Great gardens
of world evolve
slowly over time

Geoff
Tobiasson

OVER THE GARDEN GATE

I INTENTIONALLY chose
to write this column on
Sunday, Oct. 25.

I wish | could tell the hard-
working souls at the North Shore
News that it was in deference to
their pleas that | try to submit be-
fore the deadline, but | can’.

Tomorrow (relatively speaking)
is *‘Decision Day’’ in Canada. By
the time you read this, my hopes
are that this issue will be history.

It can therefore do little harm
to mix some political color in with
this week's effort.

In case some of you haven't
noticed, this is a gardening col-
umn; it is not an editorial and it is
certainly not to be considered a
knowledge base for anything other
than things botanical.

But a really devious person
could manage to slip a few opi-
nions in with the onions and
dogma with the dogwoods.

Every book on garden design {
have ever looked at placed a great
deal of emphasis on terms such as
harmony, balance and the use of
unifying forces.

These words seem to have a

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certain familiar
if Thad heard or seen them six or
seven hundred times a day.

A great deal of thought should
be given to che manner in which
we link the various visual and
functional components of our
surroundings: however, it should
not be at the expense of getting
the job done.

We had better move away from
the planning phase and on to the
construction phase, before the
banker forecloses en the property.

Lately we inat this profes.
sional or that has a better plan
and we need to return to the
drawing table. Suffice it to say
that if we vive the landscape iar-
chitect. an unlimited budget. the
design will never get done.

Beware the artificial de:
the chances are you'll get a p
ched-up job.

While addressing the needs of
certain segments of the garden,
the overall effect is likely to be
one of exces mpartmen-
talization and litte in the way of
unity, balance and unifying
forces.

While we are on the subject of
the landscape architect, let me
recommend a good characteristic
to look for. They all have the
ability to design a garden, but few
are capable of pushing aside their
egos long enough to allow them to
design the garden of your dreams,
not theirs.

The really good ones not only
ask questions, they use the an-
swers obtained to achieve the
desired result.

The experienced gardener begins
every major project with a clear
set of goals and objectives. They
are fashioned of desire and
tempered by the realities of time,
energy and money.

All too often we are left to suf-
fer the unpleasantness generated

See Sculpted page 18

orth Shore News - 9

NEWS photo Terry Peters

A BIRDBATH can make an interesting focal point in the garden as well as offering refreshment
for the birds.