This garden is not a professionally designed show garden, nor is it an attempt to recreate a particular natural ecosystem. Rather, it is an evolving garden shaped by the conditions of British Columbia's dry interior and informed by a lifelong fascination with the world's mountains, steppes, deserts, and the plants that inhabit them.

The guiding principle is simple: respect the conditions of the place, work with them, and allow the garden to grow in alignment with the character and context of the surrounding landscape rather than attempting to overpower it.

Gardening in a land of extremes

Gardening in British Columbia's interior means working with extremes. Long periods of drought may be followed by severe winter cold. Summer temperatures can exceed 40°C, while winter temperatures have fallen below -30°C. Snowfall, exposure, elevation, and soils can vary dramatically even within relatively short distances.

Rather than viewing these conditions as obstacles, they have become opportunities to explore plants and gardening techniques adapted to challenging environments. The expectation is simple: plants must be capable of surviving the conditions that the site naturally provides.

Inspired by place

The landscapes of the Thompson Plateau and British Columbia's dry interior have profoundly influenced the development of this garden. The colours of bunchgrass hillsides, the structure of sagebrush communities, the resilience of native wildflowers, and the remarkable diversity of plants adapted to drought all provide inspiration.

That does not mean exclusively native plants. Instead, it means selecting plants—both native and non-native—that are adapted to the climate, soils, and ecological realities of the region.

Habitat through gardening

Birds, native bees, butterflies, and other insects make regular use of the garden throughout the growing season. Native shrubs provide food and shelter. Flowers provide nectar and pollen. Leaf litter, dead wood, and undisturbed corners create opportunities for countless smaller organisms that often go unnoticed. During winter, shrubs and subshrubs provide forage for deer that frequent the property.

Habitat was not created through a single project or installation. It emerged gradually as the garden matured and as ecological processes were allowed to contribute to its development.

Bare Soil, Living Garden

Many contemporary water-wise gardening approaches rely heavily on landscape fabric, decorative gravel, imported ornamental rock, or thick layers of mulch. This garden takes a different approach.

Large areas of exposed soil are intentionally retained. Bare soil performs several important functions. It provides nesting habitat for native bees and other insects, allows desirable plants to establish naturally from seed, and creates opportunities for the garden to participate in its own renewal.

This garden's growing medium emulates native, rocky, low-fertility soils. Rather than attempting to "improve" these conditions with imported organic matter, plants are matched to the conditions that already exist. Soils that may be considered poor by conventional gardening standards often provide exactly the drainage, mineral character, and low fertility required by dryland, alpine, and steppe plants.

This approach also reduces costs. Large quantities of decorative rock, imported soil, and organic amendments are often unnecessary. The garden develops primarily from plants, native soil, and time.

Contrary to common assumptions, exposed soil does not necessarily create more work. In spring, unwanted seedlings can often be removed quickly with a stirrup hoe before they become established. As the garden matures and desirable plants spread, the work increasingly shifts from maintenance toward editing.

The result is a garden that is less expensive to build, easier to adapt over time, more supportive of wildlife, and better able to regenerate itself naturally.

Plants and propagation

Plants remain at the heart of the garden. Over the years, thousands of plants have been grown from seed, many obtained through exchanges and seed lists within the rock gardening community. Propagation has allowed experimentation with an extraordinary diversity of species from drylands, mountains, steppes, and deserts around the world.

Some have flourished. Others have failed spectacularly. Both outcomes have proven valuable. Each season offers new lessons about climate, adaptation, and the remarkable strategies plants employ to survive and thrive.

Regeneration, not maintenance

One of the most surprising lessons has been that a garden can increasingly participate in its own renewal. Many plants reseed freely and establish themselves where conditions are favourable. New combinations emerge. Successful plants expand. Less successful plants disappear.

As the garden has matured, the work has gradually shifted from maintenance toward editing—encouraging what works, removing what does not, and allowing natural processes to contribute to the development of the garden.

Working with what the site provides

Newly planted additions may receive supplemental water while they establish. Once established, all plants are expected to survive on natural precipitation.

Native soil is often entirely suitable. Expensive imported organic materials are rarely necessary. Large quantities of decorative rock are not required. Irrigation systems are not central to the success of the garden.