New Landscapes for 2007
Looking back over 2007 I got amazingly flowy. Not sure if
that is a word but my designs had some beautiful curves. I was interviewed
on CBC radio and had my yard featured in another garden magazine. As well
the Edmonton Horticulture Society asked me and my friend Dianne Pilling to
create and organize their centennial celebration garden. With the help of
fantastic volunteers and the City of Edmonton we created an amazing public
garden centred in the River Valley.
Edmonton Horticulture Society Public Garden
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EHS PrePic
A very scrappy piece of land filled with dieing poplars and invasive roots. |
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EHS2 hardscaping
The paths were made of Limestone dust above a roadcrush base. The soil was replaced and the area resodded |
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EHS3 Planting Day
Kathryn Merritt the garden coordinator organized a huge group of volunteers to help plant the garden in a day. And just to let you know once and a while I do actually get dirty. |
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EHS4 finished planting
As a rule I always use Garden Mix in my perennial gardens but the City was only able to use sod soil. Later in the year we had to add compost which helped the plants do very well through the winter |
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EHS5 One year later
overview |
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EHS6 Blue Garden
The gardens were divided by colour with the blue garden being my favourite |
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EHS 7 Yellow Garden
Dianne created a contemporary look with the grasses and yellow flowers. Phenomenal first year growth. |
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EHS 8 Fall look
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Cottage Garden
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Cottage1 PrePic
This was scary because the weeds were knee high and had to be removed before we created a large perennials garden |
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Cottage2 Layout
What was different about this design is that it is a strolling garden and will eventually have a large gazebo or pergola in the far corner |
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Cottage3 deck
In order to save quite a bit of money we went with a rundle dust path and patio. To break up the monotany large 3'X3' mosaic blocks imported from Indonesia were added. |
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Cottage4 Timing
The gardens were meant to look nice through out the summer but each garden was timed to look phenomenal at a certain month in the year. |
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Cottage5 accent planting
Eventually the plants will get larger and block your view. Therefore, as you walk along the path there are accent plants to grab your attention and encourage you to continue walking and investigate the garden fully. |
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Cottage 08a
The garden was huge, may have dropped in a little too much starter fertilizer |
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Cottage 08b
Even late in the season the plants were still trying to put out more colour |
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Tiered Garden
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Tiered1 PrePix
The client had contoured the yard and wanted retaining walls, large waterfeature, firepit, integrated patios, and lots of full sized trees. |
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Tiered2 PrePix
Another requirement was the installation of 4 waterfall rocks in the 1600 to 1800lb range. Being that we could not use a crane. This one required a lot of careful planning |
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Tiered3 retaining wall
This set of retaining walls had a spectacular swirling flow and to break up the hundreds of blocks I added in square cut stone. The patio is stamped concrete with two colours. |
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Tiered4 Firepit
AAAh not just any firepit. This one is connected to a propane tank so that all you need is a cigarette lighter and voila. |
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Tiered 08a
I was fairly happy with the growth but something that I learned is not to have the gravel touching the crowns of the plants. It slowed the growth by a month. Once the plants could breath they took off. |
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Tiered6 waterfall
The waterfall needs to be finished but the client will eventually be able to have different sound levels, multiple pools, and pond lights. |
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