Our gardens
A few of the gardens we've drawn and planted
No two yards here are alike: different slopes, soil, snow and shade. These show the range of what we make. We leave out house numbers and names.
Front-yard conversion · Northwest Calgary
A south-facing lawn turned prairie meadow
The owners were tired of a lawn that browned every August. We lifted the sod, dug compost into heavy clay and planted about 400 plugs of native flowers and grasses through a gravel mulch. By the third summer the bed was closed in and humming.
- Size
- About 70 m²
- Sun
- Full sun, reflected heat from the driveway
- Key plants
- Black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower, blue grama, little bluestem
- Water
- Weekly in year one, now only in long dry spells
Perennial border · Southwest
A border along the side path
Twenty metres of phlox, salvia and bellflowers between a clipped hedge and a narrow path, planned so something purple or white is out from June to September.
Dry garden · Northwest slope
A gravel garden on a steep bank
A slope that wouldn't hold grass now carries silver-leaved and drought-tolerant plants in gravel. No sprinkler reaches it, and nothing needs one.
Pollinator corner · Northeast
A small bed for bees, by the fence
Ten square metres in the sunniest corner of a family back yard, planted so bees find flowers from crocus time until the asters finish.
Your yard could be the next one
Tell us about it in a few lines and we'll arrange a walk. Planting dates for next season open in March.
