D. A Gracey & Associates is an award winning residential Toronto landscape design contractor specializing in high quality, unique residential landscaping and construction projects.
Call us at 905-761-9490 to discuss your landscape ideas with us.
 Gracey Design News
Well, the Christmas chocolate and visiting relatives are long gone; and now we have time to reflect on the successful landscape construction season of 2009, and focus on the upcoming 2010 season. Adam is busy with landscape designs, meeting with clients, and scheduling projects for spring to fall. Shirley is sourcing materials, researching products and gardens for specific projects, and JP is organizing the equipment, vehicles and manpower. As for the crews- they have some well deserved downtime! This includes travel, sport - snowboarding and skiing, continuing education and home renovations. Also, the new future members of the D.A. Gracey team; the 2009 babies actually get a chance to see their daddies for the next few months!
Canada Blooms is quickly coming up on the horizon.
We have a landscape design for our feature garden, based on the show theme of ‘Passions”. The garden will be called ‘The Cellar’. A modern take on the dark and dusty wine cellars of the past; the D.A Gracey Cellar is the hidden heart of a classic garden courtyard. With stone walls to ensure privacy and a serene water feature; simple yet colourful plantings enhance the journey through the garden. With subtle design details at every turn, the journey from the public courtyard to the private tasting room is undertaken while keeping the natural seasonal progression in mind. From the growth of the grapes, to harvest, fermentation, bottling and cellaring, the end of the journey is the social event of tasting, feasting, socializing and sharing the fruits of our labour. A party or event with great food and wine, wonderful friends and family is our PASSION, and we are happy to share that with you.
Landscape Ontario Awards of Excellence
The Landscape Ontario Awards of Excellence were held recently, and in the Residential Landscape Construction category, D.A. Gracey and Associates won two awards (for two entries), for the Bien Residence in Thornhill, and the Giffen Residence in Oakville. Most of our crew was there cheering as we went up to collect our awards. We are looking forward to entering more great projects later this year. We are stilling waiting to hear whether our project ‘Mulmur Residence’; the Dunington Grubb Award winner for last year, will win an award at the Canadian Awards of Excellence. That is announced on February 17, in Ottawa.
This time of year is a great time to take note of the architectural features of gardens - pergolas, fences, obelisks, urns, sculpture and trellises. These features really come into play during the winter months when snow is on the ground and plant material is buried and dormant. However, the silhouettes of specimen trees and shrubs, evergreens, plants with berries and seed pods are all important to give the landscape some winter interest. Take note of what stands out and is noticeable during the winter, and see if there is room in your residential landscape design for some of these features!
It’s also a great time to take a look through some of the great landscape design books that are available. There are some wonderful coffee table books that will inspire you (and us) in the eternal quest for new and relevant ideas. The photos of great designs, landscape construction and details; as well as the photos of colourful plantings are almost enough to get us through until the spring bulbs start to pop up.
Until then, we’re appreciating the snow, but looking forward to spring.
Adam Gracey, President
D.A Gracey & Associates
Landscape Design
Landscape Construction
Landscape Architecture |
