Inside design: Liz Primeau

6 steps program
Like most gardeners, author Liz Primeau began in pursuit of perfection. She has, however, learned the error of her ways. “The garden is not the place for control freaks or perfectionists,” she says in her latest book, My Natural History: The Evolution of a Gardener ($29, Greystone, 2008). Over many springs and summers she’s learned to embrace “nature’s caprices” and to move with, not against, the inclinations of the seasons and weather. That was an epiphany that led Liz to develop her six-stages theory of gardening – a progression as natural to the maturing of a gardener as the seasons are to the maturing of a garden. Which stage are you at?

Stage 1: I want it all, now
I want as much colour as possible and don’t want to wait for perennials, so I’m planting huge swaths of annuals.

Stage 2: Discovering a love that lasts
I’m beginning to appreciate the subtleties of perennials, which don’t need to be replanted every year, but bloom for shorter periods and require some planning on my part.

Stage 3: Going for the green
I notice that blooms aren’t the be all and end all. Foliage and texture enhance my garden, too.

Stage 4: Gardening by design
I realize that for all the perennials and widely textured greens, my garden lacks cohesion. I need to create a solid framework with a well-conceived plan.

Stage 5: Barking up the right trees
I’m starting to understand that trees and shrubs provide an architecture that’s essential to my well-planned garden.

Stage 6: The winter of our content
I no longer dread winter. I’m learning to love the starkness of the trees, the grey moodiness.

Read more in Decorating & Design and Inside Design