This little house in Langley was to become our temporary home while we built a ‘big house’ elsewhere on the property. It is only 1200 square feet, but, as it turns out, that is plenty of room. Brent was our own architect. Did he miss his calling ? All our renovation plans and his drawings etc were approved . Two years ago I created the garden/tableau setting around the house. My goal was a ‘French’ look , casual and low. The first step was placement of the rocks and loads of soil. I envisioned a ‘Humps and Bumps’ look – as seen in French magazines and strongly influenced by the late, great French taste-maker Nicole de Vesian. Langley is very windy and I think colder in winter, so I hoped I had planted hardy plants. The largest globes are Salix purpurea ‘Canyon Blue’, the dwarf Arctic willow. At the front are mounds of Hebe buxifolia, with assorted boxwoods, thymes, Stachys lanata (Woolly Lamb’s Ear) and a self-sewn Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’ on the left. We felt it was important NOT to use grey gravel – too dreary . Brent found this ‘Peach Shale’ in Alberta and it was easy to get it trucked here. It was still cheaper than paving!!
