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Most gardeners may go through the rose-and-peony stage, but rock gardens, Marion Jarvie believes, are "where many of the great gardeners end up." Why? "In a rock garden you can gather together all of the things you've really loved in a miniature landscape of trees, shrubs and perennials," she says. "You're working with it all -- sand, soil and rocks, form, colour and texture -- in an environment that you can control. You can even create small boggy areas and mini microclimates. And unlike a typical perennial bed, a rock garden doesn't go underground for the winter. The plants are tough and tailor-made for Canadian conditions."
Any visitor to Jarvie's garden in Thornhill, Ont., just north of Toronto, can find evidence of this great gardener's explorations and how she's ended up where she is. Born in Britain and a gardener from childhood, Jarvie moved to the property almost 30 years ago. The 30-by-26-metre back garden was a flat, windswept hilltop within plain view of a dozen neighbours. And in winter this patch of "waterlogged clay" was occasionally objected to -38°C temperatures.
It's now a leafy, serene and almost secret garden, surrounded by a dense green wall of clipped cedar. Looking south from the terrace behind the house, you see the magnificent borders of the garden: raised perennial, shrub and woodland beds that circle partway into the central lawn and finish with a low-lying bog garden and pond.
The magic of scree
The jewel in their midst is Jarvie's special joy, an undulating scree garden covered in silvery shards of stone, patterned with quiet greens, greys, purples, reds and golds. Not a standard suburban "rockery" -- often a bank with rocks and petunias tucked into it -- hers is a carefully constructed yet naturalistic rock garden containing more than 100 genera of plants, including more than 30 dwarf shrubs (only 50 per cent flower) and 15 types of grasses. The limestone scree (small, sharp chips) provides the quick drainage and alkaline environment that alpine plants need. Suited to barren, cold and windy conditions, they are perfectly situated in this garden, which has constant air circulation and spots that dip down to Zone 4.
Check out this season-by-season slideshow of the Jarvie Garden, courtesy of canadiangardening.com.
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