MKR Blog

It's heartwarming to read that a garden built by a Russian prince and his bride has been saved from a developer's bulldozer. The Abkhazi Garden, a 1.4-acre site that overlooks the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains, is internationally famous for its splendid collection of rhododendrons.

This article is one in a series of topics on the use of water in the landscape. As Editor, I felt that it was important to set the stage for this subject by having an overview on how water has been used for this purpose for thousands of years. Today, the creative use of water in gardens and the ever-expanding interest in this subject is due in part to the contribution that past cultures have made to improve their and our quality of life.

Alex Shigo conducted research on the proper pruning of trees for over a quarter of a century while working for the United States Forestry Service. Approximately 10 years ago I was privileged to attend a seminar conducted by Mr. Shigo as well as to meet this plantsman at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario.

Several years ago I used Lavandula angustifolia "Hidcote Blue" (Hidcote Blue English Lavender) as a unifying hedge in a Parterre Garden at one of the properties that I had designed and developed. The four quadrants surrounding a beautiful piece of sculpture had the following general types of perennials in each section:

Perhaps no city in Canada has gained the notoriety Victoria B.C. enjoys for its splendid display of hanging baskets. Started in1937 to commemorate Victoria's 75th anniversary of incorporation, these floral displays create an enormous amount of floral interest in and around the Parliament Buildings and inner harbour of this beautiful city.

A late flowering shrub that sporadically blooms in early November, welcomes winter in December, and limitedly flowers in January is Hamamelis virginiana, the Common Witchhazel.

"In the springtime of ones life, hopeful hearts find roses beneath the snow". This sentence beautifully describes this season of the year. A season that in hindsight expresses thankfulness for the labours of fall, says goodbye to the oftentimes long dormant season of winter, and expectantly welcomes the celebration of a new season out of doors. Gardeners have always had a sense of anticipation, a sense of hopefulness, and a sense of surprise. The Hellebores, a beautifully flowering hardy perennial is one such plant that oftentimes stirs passion in the hearts of gardeners.

A member of the Rosaceae Family, the Common Quince – Cydonia (sy-doe-nia) oblonga – is by no means common. Ornamentally, this small deciduous tree to 12' is valued for its golden yellow pear-like fuzzy fruit, its magnificent wide, spreading shape, and its beautiful bark and twisted branches.

During a recent conversation with Bruce Gauld, owner of Gauld Nurseries in Niagara Falls, Ontario, we discussed the damage to ornamental plants by white-tailed deer during this past winter. Because of several major landscape developments that are occurring nearby including the construction of an 18 hole golf course, a new housing development called Niagara on the Green, and the relocation of Niagara College to the toe of the Niagara Escarpment (recognized in 1990 as a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), Bruce has experienced more damage to his plant material this winter than ever before. Quite simply, continuing pressure for development has resulted in habitat loss and the maintenance of wildlife biodiversity.

During the latter part of February and early March, the harmful effect of excessive use of de-icing salts used along sidewalks and roadways becomes crystal clear. Salts deposited on beds and branches can cause damage ranging from complete branch dieback, browning of the needles or foliage, to lack of flowering, and tufting, which is also known as "witches broom". Grass along sidewalks can be completely dead due to overuse of salt.

Simplicity is the essence of design. This is an objective that I have always tried to achieve in all of my previous residential, commercial, institutional and recreational projects. How a designer creatively combines plant material and other design components into a simple, unified scheme is always an exciting challenge.

Water is an indispensable element in all plant life. It composes up to ninety percent of a plants total mass. As a function of a plants metabolic rate water dissolves the soluble nutrients in the soil and makes them available for absorption by the roots. Water is an important component in photosynthesis and transpiration. Ninety percent of the water taken up by the plant is transpired from the stomata in the leaves cooling the plant tissues. The water within the plant also keeps the plant turgid.