 Story by Janet Jones
Photos by Barb Kelsall and Janet Jones
When a talented interior designer applies 20 years’ indoor experience to a garden, you know that wonderful things are about to happen.
At a time when many Calgary couples are buying recreational properties to get away from the hubbub of the city, Janet and Rob Farnham decided to stay home and make the most of their uninterrupted pond view and peaceful neighbourhood. “We looked at property in Arizona,” says Janet, “but we like being home too. So we said let’s put the investment into our yard.” The decision resulted in a beautiful gathering place for family and friends.
The garden that greets the eye as one passes through a honeysuckle-covered archway into the backyard could easily pass for someone’s living room.
Janet’s landscape design career grew out of her interior design company, Urban Design Solutions. “I had more and more clients asking me to bring the inside out for them,” she explains, “so I took some landscape design correspondence courses through Olds College.” She then honed her drafting skills with the design course taught at the Calgary Zoo.
When Janet and Rob spied the property for sale in Calgary’s architecturally themed McKenzie Towne, they jumped at the opportunity to build a new home there. The large lot is bordered on one side by a green space, a natural area and a man-made lake and along the back by an alley, effectively giving them only one neighbour.
The Farnhams developed the front and side gardens first, choosing an English country garden style to reflect the Victorian style of the house, with a winding path to the front door and beds filled with shrubs and perennials. Janet selects plants for the effect they will have in the garden rather than for their botanical attributes. Leaf and bark colours, shapes and textures guide her choices. She unapologetically states she doesn’t know the names of all the plants. “If I like it I put it into my garden.” There’s no denying the eye-catching curb appeal that results.
With the public portion of their garden well in hand, Janet and Rob turned their energies to their private outdoor living space.
The 3x5-metre (11x17-foot) greenhouse came first. “A greenhouse was always a romantic passion when we lived in our last house,” Rob explains. “When we saw this property it was just so ideal for a greenhouse that we bought it in an hour.” They dug a trench to bring water, electricity and gas to the structure, then poured the concrete slab and built river rock pony walls for the greenhouse to rest on. The walls are not actually stone, but an artificial product from Owens Corning. Janet and Rob together laid out the cinder block inner core, and then mortared the manufactured stones to it. Rob assembled the anodized metal and cast iron greenhouse, purchased from BC Greenhouses in Vancouver. It uses a Swedish designed automatic venting system.
The Farnham’s eagerness to use the greenhouse year-round had waned by the end of the first winter. All was well until the temperature dipped to minus 30 and Rob had to use a hair dryer to get the door open! For now, the couple content themselves with a shorter growing season but still have leftovers to sell after they’ve planted their own pots and beds. They plan to step up production when they retire.
The following few years brought another stone wall, a deck, hot tub and stamped concrete patio and paths. Two years ago came the crowning addition -- a full-sized fireplace, designed by Janet and complete with a burled yellow cedar mantle piece from the Queen Charlotte Islands, a chimney and a built-in stainless steel barbecue.
Built off-site by Janet’s tradesmen and delivered in four sections, the wood burning fireplace is a commanding focal point for the garden. The whole unit is surprisingly low maintenance. The hearth tile is treated with a sealer annually. The exterior, a high grade peach-coloured acrylic stucco product, has had no special protective treatment. Two years have passed with year-round use and it’s come through with flying colours.
Originally Janet and Rob planned a pond near the patio (friends have a pond large enough to snorkel in!) but decided a pond would be too much work. Instead they chose a granite water tower. Water bubbles out of the top and tumbles cheerfully down the sides of the metre-high tower and, while certainly not large enough for humans, it provides the perfect spot for robins to come for their daily baths and playtime. The Farnhams bought the tower at Spruce Lake Farms outside Calgary.
The whole cozy experience is completed by a cream and peach striped polypropylene carpet and an overstuffed sofa and chairs made of teak wood, purchased at the Kitchen and Patio store in Calgary. The cushions, covered with terra cotta striped Sunbrella fabric, are ultraviolet and mildew resistant and quick-drying so they can be left outside even when rain threatens. Janet explains that she chooses her fabric colours carefully to reflect those inside the house. “What I’m doing inside I try to bring outside.”
 As much as the garden and its components are low maintenance, there’s always something to do. “We’ve had neighbours say, ‘Why don’t you guys go have some fun?’ And we say, ‘We are having fun!’”
Janet Jones is a garden expert and writer in Calgary. Barb Kelsall owns Blue Door Studios in Calgary.
*Originally published on Alberta Gardener 2007 Spring issue |
Inside out in Calgary