Welcome to the GVAG Blog

Coup de Foudre-1

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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Going and Coming

Before and after photos are a great way of showing the effect of changes — if you have them. Which, in this case, I don’t. Last week the weather was wonderful, with warm days, bright blue skies and a touch of crispness in the air. This week, the sky is grey and the temperatures are…

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