Joy's Garden, Toronto

A raked-pebble garden for a townhouse defined with impeccable classical symmetry in the Rosedale section of Toronto. The garden was inspired by the primal geometry of Spanish sculptor Antoni Tapias. Black granite monoliths are set in a square of white pebbles, framed by a mass of white flowering azaleas set within a low boxwood hedge, and a hedge of goldflame spirea. Subtle touches of color appear from the white flowering star magnolia, the magenta-flowering rhododendron, the yellow-orange fall colors of the goldflame spirea, and the bronze leaves of the Norway maple. Picking up leaves from the pebbles on a cool fall day is a meditation that helps clear the mind.

"The garden is perfect for me. It is an oasis of tranquillity and provides me with a feeling of refuge from a hectic world. Tending to the sand garden is a perfect way to calm my mind
and refocus."
Joy Brigham,
travel executive