During the hot spring and summer months, it seems like the whole world heaves a sigh in the evening. And for me, that’s my favorite time to get outdoors for some easy garden chores. Really, it’s more about enjoying the garden, but it also feels good to putter around a little, especially if I’ve spent the day indoors or busy in traffic or crowds.

Deadheading is one of those evening chores – I go around with my basket and clippers, snipping off faded blossoms and pinching back overgrown stems. I also like to water my container plants, maybe pull a weed here and there (just the easy ones), and perhaps (if I’m feeling ambitious) go on a stroll around the yard and dream up future projects or solutions for problem areas.

And I’m not alone. Inevitably, in the evenings, about every other snip, I raise my clippers to wave at neighbors out for an after-dinner walk, or my little neighbor comes over to pet the cat one last time before bed, or my across-the-street neighbors call out greetings from their own yard, waving their own clippers in that age-old greeting between gardeners around the world.

I’m not sure what it is, exactly – maybe the fresh air and bit of exercise, maybe the scents and sounds and squirrels, maybe the comforting feeling of reconnecting with your little patch of nature after a day caught up in nonsense, but the garden in the evening is one of the most restful places on earth.