DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16633#0470
450
History of Garden Art
CANADA
Frequent references are made in this chapter, both in foregoing and in following
pages, to conditions in Canada. General statements, unless explicitly qualified, apply to
the North American continent, including Canada and the United States. Special mention
was made in an earlier section of the national parks and forests of the Dominion. A brief
special reference in this place may be permitted, therefore, to cover an important area.
Canada's northern position on the map has fixed the belief in many minds that it has
an arctic climate, a limited horticulture and little opportunity for gardening. Nothing
could be farther from the truth. The Canadian climate, especially in the more thickly
settled portions of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and the Western
Provinces, is agreeable, and wholly suited both to horticultural pursuits and to the
development of the highest type of civilisation. Since garden operations are determined
by the summer season rather than by the winter, it may be pointed out that the Canadian
summer, though shorter than the summer of Florida, is warm and highly adapted to the
growing of all popular kinds of plants, including such fruits as the apple, pear, plum, and
even the peach; all kinds of forest and ornamental trees; all hardy shrubs, roses, etc., and
of course every popular genus of hardy perennials, such as peonies, irises, delphiniums, etc.
In the English sections of Canada the gardening tradition is strong, being derived
direct from the mother country. In these sections good gardening has been promoted to
a marked degree by local and provincial horticultural societies. These organisations have
been much more active and effective, generally speaking, than in the United States. With
respect to kinds of plants grown, however, or to types of design, whether in cottage gardens,
large private estates or public parks, there is hardly an appreciable difference anywhere
between Canadian practice and that of neighbouring states across the border.
Mention has already been made of Mount Royal Park at Montreal, designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted, Senior, as illustrating the development of the park idea in America
in the years from 1865 to 1900. Victoria Park at Niagara Falls belongs to the same era. It
is a fine public park of 1600 acres on the Canadian side of the great falls and is under the
control of the government of Ontario. The superlative scenic importance of the Niagara
Falls makes this park unique. Though it was first conceived under the earlier theory as a
reservation of purely natural scenery, it has latterly been developed in the modern manner
with ample refectories and other facilities for the entertainment of tourists and recreationists.
Mount Randle and Echo Lake in Banff National Park (Fig. 668) make this noble
park famous.
Perhaps the most effective example of municipal park-making in Canada is found
quite fittingly at the capital city, where the Ottawa Improvement Commission (established
1899) has created a comprehensive modern park system of the best sort. As at present
constituted, this system comprises Rockcliffe Park, Central Park, Strathcona Park, Nepean
Point Park, Macdonald Gardens, National Park, Somerset Street Park, Russell House
Park, and Bronson Park; also certain beautiful islands in the Rideau and the Ottawa
Rivers; also a system of park driveways through the city. In addition to these areas, for-
mally dedicated as parks, the controlling commission also holds and administers various
smaller tracts, more or less completely developed.
This brief inventory of the parks of Ottawa gives a fair picture of modern tendencies
History of Garden Art
CANADA
Frequent references are made in this chapter, both in foregoing and in following
pages, to conditions in Canada. General statements, unless explicitly qualified, apply to
the North American continent, including Canada and the United States. Special mention
was made in an earlier section of the national parks and forests of the Dominion. A brief
special reference in this place may be permitted, therefore, to cover an important area.
Canada's northern position on the map has fixed the belief in many minds that it has
an arctic climate, a limited horticulture and little opportunity for gardening. Nothing
could be farther from the truth. The Canadian climate, especially in the more thickly
settled portions of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and the Western
Provinces, is agreeable, and wholly suited both to horticultural pursuits and to the
development of the highest type of civilisation. Since garden operations are determined
by the summer season rather than by the winter, it may be pointed out that the Canadian
summer, though shorter than the summer of Florida, is warm and highly adapted to the
growing of all popular kinds of plants, including such fruits as the apple, pear, plum, and
even the peach; all kinds of forest and ornamental trees; all hardy shrubs, roses, etc., and
of course every popular genus of hardy perennials, such as peonies, irises, delphiniums, etc.
In the English sections of Canada the gardening tradition is strong, being derived
direct from the mother country. In these sections good gardening has been promoted to
a marked degree by local and provincial horticultural societies. These organisations have
been much more active and effective, generally speaking, than in the United States. With
respect to kinds of plants grown, however, or to types of design, whether in cottage gardens,
large private estates or public parks, there is hardly an appreciable difference anywhere
between Canadian practice and that of neighbouring states across the border.
Mention has already been made of Mount Royal Park at Montreal, designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted, Senior, as illustrating the development of the park idea in America
in the years from 1865 to 1900. Victoria Park at Niagara Falls belongs to the same era. It
is a fine public park of 1600 acres on the Canadian side of the great falls and is under the
control of the government of Ontario. The superlative scenic importance of the Niagara
Falls makes this park unique. Though it was first conceived under the earlier theory as a
reservation of purely natural scenery, it has latterly been developed in the modern manner
with ample refectories and other facilities for the entertainment of tourists and recreationists.
Mount Randle and Echo Lake in Banff National Park (Fig. 668) make this noble
park famous.
Perhaps the most effective example of municipal park-making in Canada is found
quite fittingly at the capital city, where the Ottawa Improvement Commission (established
1899) has created a comprehensive modern park system of the best sort. As at present
constituted, this system comprises Rockcliffe Park, Central Park, Strathcona Park, Nepean
Point Park, Macdonald Gardens, National Park, Somerset Street Park, Russell House
Park, and Bronson Park; also certain beautiful islands in the Rideau and the Ottawa
Rivers; also a system of park driveways through the city. In addition to these areas, for-
mally dedicated as parks, the controlling commission also holds and administers various
smaller tracts, more or less completely developed.
This brief inventory of the parks of Ottawa gives a fair picture of modern tendencies