“An Enhanced Woodland”

Joe Ronsley October 2005

Speaker Biography

Joe Ronsley, a former Professor of English at McGill University, has served as President and long-time program chair of the Vancouver Rhododendron Society (the other VRS). He is currently President of The Rhododendron Species Foundation, the first Canadian to have served in that capacity. He will speak of his famous garden at Lion’s Gate, in West Vancouver. Our 10 mintue speaker, Joe Harvey, is a very active participant in the Victoria Rhododendron Society

I think it would be safe to say that every viewer of the slide presentation by Joe Ronsley of Lions Bay, which overlooks Howe Sound, was impressed with the enhanced woodland property that he and his wife, Joanne, have developed since 1978.

Joe began by stating his prejudice: he has little interest in most kinds of formal gardens while he is very partial to natural woodland gardens. When they bought their steep property with an amazing creek tumbling mid length through a west coast rain forest draped with moss, giant sword ferns, salal and vacciniums, they decided that their plantings would be an adjunct to the natives trees of Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Cornus nuttalli and three Yews. In order to balance the light to allow views giving depth through the forest and giving their new plantings enough space to grow upright and strong, the alders, wild cherries and some Acer macrophyllum were eliminated while branches of the substantial native trees were professionally limbed, thinned and spiralled (removal of branches in a natural thinning in the remaining green.)

Then the joy of planting suitable exotics began: Japanese Maples, Birch, Stewartia, Oak, Camellias, Pieris, Philadelphus. Deutzia, Eucryphia, Lacecap Hydrangeas, Embothrium and of course, rhododendron species of which a large portion are from the Tsutsusi Section from Japan. Their great friend, Hideo Suzuki, former President of the Japanese Rhododendron Society, personally toured them round the islands of Japan, and introduced them to the Kurume Institute in Kyushu where they were presented with many rare and delicate flowering azaleas for shipment home to B.C.

The infrastructure of the steep lot is also natural except perhaps for their fence. Three bridges and a large stepping- stone across the creek provide interesting trails on both sides. Stone bridges made by an ingenious Italian mason provide safe footage, and a beautiful Vancouver Island bench for the contemplative, enhance the garden.

The great quantity of rhododendrons, many of which were received as gifts by their good friends, Bob and Jean Rhodes, and other good friends, many from the Rhododendron Species Foundation, provide colour for seven months of the year beginning with R. moupinense and ending with the reddy/orange of R. pruniflorum, the eastern azalea from the Carolinas. Joe suggested more than one clone should be planted in a group of the same species to provide variability for interest, and when we viewed the effect of the back lighting of the flower texture against the dark green and the highlighted fall colours of the deciduous trees, the place seemed magical. Indeed a garden for all seasons.

Now that their years of planting and toil have slowed down, Joe gets pleasure, like an artist, in selectively eliminating a hybrid which doesn’t quite fit with the vision, or moving plants and replacing some with moss, through which  erythoniums , generously provided by Bill Dale and Alleyne Cook, poke their heads in the thousands. Cyclamen coum grow everywhere and candelabra primula fill the boggy areas by the creek. They are living in a paradise, a paradise which in time will be passed on to some other owner who will hopefully be a good steward of the land so beautifully crafted by the Ronsleys and nature. 

Joe spoke with great imagination (claiming to suffer from anorexia) and wit (vide his description of lacy rhodo foliage). He issued invitations for any who want to visit their place of splendour. Their email address is <jronsley@telus.net> should you need directions. Joe, you may be inundated! Thank you so much for such a lovely evening.

The Ten Minute Talk

In his short ten-minute talk, one of the shortest in memory notwithstanding the imposing title, “Tortured Beauty: The Reason for Pollarding Trees in Italian Towns”, Joe Harvey described some highlights of a recent holiday in southern Europe. Even though the noise level of their talking took some getting-used-to, he was charmed by the Italians, citing their triple cheek kissing (left, right, left) in place of shaking hands with newcomers. He exhibited slides of their charming towns with their narrow streets and outdoor cafés. Whereas on the high, sun-drenched slopes of the Alps one must take refuge in rooms too warm, in Italy you can sit outside under the shade of the pollarded plane trees (Platanus acerifolia), a cooling, much superior to air conditioning in the New World. Pollarding is the woodland management method of encouraging lateral branches by cutting off a tree stem repeatedly, 2m or more above ground level, whereupon lateral branches are stimulated. In time, the desired shade materialises. Although Joe’s photos were taken in the spring before leafing took place, the torture of the pruned tops could be seen clearly, and the later shading, imagined. [Ed.]