The garden is still a work in progress. The original design engulfed the Carillon but last minute things needed to be changed due to the flooding on Belle Isle so the garden was elevated and moved to the northern part of the site. Because of that there exists some dead space on either side of the Carillon which will be planted later this year as wet meadows. Piet is still working on the final design for those but that will help give a more polished look. The wet meadows will be more natural looking and consist of plants that can thrive when the area is wet or flooded and when it is drier like it has been.
The hope is that the investment in the garden will help spur other investment in the Carillon and the bandshell. Both are in need of a serious cash infusion. Right now the focus of the volunteer group is to complete the garden and then we may reevaluate some things like helping with the Carillon. In the coming weeks there should be permanent installation of nicer trash cans and we will be having a number of large benches installed in various parts of the garden. Right now the only sitting area is at the Canadian Peace monument so that hope is that benches will encourage people to linger even longer.
The process started before the pandemic and typically Piet is hands on with all of his gardens. He has been helping with this one via Zoom and email which has been a departure from his usually process. He is visiting the garden in person for the first time since installation this summer and from there we may have even more changes to make. It probably won’t be complete for a few more years but its still beautiful in the meantime
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