Welcome to Garden Canadensis…
We called our garden ‘Garden Canadensis’ to signify this is a northern garden, and our connection with this land.
The great landscape painter Kuo Hsi (1000-1090) attributed a garden as a place where we seek to restore our sense of nature; how true.
Another ancient painter Jing Hao (907–960) said:
“In landscape painting, there are six essentials – Spirit, Harmony, Thought, Atmosphere, Brush and Ink. Spirit makes the heart travel…. Harmony, without visible contours, suggests forms; omits nothing, yet escapes vulgarity. Thought segregates the essential, and concentrates the mind on the shapes of things. The master of Atmosphere, while yet observing the laws of the seasons, can search out the mysterious and establish Inner Truth….”
I think the statement is relevant to gardening if “Brush and Ink” are replaced with “Spade and Plant Materials”.
As much as I seek to be inspired by ‘great’ garden designers and fellow gardeners alike, the outcome may seem naive and unsophisticated to many. I suppose naivety is still better than being pretentious.
The idea of a beautiful garden varies widely from one gardener to another, mostly because of differences in personal taste (or lack of it), and interest. Despite such differences, I hope there are sufficient elements of commonality that you may enjoy some aspects of our garden.
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