Site-specific advice for gardeners seeking practical solutions, better plant choices, and a clearer vision for their landscape.
Practical guidance rooted in over twenty years of gardening across British Columbia's dry interior—from sagebrush valleys to mountain chairlifts.
The Garden
This garden is the result of more than twenty years of observation, experimentation, successes, failures, and continual adaptation. 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.
The garden changes through time. Some plants reseed. Some disappear. The gardener's role becomes editing rather than constant correction.
Consulting
Whether you're starting a new garden, improving an existing landscape, selecting plants, reducing water use, or looking for ways to increase habitat value and resilience, Jay provides practical recommendations rooted in over twenty years of hands-on gardening experience.
Garden Consultation
Plant Selection & Recommendations
Garden & Property Review
Training & Propagation
Site-specific advice for gardeners seeking practical solutions, better plant choices, and a clearer vision for their landscape.
Guidance on choosing ecologically appropriate plants suited to local climate, soils, exposure, habitat goals, and aesthetic preferences.
Using site visits, aerial imagery, photography, and decades of experience to identify opportunities for garden development, habitat enhancement, and water conservation.
Practical instruction in seed propagation, plant establishment, and the cultivation of dryland, alpine, and rock garden plants.
Speaking
Drawing on experience gardening across southern British Columbia—from coastal rainforests and subalpine environments to the sagebrush valleys and dry interior—Jay Akerley offers practical, visually rich presentations that combine horticulture, ecology, and a deep appreciation for place.
Presentation topics include dryland resilience, crevice gardens, native perennials, seed propagation, and cacti and succulents in the Canadian garden.
Journal
Stories, observations, and practical tips from the Interior BC drylands.
Why exposed soil, natural regeneration, and editing matter in this style of gardening.
How climate, soils, exposure, and ecology shape better gardens.
How a garden can increasingly participate in its own renewal.
About Jay
Over more than twenty years, Jay Akerley has gardened with rare plants across an extraordinary range of conditions in British Columbia—from sea level in Vancouver to subalpine elevations at Sun Peaks, from the cold and dry Thompson Plateau to the desert-like landscapes of the South Thompson River Valley.
Those experiences taught him that successful gardens begin with understanding place.
Contact
Whether you're planning a new garden, refining an existing one, or looking for a presentation, Jay would be pleased to discuss your project.
Dryland Gardens • Habitat • Plants for Place
Resilient gardens for people and wildlife.
Kamloops, British Columbia