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Lake Forest Garden Club
Ravine Garden: Gift of the Glacier
Designer:
Catharina Malmberg-Snodgrass and Frank Gardner
Sponsor: Lake Forest Garden Club
Contractor: Scenic Blue
Click here to view a panorama of this garden.
Click on the image to view a hi-res version
This is a modern garden inspired by the natural ravine landscapes of the Chicago area of the United States. The garden is based on ravine landforms that came about with the retreat of the last glaciers beginning 12,000 years ago. The garden features native flora, which flourishes in the unique woodland ravine ecosystem.
The garden highlights the fragile beauty of the Chicago area, in particular the ravines near Lake Michigan, which have a distinctive ecology. The ecosystem was formed in the wake of glacial retreat during the last ice age and supports many locally threatened indigenous plants. These plants depend on cool temperatures and a fresh water supply and therefore could be endangered by further changes in climactic temperature. The Lake Forest Garden Club has a commitment to protecting and restoring this area and this garden aims to illustrate the importance of preserving this stunning natural legacy.
The garden evokes the upland forest of the lush and various Lake Michigan ravine ecosystem using native North American flora throughout. It is framed by a forest canopy, which includes oak and maple trees. Understorey and herbaceous material is planted naturalistically. Ephemeral herbaceous plants are scattered through the forest and down the sides of the ravine, punctuating the woodland with bursts of predominantly white, pink and yellow flowers.
A multi-tiered glass sculpture, which is 3.5m (11.5ft) tall, is located at the rear corner of the woodland garden and is an interpretation of the glacier that covered the region 8-14,000 years ago. A ravine flows with 'melting' water from the glacier towards the front of the garden. This runoff forms a pool of water that is suggestive of Lake Michigan.
A 'council ring', a circular stone seating area, is at the side of the garden on a path that leads up to, and through, the glacial sculpture. The council ring is a symbol of democracy and is intended as a gathering space where all people are equal.
Key plants in this garden include trilliums, Quercus rubra (red oak), Acer saccharum (sugar maple), Hepatica (liverwort), Betula papyrifera (paper birch), cypripediums, Uvularia, and Hamamelis virginiana (American witch hazel). The colours are soft tones of pink, white, blue and yellow.