MINISTRY OF THE FENCE, Est. 2014

Crys Stewart    I’ve been a waitress, a painter, an art director, an editor-in-chief, an integrated-media brand consultant and a content director/strategist/producer. If I could take a second crack at a lifelong career I’d walk right past the corner office and out the back door armed with a spade and a compass. This blog–late in the day I’ll admit–is a conversation about gardening and travel. I hope you’ll join me as I explore ways to grow boldly in southwestern Ontario and beyond.

A window is cut into fencing to frame a riotous planting beyond. This was one of several striking installations at the 2014 International Garden Festival in Reford Gardens, Quebec.

Ministry Of The Fence     A ministry can be a government agency or the vocation of a religious leader. I don’t mind whether your first impression of my blog’s name is of an organization focussed on the health, safety and growth of all things fenced and unfenced or of a flock whose collective energies celebrate the within and the without. But I hope that this blog will convince you that, though fences are terrific for defining space, providing privacy and adding cool design features to a garden, they’re also a reminder of the bigger picture. Like a big, three-dimensional stroke of a highlighter pen, fences underline the connection between our gardens and everything else out there—native plants, non–natives, animals, birds, insects, living things above the ground and below the ground. The choices we make in our gardens can affect everything from the health of an insect population to the flow of a breeze to erosion. I hope with this blog that I can inspire you to look at a fence and think, yup, there’s a big, wide world out there and this garden is a part of it.

An old fence is barely visible near the entrance to the remarkable Keppel Croft Gardens in Big Bay, Ontario.

This blog was formerly named Rhymes With Linnaeus     Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) was the founder of modern botanical nomenclature. When a plant can have hundreds of names based on local traditions from a variety of regions, it can be a problem. Carl basically gave gardeners a universal means of identifying plants. So if one person is looking for monkshood, another for Dutchman’s breeches and a third for white hearts, though you may be tempted to recommend the fire sale at Malabar Costumes, you can simply show them Dicentra cucullaria and everyone will go home happy. He was honoured in this blog for throwing a whole new light on plants. 

Particulars      • Living in Fernie, British Columbia and Georgian Bluffs, Ontario, Canada • Organic Horticulture Specialist Certificate, Humber College/Gaia College, 2014. • Garden Expert Certificate, Humber College/Gaia College, 2015.

Photos appearing in this blog:   Unless otherwise noted, all photography was taken by me.