English Gardens and Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park

England is known for many things, including its love of soccer, its rich literary heritage, its old buildings, and its gardens. In contrast to the carefully clipped and organized gardens of the French palaces, what most people think of as English gardens typically feature seemingly random clumps of flowers and other vegetation, organized to resemble nature with its different combinations of color and scent.

The idea of gardens like these has become popular around the world, so that English gardens can be found even across the Atlantic Ocean in Canada, where the gardens of Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg amply demonstrate the concept of an apparently wild but actually well-planned garden in the heart of a city.

Planning an English Garden for the Climate

An English garden can be either formal or informal, according to an official English Gardens website, but either format requires careful planning. Informal English gardens, despite their wild appearance, need as much consideration as the more formal variety; choosing appropriate plants carefully is important especially in areas with less rainfall than England, where some of the typical plants are hollyhocks, columbines, peonies, and roses. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, for example, annual flowers such as petunias help cover areas where perennials may have died during the cold Canadian winter. The relatively dry weather Winnipeg generally experiences also means that the gardens can include desert dwellers like cacti among the plants.

Formal and Informal Features in Winnipeg’s English Gardens

Even the most informal garden needs special features to make it accessible and interesting. Pathways among the plants allow people to see all of the plants close up, while the special features like fountains and stone walls typical of formal gardens can add interest to the garden. Some gardens, like the English Gardens in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park, have characteristics of both formal and informal gardens while adding many of their own unique features.

Originally dubbed the Informal Gardens, as the City of Winnipeg’s website indicates, the English Gardens in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park in Manitoba were planned by George Campion in 1923 as part of a major park construction in the city. Started in 1927 and opened to the public in 1929, the gardens have grown to combine both formal and informal features. A stone wall and nearby fountain at the entrance to the gardens are reminiscent of traditional gardens, while clumps of daisies, dahlias, and peonies are more reminiscent of informal gardens. In the middle of the garden is a pond with three dolphin-shaped bushes, and further in, the path leads to the Leo Mol Sculpture Gardens. Even in dry summers, the English Gardens are lush and full, but wet years make them especially colorful.

Whether they are formal or informal, English gardens can add beauty and color to any home or park. With their medly of flowers and other plants, together with special features, they are an expression of the gardener’s creativity and appreciation of nature.