Quail's Gate

We have had some fabulous vacations this year! In May, we met up with friends in Kelowna, British Columbia. Kelowna is in the Okanagan Valley, a prime wine area of Western Canada. Needless to say we spent a lot of time sampling wines and enjoying the gorgeous views.
We had dinner at one of the more famous wineries - Quail's Gate. Sure, I was eager to taste the great food and drink but didn't my little gardener's eye notice how gorgeously landscaped the property was! I had to run around and photograph the exterior before dinner. Let me show you.

Even as we approached the building from the parking lot, it was apparent that the gardens were designed by professionals.

Lots of Barberry and Cotoneaster plus a Euonymus standard along with dry river rock beds.

Well placed rocks and ample mulch provide a clean look to the specimen plants in each bed.

The wooden pergola effect of the entryway blends beautifully with the plantings.

The Japanese Maple was an astounding size and shape.

Grasses, rocks and a stunningly fragrant lilac standard comprised the first level down.

 Looking back up were smaller river rocks, groundcover and hostas.

Here's a closer look at the lilac standard as well as the mini-waterfalls beside it.

Along the back of the restaurant was a very artistically designed walkway.

A look towards the side garden as well as a look back towards the lilac, this time showing the bench.

The scenery speaks for itself. Magnificent, isn't it?

Please check Astrid's Home - my latest post features the Princess Margaret Hospital Lottery Showhome in Oakville.

Mother Nature as Design Teacher

It's interesting to look at peoples' front yards and backyards. Some have been designed by the owner, others professionally landscaped. Many are great, but others somehow look "wrong".
Perhaps the proportions are incorrect: too few small plants in a sinewy shape clinging to the edge of a large house. Other times it's big boulders and rocks just plunked near the driveway, attempting to make them look natural.
So the question is: how do you make a landscape look as if it just "happened"?
Sometimes you need to observe how Mother Nature did it and the ideas are right before your eyes.

This past weekend we were at up at a friend's cottage and the more I looked around, the more I saw rock formations and plant groupings worth photographing.

Large rocks only look natural if they are buried at least halfway if not two thirds of the way into the ground.

Groups of trees in a front yard look very tidy and formal but here they look very good too, growing where the original seed landed.

Another example of how deeply rocks should be into the ground.

This grouping of a large rock as focal point, with smaller rocks scattered nearby, would probably work best in a rural setting. I loved those little round pockets of vegetation.

Due to the lack of rain, the water level of the lake is down 16"!! I have never seen this many rocks exposed at the end of the Point. But just look at the fabulous composition!

Here are some grasses on the slope of the shore.

The view down the shoreline.

It's amazing what nature can teach you about landscape design. But when I wasn't shooting pictures like crazy, it was lovely relaxing in the summer breeze just gazing out over the lake…...