Is a Clearing in the Woods a Garden?
“A natural clearing in a wood is a glade. But a perfectly round clearing the same size, in the same wood, becomes a garden.” … Juan Grimm, Chilean landscape architect Ten years ago,…
Lire la suite
Home Again — and Happy To Be Here
What a pleasure it is to return to Glen Villa, my garden in Quebec, after three weeks spent visiting gardens in Scotland and England. Seeing so many amazing places there, I was worried that my own garden would be a disappointment. It wasn’t. It isn’t. Yes, I can see dozens of things, large and small,…
Shaping the Earth
Over the last week, as part of a tour I’ve been leading through gardens in Scotland and the north of England, I’ve been fortunate enough to see four earth works created by Charles Jencks. Jencks is an American architectural theorist, writer and landscape architect who has lived in Scotland for many years and now divides his…
Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens
The Princes Street Gardens sit in the centre of Edinburgh, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. They were created in the late 1700s and early 1800s after a loch, originally part of the castle’s defences, was drained. The gardens are divided in two sections, East and West, that together cover some 37.5…
Trees at Glen Villa
Trees play a major role at Glen Villa, my garden in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. They provide shade in summer, colourful foliage in autumn and the promise that comes with spring green buds. In winter bare branches of deciduous trees offer a stark colour contrast outlined against the snow, and evergreens provide structure and a touch of colour…