear alternative to big-box retailers, whose business model is built on scale and sourcing items at the lowest cost.

Personal tastes and preferences

To establish a foothold in the online home-and-garden market in the United Kingdom and Germany, SMEs must gain a better understanding of consumers—their preferences, priorities, and motivations. Customer segments in these two countries exhibit similar behaviors, even though the size of segments differs by country (Exhibit 2). For example, an in-depth look at the furniture category, based on our consumer survey and statistical analysis, suggests the following four distinct customer segments:

Exhibit 2




Furniture shoppers’ preferences range from inspirational to functional and vary in terms of features and styles.





  1. Craft-inspired shoppers look for a broad inventory, including high-quality and artisanal products, and prefer to buy from craftspeople rather than big-box retailers. Shoppers in this segment are enthusiastic about building things themselves and are not too price sensitive.
  2. Sustainable “decoristas” are creative, style-focused shoppers who share attributes with craft-inspired shoppers: they are handicraft enthusiasts and not too price sensitive. Where this segment differs is in assigning greater importance to sustainability.
  3. Sustainable seekers demand an inventory of sustainable products that includes craft products and is transparent on sourcing; they want detailed supplier information and like to up- and recycle products.
  4. Functional customers are price sensitive, not concerned with sustainability, and prefer to shop directly from trusted big-box retailers. Approximately half of these customers enjoy handicraft and building furniture themselves.

These four segments also appear consistently across other home-and-garden categories.

Making the leap to e-commerce

Home-and-garden presents a tantalizing opportunity for SMEs looking to expand their reach. These companies should consider the following three main strategies when developing their e-commerce strategy as well as a set of enablers:

1. Make marketplaces your partner.

Marketplaces are an easy way to get started with e-commerce and complement an SME’s own e-commerce channel. These online platforms are widely available and offer a channel to sell products locally, nationally, and across Europe. Many have seller services to help SMEs think through their assortment, pricing strategy, fulfillment, and customer care. Yet it’s important to consider unit profitability after accounting for marketplaces’ take rates, as well as the company’s level of control over inventory, display, and other areas. For example, Period Pine Doors, based in Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, specializes in vintage and antique doors. It used eBay to accelerate its growth.

2. Use uniqueness as a valuable asset.

Assortment is customers’ top need. SMEs should ensure they offer a wide-ranging inventory with unique attributes, such as handcrafted products. Refurbished vintage furniture sits neatly at the intersection of uniqueness and sustainability, factors that are valued by specific consumers. It’s critical for retailers to target customer segments that would be most receptive to a given offering.

3. Keep sustainability close to your heart.

Customers increasingly take sustainability into account when choosing products and merchants. Factors such as origin of products, local pickup or nearby shipping, refurbished goods, the resale value of end-of-life products, and new business models such as subscriptions can all be a source of growth. SMEs such as Narchie in home decor and AptDeco in furniture have an advantage over larger competitors in their perceived sustainability and should seek to build on it.

To support these online strategies, SMEs must be prepared to invest in the development of the necessary capabilities to excel. These include sales and consumer analytics, inventory planning, product presentation, and structured product data to enable findability. Companies such as Berlin Brands Group, Razor Group, and Heroes have built their business model to provide small brands with these capabilities. Marketplaces also offer tools and support to help SMEs scale.

Thanks to a growing market, engaged consumers, and easy-to-use platforms and tech tools, home-and-garden SMEs have never had greater access to the online market. Now the main hurdle is finding ways to stand out in a crowd. Companies that play to their strengths and cultivate the consumer segments most aligned with their products can extend their reach—and significantly boost their revenues in the process.