Stone use in the landscape

There are many ways to use natural stone in the landscape, below is a photo of how not to use natural stone...


Now I can appreciate the type of homeowner that will attempt to do their own landscape work and if they have a creative eye, they can achieve a well balanced look to the front yard landscape. But when I look at this front yard garden, it displays a valid point I try to make with many clients... make sure your contractor is not trying to sell landscape materials you don't need!!!

I know this home was landscaped by a landscape contractor and he is probably someone that knows his construction practice very well... but I give a failing grade for material choice and presentation. Wrong look and wrong use of material here. The stones are way too big and awkward to use in this application.


The attempt of using shims with smaller stones to level the larger ones just makes the wall feature look like junk. Over time, frost will start moving those stones and eventually soil will leak out through the large holes which will invite weeds to migrate into the gaps. In the first photo at the top of this article, on the far left, you will see another common mistake... use of a completely different type of stone (orange/pink coloured granite field stone) in a small garden area like this.

Rockery used in a landscape presentation should always be the same material! Otherwise it looks like a mish-mash of objects without flow.

When you use rustic looking stone like weathered limestone rock, it is best used in a natural looking fashion. Stand back and ask how Nature would do it?

Subtle hints of this type of rockery slightly buried into the earth and inter-mixed with planting would have enhanced the look of the front of this house. The idea is to achieve a look that compliments the front door in a well balanced manner that builds up your view towards the door to say; "This is where you enter!"

Instead, what you notice when you see this house is a pile of rocks on the front lawn...

Art in Architecture

A few months ago I was contacted by a very pleasant couple in the Etobicoke area for a landscape design. They were building their custom-dream home which became very apparent as I first pulled up to the site to meet with them.


We walked the property and talked about the various things they would like to see in this place. The conversation which is always more like an interview, allowed me to grasp a general direction in which to take this particular design.

After discussing some of the key elements they wanted in their space, they brought me to a problem area! The driveway....


The definition of Architecture can vary across many professionals... to me, Architecture is the use of building material to create aesthetically pleasing art for a functional living space. Landscape Architecture is the same process, only we use Nature's tools mixed with outdoor building materials.

The Architect for this home no doubt did the job as it is a very beautiful place. But the layout created a problem in the landscape! The garage was tucked under the home to save space on the property. A cleaver design detail but the ensuing grade change resulted in the need for retaining walls.

I won't go as far as to say the Architect left them hanging on that detail... the site plan does show some sort of grade change and armourstone retaining wall. But it was the tree at the top of the slope that threw a wrench in the plan.


I like trees and try to save them when I can... but when the damage is done, you cannot avoid the fact that saving a tree will cost more money then it would to just plant a new one.

The house was built around this tree and a lot of the soil was removed in the excavation of the driveway. We then had an extremely dry Summer which added even more stress. The architect proposed a set of stairs to go in between the home and the tree. A process that would have no doubt driven the last nail in the birch tree's coffin.

So I was asked by the client... "What are the options for a retaining wall here?" I suggested 3 choices, one was to build the wall with armourstone, the second was a precast retaining wall systems and the third was to build a wall with block foundations and use the same stone facing from the home on the retaining walls.

I was then asked, which of the three choices would I choose? Simple! The third one...the most expensive one, but also the most stable and beautiful looking option. Again, Art in Architecture is creating function following form. In Landscape Architecture we sometimes use the materials of the home to pull into the landscape and make the house/structure talk to the land.

They agreed with my choice, but I told them the tree could not stay... I would have to design a wall around that tree and it would look very odd because of the distance between the driveway edge and the spread of it's roots. The end result was to remove the tree according to City of Toronto bylaw and design the walls!

In both the above photo and the one below, we see the wall materials matching to the existing home (click on photos for larger images). It is a seamless flow from house wall to landscape wall which ties the dwelling into the landscape. The end result (although not completed yet) is an eye pleasing display of art in the landscape.


My new plan does call for a tree to sit at the top of the wall area along with shrubs and perennials to soften the stonework... I'll update this post with more to come when the project is completed next year.

I do like it when a plan comes together!

What were they thinking? part 1

Well it has been a while... been a busy summer season for me as well, so I have not had the time to sit and write any blog updates.

Anyway, today I decided to write about something I drive by on a regular basis. The North-west corner of Islington Road and Eglington Road has been a bother to me ever since the City Of Toronto did what they did.One of the first things I learned while studying trees and shrubs of Ontario was that the Norway Maple is an invasive tree species in Canada. It was introduced to Toronto some time ago because of its ability to leaf out early in Spring and drop leaves later in fall. The idea was to bring this tree over from Europe to the North-Eastern part of North America so that urban landscapes could look a little greener for just a bit longer then what our Native trees could provide.

A good friend of mine, Peter Heyblom (fellow Landscape Designer) wrote an extensive article on the Norway Maple in Canada. His article elaborates on some of the concerns mentioned here in my post.

As time moves forward in our cities and populated places, the Norway Maple is now considered a very invasive tree to our natural ravine & forested areas. It is a very hardy and aggressive tree... so dominant in a forested environment that it would completely shade out, overtake and replace any native species of tree or shrub. There are countless ravine areas in Toronto that have about 80% Norway Maple growth versus a fading 20% native to Ontario plant species growth.

So what is on the corner of Islington and Eglington?

A tree advocacy program created by the city of Toronto...sponsored by the names displayed in the picture. Why is it an issue for me?..why would I possibly balk at a project that introduces native and natural vegetation to a once empty field???
If you look closely at the photo above... you will see Norway Maples!!!(outlined below)



So... what is the problem with this setup? If you plant a Norway maple in the middle of a grass field...and year after year, continually mow the area around the tree, the chance for seeds to spread is very minimal. The chance for this aggressive and dominating tree to do damage to natural areas is very minor.

Yet here we see a planting program that is destined to fail in a few years. Eventually as the native plant material grows and flourishes... it will pave the way for seedlings of the Norway Maple to spread and grow. Soon the trees will become larger, dominant trees and eventually crowd out the glorious efforts put forth to naturalize the field on the corner of Islington and Eglington.