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Mahone Bay Horticultural Seminar, June 2004
Periwinkle/Vinca Minor
"Simplify and repeat . . ."
“See” your garden as an extension of your home interior. Look at the garden from inside your home,
making note of your views. Also notice the undulations of the land. Now, go out into the garden
and “see” your views within and beyond your garden.
A well-decorated home has an overall sense of unity, while the individual rooms exemplify unique
personality through colour, texture, and detail. A well-decorated garden should also display a
sense of unity with "hard-scape" and the repetition of foundation plantings. We have used granite
boulders to create hard-scape garden edging, and we have incorporated old granite foundation stones
as steps between the garden levels. For foundation plantings, we plant in consideration of winter vistas.
While flowers and plant textures are seasonal enjoyments, the evergreens, the tree forms, and the rock
groupings must satisfy the gardening spirit throughout the cold white winters. For winter colour, we
especially enjoy the yellow dogwood for the spectacular chartreuse display against the snow.
Our gardening challenges include sandy soil (we’re on a drumlin), high wind from all directions
(our windswept view), and salt spray (not to mention the kind snow-ploughs that dump and distribute
the road salt). And let’s not forget the marauding deer. This year we are keeping them away with
Plantskydd, a spray product that uses blood meal in a vegetable oil base. www.plantskydd.com
I
n 1993, we began our garden from a field of grass amongst the craggy old apple and locust trees.The garden design is our own.
Sources
James, Theodore, Jr. Seaside Gardening. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995.
Green, Douglas. Landscape Magic. Shelburne, Vermont: Chapters Pub. Ltd., 1995.
Eddison, Sydney. The Unsung Season. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1995.
Martin, Tovah. Tasha Tudor’s Garden. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1994.
Russell, Vivian. Monet's Garden. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1995.
Stewart, Martha. Martha Stewart's Gardening, month by month. New York: Clarkson Potter, 1991.
Roses
Blanc Double De Coubert: (Couchet 1892) white, perfume, orange/red hips, holds the hillside.
Belle Pointvine: (Bruant 1859) mauve/pink, fragrant, red hips.
Thérèse Bugnet: (George Bugnet of Legal, Alberta, early 1900's) soft pink flower, red stems.
Shrubs, Flowers, Herbs, and Succulents
Geranium "Johnson’s Blue"
Geranium "Cranes-bill" (Sanguineum)
Geranium "Mourning Widow" (Phaeum)
Spruce "Bird’s Nest"
Yellow Dogwood
Creeping Thyme
Spruce "Little Gem"
Russian Sage
Mugo Pine (Mughus)
Coreopsis "Moonbeam"
Hens and Chicks
Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla Mollis)
Knotweed or Persicarius "Dimity" also Polygonum "Dimity"
Sundrops or Riparia (ce. fruticosa)
Planting Preparation
Prepare hole 3-4 times the width of container.
Add mushroom mulch mixed with soil and plenty of bone meal
Create water dish from surrounding soil to keep soil moist
Cover prepared hole and surrounding area with up to 4 inches of mulch
(the wind will dry it out) and remove 1-2 inches through the summer.