visit this
Inside
the design issue
HOW TO PLANT A FAB FALL CONTAINER
Gardens THAT MAKE AN
IMPACT visi t this TROPICAL-INSPIRED GARDEN IN P.E.I.
timeless classic PM40064924
$5.50 FALL/WINTER 2014
ROSE OF SHARON
how to PROPAGATE HOUSEPLANTS
Inside
the design issue
HOW TO PLANT A FAB FALL CONTAINER
Gardens THAT MAKE AN
IMPACT visi t this TROPICAL-INSPIRED GARDEN IN P.E.I.
timeless classic
ROSE OF SHARON
FALL/WINTER 2014 • PM 40064924
canadiangardening.com
FALL/WINTER 2014 • CANADIAN GARDENING
GARDENS THAT MAKE AN IMPACT
CANADIANGARDENING.COM
TWO ARTISTS, ONE text wendy helfenbaum | photography perry mastrovito
Eastern white cedars (Thuja occidentalis) and yews (Taxus ×media cvs.) are kept immaculately clipped and are a commanding presence in the garden. A ‘Merrill’ Loebner magnolia (Magnolia ×loebneri ‘Merrill’) near the back hedge is one of several varieties on the property.
MASTERPIECE
The Quebec garden of Suzanne Gravel and Yvon Milliard represents four decades of dreaming, digging and developing.
S
uzanne Gravel’s love affair with gardening began at age five, when she would wander into the forest next to her parents’ summer cottage in picturesque Sag uenay, Quebec, and bring back tiny spruce trees to plant in the family garden. In 1969, Suzanne and her husband, Yvon Milliard, both painters and sculptors, bought a 3,250-square-metre property in Saint-Romuald, near Lévis, along Quebec’s south shore. “I’ve always had an emotional connection with nature,
facebook.com/canadiangardening
˚ 49
and the mature ash, oak, maple and spruce trees really seduced me,” recalls Suzanne. The property’s large home, built in 1882, needed major work. The surrounding grounds featured a few neglected fruit trees and two sparse peonies. The couple saw their land as a blank canvas. “Creating a garden is like crafting a work of art: Bringing together the shapes and colours of trees and plants, coordinating their blooming seasons, discovering new
flowers – it’s a constant source of wonder,” says Suzanne. “Gardeners can easily transform themselves into painters or sculptors by keeping both feet on the land, their hands in the earth and their heads in the sky.” While raising three children, the couple slowly restored their threestorey heritage home, and Suzanne spent many winter months sketching landscape designs. “I looked through books featuring beautiful European gardens, and I started to dream.”
Eight years after they first moved in, Suzanne and Yvon finally began enriching the rocky clay soil with compost and planting mixed borders, shrubs and coniferous trees. They also solicited and gradually acquired parcels of surrounding farmland. Today, the couple’s majestic garden spreads over 1.5 hectares. “I designed the garden the same way an architect designs a house – with large and small rooms, each with its own style and depicting a unique
garden stats
Size: 1.5 hectares Zone: 4 Orientation: All directions Age of garden: 37 years Conditions: Clay, rocky soil Growing season: Mid-April to October Focus: Decoratively trimmed topiaries,
an Italian reflecting pool, various garden rooms Maintenance: Until last year, the conifers, hedges and topiaries were all trimmed by hand with garden shears, which would take a full month to complete
50
˚ canadiangardening.com
FALL / WINTER 2014
left: The stone sculpture (appropriately named Origami) by René Taillefer was inspired by a folded piece of paper. The artist built it on-site in 1984, says homeowner Suzanne Gravel. Hybrid tea roses, ‘Annabelle’ smooth hydrangeas (Hydrangea arbo rescens ‘Annabelle’) and white Siberian irises (Iris sibirica forma alba) encircle the art.
opposite: Two teak loungers offer a perfect view of the Italian-inspired reflecting pool. An antique Victorian urn holds clumps of petunias and other annuals. To the left of the loungers, 4.5-metredeep flowerbeds form a large U-shape around the area. above: ‘Sympathie’ climbing roses. right: ‘Jean’s Dilly’ dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Jean’s Dilly’), catmint (Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’), ‘Purple Prince’ Oriental trumpet lily and biennial Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium) surround the wrought-iron rosecovered arbour designed by Étienne Guay, which features copper crows and a bell that is rung every day at lunchtime.
environment,” says Suzanne. “When I plant flowers, it’s like creating a painting; I think about colour, light, height, presentation – everything to make a pleasing combination.” The garden follows a north-south axis, leading from the house to the back of the property, and an east-west axis, running from the centre of the towering cone-shaped eastern white cedars and into the rose garden, which showcases rugosa, hybrid tea and David Austin English roses. Suzanne laid out formal gardens, a rhododendron garden, shade gardens, a lilac walk with 18 shrubs (or specimens) and a vertical garden that includes clematis, climbing roses, perennial sweet peas and a pergola covered in wisteria. About 25 years ago, Suzanne and Yvon began planting groupings of topiaries – boxwood, eastern white cedars
above: A wooden footbridge built by Suzanne’s husband, Yvon Milliard, provides a path to cross the pond. There are waterlilies (Nymphæa cvs.) and water irises (Iris pseud acorus cvs.), common duckweed (Lemna minor), sweet flag (Acorus spp. and cvs.) and a variety of other aquatic plants that thrive here. left: Orange daylilies stand out in the riotous mix of perennials. opposite: Yvon built several wooden pergolas for the vertical garden, which features climbing roses and 30 varieties of clematis on both sides of the sloping flagstone steps. Geranium ‘Anne Thomson’ keeps their roots cool.
52
˚ canadiangardening.com
FALL / WINTER 2014
and yews – keeping them impeccably trimmed to resemble living sculptures. Suzanne refers to one particularly striking collection of cone-shaped conifers as her “soldiers.” Until last year, Suzanne, Yvon and their gardener, Patricia Boucher, trimmed all the conifers, hedges and topiaries by hand. “It would take us a whole month to get everything done – the huge 5.5-metre-high cone alone took an entire day,” says Suzanne. “We’d be perched on scaffolding; you
really need to be quite an acrobat to do this type of work!” A local company has since taken over the task. Sculpt ures a nd meta lwork by Quebec artists (including themselves) pop up throughout the property. When the couple saw a wrought-iron arbour with copper crows perched atop by Étienne Guay years ago, they purchased it on the spot and commissioned another. A concrete sculpture by René Taillefer provides a Zen-like tranquility near the rose garden.
Suzanne and Yvon’s final project – a show-stopping t wo-by-8.5-metre Italian mirror basin – was completed about 10 years ago. The pool delineates the formal garden from the natural woodland. “The reflecting pool was part of our long-term vision of the garden,” says Suzanne of the water feature, which is flanked by two Victorian urns packed with petunias and other annuals. “We placed teak loungers there to get the best view of our work, which makes this all worthwhile.” facebook.com/canadiangardening
˚ 53
the design issue
HOW TO PLANT A FAB FALL CONTAINER
Gardens THAT MAKE AN
IMPACT visi t this TROPICAL-INSPIRED GARDEN IN P.E.I.
timeless classic PM40064924
$5.50 FALL/WINTER 2014
ROSE OF SHARON
how to PROPAGATE HOUSEPLANTS
Inside
the design issue
HOW TO PLANT A FAB FALL CONTAINER
Gardens THAT MAKE AN
IMPACT visi t this TROPICAL-INSPIRED GARDEN IN P.E.I.
timeless classic
ROSE OF SHARON
FALL/WINTER 2014 • PM 40064924
canadiangardening.com
FALL/WINTER 2014 • CANADIAN GARDENING
GARDENS THAT MAKE AN IMPACT
CANADIANGARDENING.COM
TWO ARTISTS, ONE text wendy helfenbaum | photography perry mastrovito
Eastern white cedars (Thuja occidentalis) and yews (Taxus ×media cvs.) are kept immaculately clipped and are a commanding presence in the garden. A ‘Merrill’ Loebner magnolia (Magnolia ×loebneri ‘Merrill’) near the back hedge is one of several varieties on the property.
MASTERPIECE
The Quebec garden of Suzanne Gravel and Yvon Milliard represents four decades of dreaming, digging and developing.
S
uzanne Gravel’s love affair with gardening began at age five, when she would wander into the forest next to her parents’ summer cottage in picturesque Sag uenay, Quebec, and bring back tiny spruce trees to plant in the family garden. In 1969, Suzanne and her husband, Yvon Milliard, both painters and sculptors, bought a 3,250-square-metre property in Saint-Romuald, near Lévis, along Quebec’s south shore. “I’ve always had an emotional connection with nature,
facebook.com/canadiangardening
˚ 49
and the mature ash, oak, maple and spruce trees really seduced me,” recalls Suzanne. The property’s large home, built in 1882, needed major work. The surrounding grounds featured a few neglected fruit trees and two sparse peonies. The couple saw their land as a blank canvas. “Creating a garden is like crafting a work of art: Bringing together the shapes and colours of trees and plants, coordinating their blooming seasons, discovering new
flowers – it’s a constant source of wonder,” says Suzanne. “Gardeners can easily transform themselves into painters or sculptors by keeping both feet on the land, their hands in the earth and their heads in the sky.” While raising three children, the couple slowly restored their threestorey heritage home, and Suzanne spent many winter months sketching landscape designs. “I looked through books featuring beautiful European gardens, and I started to dream.”
Eight years after they first moved in, Suzanne and Yvon finally began enriching the rocky clay soil with compost and planting mixed borders, shrubs and coniferous trees. They also solicited and gradually acquired parcels of surrounding farmland. Today, the couple’s majestic garden spreads over 1.5 hectares. “I designed the garden the same way an architect designs a house – with large and small rooms, each with its own style and depicting a unique
garden stats
Size: 1.5 hectares Zone: 4 Orientation: All directions Age of garden: 37 years Conditions: Clay, rocky soil Growing season: Mid-April to October Focus: Decoratively trimmed topiaries,
an Italian reflecting pool, various garden rooms Maintenance: Until last year, the conifers, hedges and topiaries were all trimmed by hand with garden shears, which would take a full month to complete
50
˚ canadiangardening.com
FALL / WINTER 2014
left: The stone sculpture (appropriately named Origami) by René Taillefer was inspired by a folded piece of paper. The artist built it on-site in 1984, says homeowner Suzanne Gravel. Hybrid tea roses, ‘Annabelle’ smooth hydrangeas (Hydrangea arbo rescens ‘Annabelle’) and white Siberian irises (Iris sibirica forma alba) encircle the art.
opposite: Two teak loungers offer a perfect view of the Italian-inspired reflecting pool. An antique Victorian urn holds clumps of petunias and other annuals. To the left of the loungers, 4.5-metredeep flowerbeds form a large U-shape around the area. above: ‘Sympathie’ climbing roses. right: ‘Jean’s Dilly’ dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Jean’s Dilly’), catmint (Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’), ‘Purple Prince’ Oriental trumpet lily and biennial Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium) surround the wrought-iron rosecovered arbour designed by Étienne Guay, which features copper crows and a bell that is rung every day at lunchtime.
environment,” says Suzanne. “When I plant flowers, it’s like creating a painting; I think about colour, light, height, presentation – everything to make a pleasing combination.” The garden follows a north-south axis, leading from the house to the back of the property, and an east-west axis, running from the centre of the towering cone-shaped eastern white cedars and into the rose garden, which showcases rugosa, hybrid tea and David Austin English roses. Suzanne laid out formal gardens, a rhododendron garden, shade gardens, a lilac walk with 18 shrubs (or specimens) and a vertical garden that includes clematis, climbing roses, perennial sweet peas and a pergola covered in wisteria. About 25 years ago, Suzanne and Yvon began planting groupings of topiaries – boxwood, eastern white cedars
above: A wooden footbridge built by Suzanne’s husband, Yvon Milliard, provides a path to cross the pond. There are waterlilies (Nymphæa cvs.) and water irises (Iris pseud acorus cvs.), common duckweed (Lemna minor), sweet flag (Acorus spp. and cvs.) and a variety of other aquatic plants that thrive here. left: Orange daylilies stand out in the riotous mix of perennials. opposite: Yvon built several wooden pergolas for the vertical garden, which features climbing roses and 30 varieties of clematis on both sides of the sloping flagstone steps. Geranium ‘Anne Thomson’ keeps their roots cool.
52
˚ canadiangardening.com
FALL / WINTER 2014
and yews – keeping them impeccably trimmed to resemble living sculptures. Suzanne refers to one particularly striking collection of cone-shaped conifers as her “soldiers.” Until last year, Suzanne, Yvon and their gardener, Patricia Boucher, trimmed all the conifers, hedges and topiaries by hand. “It would take us a whole month to get everything done – the huge 5.5-metre-high cone alone took an entire day,” says Suzanne. “We’d be perched on scaffolding; you
really need to be quite an acrobat to do this type of work!” A local company has since taken over the task. Sculpt ures a nd meta lwork by Quebec artists (including themselves) pop up throughout the property. When the couple saw a wrought-iron arbour with copper crows perched atop by Étienne Guay years ago, they purchased it on the spot and commissioned another. A concrete sculpture by René Taillefer provides a Zen-like tranquility near the rose garden.
Suzanne and Yvon’s final project – a show-stopping t wo-by-8.5-metre Italian mirror basin – was completed about 10 years ago. The pool delineates the formal garden from the natural woodland. “The reflecting pool was part of our long-term vision of the garden,” says Suzanne of the water feature, which is flanked by two Victorian urns packed with petunias and other annuals. “We placed teak loungers there to get the best view of our work, which makes this all worthwhile.” facebook.com/canadiangardening
˚ 53
