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…
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…
It’s that time of month again, time to write about the tree I started following in March this year. My corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’) is looking about as tired as the rest of the garden — late August and early September are not prime times at Glen Villa. Something is eating the hazel…
A few posts ago, I wrote about the journey that water makes as it flows down the hill and into the lake. A few posts before that, I referred to the ‘haste makes waste’ pond that is just above the boathouse, the final spot on the water’s journey. Today I want to show how important…
A few weeks ago I wrote about The Big Rock and my plan to simplify the plantings around it, using a lesson I learned from touring gardens in Italy. We haven’t tackled that project yet. But we have tackled another area, applying the same principles of simplicity and balance to great effect. Beside the drive coming…
Last year was the summer of The Aqueduct: a series of mishaps, course corrections, and headaches that resulted in what I believe is a triumph of landscape art and design. This overview of the main portion of The Aqueduct dates from summer 2013. Those of you who were reading Site and Insight last summer may…
Corylus avenllana is the proper name of the tree I am following, corkscrew hazel is its common name, and Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick is its nickname. This nickname was what attracted me to the plant many years ago. That and a photo of a full-grown plant. This photo of a full grown contorted hazel is…
I have no desire to create an Italianate garden in rural Quebec. Yet many things in the Renaissance and Renaissance-revival gardens I visited this spring are inspiring me to re-examine aspects of the garden at Glen Villa. High on the list is ensuring I have the right balance. Balance between simplicity and decoration. Between open and closed…
This post is the first of several I plan to write, describing how different sections of the gardens at Glen Villa have changed over the years. Let me know what you think. Are you interested in more posts like this one? Some people plan a garden before they begin to make it, with sketches or architectural…
The Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’ has grown in the last month — not much but enough that its head now rises above the wooden rail that marks the back edge of the border. The colour of the leaves reminds me of Heuchera ‘Palace Purple.’ I chose this tree because of the colour of the leaves,…