Creating a simple garden sanctuary for year-round relaxation

With temperatures dropping and dusk arriving early, the firepit section of my garden has been on my mind.

It’s a simple setup. Eight colorful Adirondack chairs are arranged in a circle around a stacked stone hearth, surrounded, during the growing season, by easy-growing, low-maintenance button bush, hydrangeas, hosta, clumping Liriope and coleus.

And simple is what makes it special. The important part is the feeling it provides -- unfussy comfort, serenity and relaxation.

The garden, after all, is a sanctuary – a place to hide, relax our shoulders and catch our breath while the rest of the world speeds by. Studies indicate that time spent in the garden lowers stress, but the types of plants don’t matter; our nervous systems don’t require a botanical showplace to unwind.

It doesn’t take much to give yourself the gift of peace -- just a chair, a few unfussy plants that won’t become burdensome and some attention to detail. And if you can enjoy it year-round, all the better.

Now’s a good time to start thinking about next year's garden.

Large, native grasses lend a sense of calm when they sway in the wind. Flowers like lilacs, old garden roses, jasmine and sweet peas bring fragrant bliss. And the sound of a windchime or a steady trickle of water can provide meditative tranquility. There’s no need to get fancy; a small tabletop bubbler will do.

You don’t need a large yard either. Tuck a chair under a shade tree, install a window box or hanging basket, or line your balcony with potted annuals. Then just sit out there for five minutes, breathing.

Nature can handle some of the work for you. A birdfeeder or birdbath and some pollinator-friendly plants will provide plenty of entertainment, allowing you to zone out as birds splash and bees and butterflies flutter from flower to flower.

Now think up a small ritual that will bring you to your spot every day. Maybe it’ll be where you drink your afternoon tea, read your mail or write entries in your notebook. For me, it’s a walk around the garden every summer morning in my pajamas, coffee in one hand, pruners in the other, just checking on things before the day gets away from me.

These days, I sit on my porch for a few minutes when the weather allows, breathing in some crisp air before starting my day. Soon, I’ll sit out there with a pile of seed catalogs and my trusty highlighter, making a springtime wish list while watching over my dormant garden. And you can be sure I’ll wrap myself in a blanket and sit around the firepit on some mild winter evenings.

If it sounds simple, that’s because it is. And it doesn’t take much to gift it to yourself.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

A fragrant Palabin lilac appears on Long Island, N.Y. on May 24, 2024. (Jessica Damiano via AP)

A bistro table and chairs appear under a tree in a backyard in Long Island, N.Y., on Aug. 7, 2025. backyard. (Jessica Damiano via AP)

Ornamental grass appears in a mixed garden bed on Long Island, N.Y., on June 8, 2025. (Jessica Damiano via AP)

FILE - With two empty Adirondack chairs next to a fire pit, a rainbow stretches across the sky at Adams Pond in East Derry, N.H., Thursday July 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and 34 other countries formally approved plans Tuesday to create a compensation body to pay for damages to Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion, but questions remain about where the money will come from.

Zelenskyy told leaders gathered in the Dutch city of The Hague that he hopes for strong international support so "any damage caused by the war can be compensated.”

The Council of Europe, the continent’s preeminent human rights organization, has facilitated the International Claims Commission, which will allow Ukrainians to seek compensation for “damage, loss or injury” caused by Russia since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

The Council of Europe is adamant that Russia must foot the bill, but there is no clear pathway for forcing Moscow to pay. One proposal is to use some of the tens of billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets held in Europe.

“The aggressor must pay,” Zelenskyy told the Dutch parliament earlier Tuesday.

On Monday, he attended peace talks in Berlin with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Zelenskyy voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees, but rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia.

“These security guarantees are an opportunity to prevent another wave of Russian aggression,” he told journalists. “And this is already a compromise on our part.”

Thirty-five countries backed the International Claims Commission, but they now must ratify the treaty, a process which usually requires legislature approval. That level of support is unprecedented for the start of a Council of Europe treaty.

The commission will assess claims made to the already operational register of damages, which was launched during a Council of Europe summit in 2023. Some 80,000 claims have already been filed with the register, which is based in The Hague.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told a press conference the bloc would give one million euros ($1.1 million) to finance the commission's operation. An estimated 3.5 million euros ($4.1 million) are needed overall.

Many of the same countries have also backed a new international court, also under the umbrella of the Council of Europe, to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, attends a parliament session in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Robin van Lonkhuijsen/Pool Photo via AP)

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, right, poses with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, right, welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and Steve Witkoff, special envoy of the United States, meet at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)