The Butchart Gardens Use of Hardscaping

The Butchart Gardens makes good use of hardscaping in its garden design. Hardscaping refers to the landscape elements such as paths, walls, structures, arbors, and fountains. They often comprise the bones or structure of the garden, to which plants, trees, and shrubs are added. I enjoyed viewing some of these structural elements during our visit to the garden.

A small, open-air log cabin provides charming shelter
from the elements and a panoramic view of the sunken garden below.
The stone wall adds to its rustic charm.

This paved stairway beckons you to explore. The
railings are made from cement and shaped like tree limbs.

The archway provides a passage through the high, formal, clipped hedge.

This trellis surrounds a small sitting area. In the summer, the area is
sheltered with leaves. In the fall, the area is still sheltered, but the vines
die back and provide a glimpse of the garden beyond.

A pergola provides shelter for a shady, hanging garden, built on a sloping hill.

Most of us do not have much space in our gardens, so our hardscaping may be relegated to paths, a fence, a deck or patio, and several garden beds. Studying hardscaping in large, public gardens can provide ideas that could be adapted to smaller, personal gardens.

Fall in the Garden

On our visit to The Butchart Gardens, fall was most evident in the leaves changing from green to shades of yellow, red, or orange. The colored leaves transform the garden. The days are warm, but the evenings are chilly. It is this change in temperature, along with other factors, that kicks off the process of leaves turning colors and then dropping.

Fall colors in the The Butchart Gardens near Victoria, B.C.

Flaming maple tree nestled among the big trees.

Other ideas for fall interest in the garden include trees or bushes that display colored berries, or that possess interesting bark or branch structures that are revealed once leaves drop. Seed pods and dried grasses can also be beautiful in the fall garden. Nature’s own natural processes extend the garden into the fall.

The Butchart Gardens

Fall is a wonderful time to travel, and to visit public gardens. That may seem counter intuitive, since spring is typically the season we associate with beautiful gardens, but a well-planned garden has interest for every season. Fall is a spectacular time to visit The Butchart Gardens, located north of Victoria, British Columbia on the Saanich Peninsula. In the early 1900s, Robert and Jennie Butchart settled into their 130 acre estate on Victoria Island. Jennie transformed a limestone quarry on the estate into a 55 acre garden, which is now designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

The Sunken Garden - created in an abandoned limestone quarry.

Garden features include various garden types—sunken, bog, rose, Japanese, Italian, and Mediterranean; water features—fountains, waterwheel, and ponds; green house, public gathering areas and restaurants; a plant identification station; and a gift shop that sells seeds packaged on site and other merchandise. The Butchart Gardens follows the Victorian tradition of changing out the bedding plants seasonally, so there is something new to see all year round.

The formal Italian Garden - with a Pacific Northwest vista.

My husband and I took a Gray Line tour bus from our hotel in Victoria’s Inner Harbor, and spent a sunny, fall afternoon strolling in the gardens and taking pictures, then relaxing over sandwiches and coffee in the coffee shop. We loved the open feeling of the garden, the interesting paths and details, the buildings, and the artistry of plants and trees.

Surprised by dahlias in October.