{"id":5867,"date":"2017-12-28T16:19:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T16:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siteandinsight.com\/?p=5867"},"modified":"2017-12-28T16:19:49","modified_gmt":"2017-12-28T16:19:49","slug":"garden-paths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/garden-paths\/","title":{"rendered":"Garden Paths"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0the end of\u00a0the year approaches, I’m thinking about transitions. In\u00a0 the context of gardens, transitions are often linked to\u00a0paths. Paths lead you somewhere, either literally or metaphorically. They take you through\u00a0different landscapes\u00a0— meadows, forests, open fields — whose settings evoke different moods.\u00a0They come in all shapes and sizes — grassy and gravel, broad and narrow, straight and curved.\u00a0One path\u00a0may lead to a specific place, another to nowhere in particular and yet a third to someplace unknown, a future waiting to be discovered.<\/p>\n

Anyone visiting Glen Villa, my garden in Quebec, can walk for hours on the paths we’ve cut. One\u00a0of the first\u00a0I made led through the garden and into the woods and fields that surround us. One\u00a0part of this path\u00a0ran parallel to the drive, towards what would become the China Terrace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ragged

Ragged robin, lupins and buttercups edge the grassy path that leads to the China Terrace, the re-creation of the old resort hotel that gave Glen Villa its name.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Over the years we’ve cut more paths.\u00a0One covered with wood chips leads through the fern woods, past memory posts I painted to honour my father and brother-in-law.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The

The memory posts were new when I took this photo. Now, the paint is peeling and the wood beginning to decay, completing a natural cycle.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another path strewn with leaves leads into the woods.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Our

Our grandchildren know the paths well and often walk them on their own.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some paths are lined with flowers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Joe

Joe Pye weed grows abundantly in this wet area.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Others are lined with trees.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"This

This is one of many paths that lead through the woods.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some are straight…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"This

This gravel path used to wiggle. I straightened it to reflect\u00a0the lines of our house.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

… others gently curved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"This

This path leads through the Big Meadow beside the house.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some paths are sunny and cheerful…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The

When I first installed them, the bundled tree trunks\u00a0made up an installation called Ghost Walk. They have now decayed so much that I will probably remove them this summer.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

… others darkly mysterious.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Despite

Despite the appearance, I took this photo in July. I can’t explain why, but photos of this area always make the pine needles look as if they are covered in snow.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The newest path is The Avenue, a double line of crabapple trees we planted in November.\u00a0 It leads straight through the field, to a springtime of bloom.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A

A blue sky day — and a cold one, too. The temperature was -19C when I took this photo!<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or so I hope.<\/p>\n

But I can’t be sure. Because not all paths lead straight ahead. Some take us in circles, returning us to the place we started. Some take us to places we’d rather not see, others to sights that surprise and delight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Where

Where will this path take us, and what are those strange cones in the distance?<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The journey is the thing. It can stretch our minds as well as our legs. And surely that is part of the pleasure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0the end of\u00a0the year approaches, I’m thinking about transitions. In\u00a0 the context of gardens, transitions are often linked to\u00a0paths. Paths lead you somewhere, either literally or metaphorically. They take you through\u00a0different landscapes\u00a0— meadows, forests, open fields — whose settings evoke different moods.\u00a0They come in all shapes and sizes — grassy and gravel, broad and narrow,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,38],"tags":[37,41],"class_list":["post-5867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design","category-glen-villa","tag-glen-villa","tag-paths","category-24","category-38","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}