‘barren’

THE AMERICAN Heritage Dictionary offers the following
rather limited definition of the term jandscape: ‘‘A view or
vista of scenery on land: a desert landseape.”’

At first glance, this may seem
an appropriate interpretation, but
that is the problem with first
glances.

Let me tell you of the inspira-
tion for this column. We have just
returned from a whirlwind tour of
the South West, including the
Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon,
Zion Canyon and all those other
huge holes in the ground.

It became a little tedious strug-
gling through the mile after hum-
dru: mile of seemingly barren
wasteland in between these natural
wonders.

_ After all, once you have seen
one acre of sagebrush and mes-
quite, what’s another million?

It would be easy, and evidently
preferable, to zoom through these
baked expanses at the highest
possible rate of speed in order to
reach the next panoramic
overlook.

It was only at the request of the
woman for whom | would travel
to the ends of the earth that I
stopped and ventured forth into »
these inhospitable domains.

She wanted some genuine Cesert
sand. :

- After dodging thistles, thorns,
cacti, lizards and snakes, I was
surprisec to note that those barren
wastelands were not as barren as
one would have supposed.

In fact, a closer inspection
revealed them to be diverse, dy-
namic environments.

I found myself so thoroughly
fascinated and intrigued that I
would have happily spent the rest
of the day poking around through
the sagebrush. .

However, Brenda (that
woman/wife mentioned above)
was rot as thrilled with the pro-
spect; lizards are not numbered
among her favorite things.

So it was get the sand and go,
but these desert landscapes started
me thinking about detail in the

OVER THE GARDEN GAT

Let me explain.

At first glance, grand vistas and
breathtaking views such as those
mentioned above appear to offer
all that we could expect from a
landscape.

Perhaps they are a little too big
to fit between the pool and the
patio, but they are certainly in-
spirational.

The problem with breathtaking

* views is that they tend to force us

to pay a little too much attention
to the big picture at the expense of
overlooking the details.

All too often, we become so
enthralled with the vista that we
forget to look at component parts
of that which holds our interest.

Obvious examples can be found
on the upper slopes of West
Vancouver. ‘

Areas such as Chartwell have
become just as well known for
their lack of trees as for their
panoramic views.

The average homeowners here
would rather clear-cut the entire
area than allow one leaf to come
between their houses and clear
sight of the empty ocean below.

Less obvious, but equally

strawberry/herb pot

eos

Palen

an

sae ea
soRosebelry Sau
ES ee

desert landscape

demonstrative of a lack of imagi-
nation, are the typical ‘‘low
maintenance’’ gardens so sought
after by today’s homeowners.

These usually consist of too
much grass, overly pruned trees
and shrubs and seas of bark
mulch.

A truly interesting garden is full
of surprises, whether it bea
formerly unnoticed clump of har-
dy cyclamen protruding through
the leaf fitter or a smaii garden
ornament which can only be seen
from a certain perspective.

A garden which reveals all at
first glance is quickly forgotten.

For me, more than half the fun
of gardening is in the collecting of
plants.

As | have yet to acquire a
palatial estate and space is still a
factor, | am confined to small
shrubs, dwarf trees and her-
baceous perennials.

This abundance of smaller
plants will greatly increase the
detail of the garden.

All this collecting is quickly
followed by searching for an open
spot of ground to plant them in
and then waiting to see how they
develop.

This usually requires that we
tuck a few in here and squeeze
one or two in there. While the
result may be a garden which is a
little more cluttered than some
prefer, and it will require more
maintenance, it will definitely be
difficult to take it allin at a
glance.

NEWS photo Cindy Goodman

LESLEA HANNA of Weat Van Florists fills tubs and barrels
with water to display litiles and other types of floating plants.

oY Cart, Shiekeeseares

ly Posturepedic

UP TO

Aubrey Schneider
Sleep Expert

Expires
August 16/93

RD ST, NORTH VANCOUVER

T™