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Following my tree: October

Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving, a holiday that usually coincides with the best colour of the fall season. This year, colours hit their peak a week or so ago, and are still going strong. They were, and are, spectacular! Not so the colours of my poor little corkscrew hazel. I’m starting to feel sorry for the tree:…

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Launching Site and Insight: Reflecting on Art and Landscape

Et, voila! Welcome to the new Glen Villa Gardens website, Site and Insight: Reflecting on Art and Landscape. The new Site and Insight merges my old website and my weekly blog, and adds new features with more information about gardens, landscape and art. I’m delighted with the appearance and the ease with which readers can move through the various…

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Pointing to the present

Talk about à propos. Recently I came across the words below, written by the great British landscape architect and designer, Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. They struck a chord — a loud chord in a major key. The past is now pointing me to a soon-to-be present, with a new website and blog combined. For those of you…

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Reflecting on Site and Insight

Site and Insight. I’ve used these words many times in talking about gardens, in thinking about landscapes, in writing about both. Recently I’ve added a third word to the list. Sight, Site and Insight. This is what art, landscape and design are based on: looking at what surrounds you, observing the lay of the land, the…

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Pruning: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Pruning shrubs has always been one of my favourite garden occupations. It’s satisfying to clear away the dead wood (literally) — and when the work is done, you can see what is there. It’s a practical activity as well an aesthetic one. My aim may be to shape a shrub so that it looks its…

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