Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
Wander the world in your garden
There are many different elements to consider when planning a landscape design: mass, form, line, texture, colour, and value. Design principles include unity, balance, proportion, rhythm, repetition, contrast, and simplicity. Everywhere Keith Lemkey travels, he gains fresh inspiration and key insights on how all these components work and play together.
Lemkey, who has forty years of design experience, owns Lemkey Landscape Design, an award-winning design-build firm. Lemkey has traveled throughout North America and visited many parts of Europe — France, England, Scotland, Portugal, Monaco, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain. He seeks out as many gardens as he can whenever he travels. Many of the famous gardens he visits offer different perspectives that leave an indelible image in his mind and ignites his creativity.
Photos supplied by Keith Lemkey
Keith Lemkey, owner of Lemkey Landscape Design, on a visit to Barcelona, Spain.
When clients who spent their childhoods or part of their working careers living abroad want to evoke their memories or recollections of a certain place in their landscape design, Lemkey draws on his observations and experiences.
For Winnipeg clients who own a vineyard in Tuscany, Lemkey created a Tuscan-style front courtyard and brought the feel of a small piazza to a front yard that was almost all concrete at the entrance. In another project, he created an expansive, curved sweep of hydrangea shrubs bordering lush, green grass for East St. Paul clients that was inspired by gardens in Victoria, B.C., a place they love to visit.
For his Winnipeg clients who left their hearts in Tuscany, Keith Lemkey designed a Tuscan-style front courtyard.
"The front yard is where I like to make a statement," says Lemkey. "But I don’t want to make it a statement that’s screaming at everybody. I want it to be a statement of elegance and class. The front yard — regardless of its size — is the first impression that everyone sees. It should be a warm and inviting sort of interaction so that when people walk by, it’s something they notice and remember."
I think I have more pictures of doorways than I have of my children. - Keith Lemkey
Lemkey is drawn to doorways. "I think I have more pictures of doorways than I have of my children," he says. "Doorways are an introduction. In many parts of England, for example, where houses are attached side by side, the front yard might be only six feet from the sidewalk. One memorable doorway that brought me to a complete stop was painted a very striking dark blue with a gloss finish. Holly was growing on the outer wall, framing the door on both sides. It was so unique and outstanding that it immediately caught my eye."
Lemkey is struck by the beauty and harmonious balance that is found in a well-designed landscape as well as by the impact of architectural features – intricately designed wrought iron gates, for example, that he saw while visiting Stratford-upon-Avon in its Old Town. Or the lines of long rows of trees that direct the movement of the eye to a focal point in the far distance or the dappled light and shadow beneath a vine covered archway at Kew Gardens.
A breathtaking display of pampas grass at Kew Gardens.
Last fall, Lemkey and his wife visited Kew Gardens for the first time with their daughter who lives in Barnes, a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in southwest London where Kew is located. "Kew is impressive, impeccable," he says. The Great Broad Walk Borders features impressive symmetry and over 60,000 plants in the formal gardens on both sides of the centre pathway which stretches 25 to 30 feet wide. "I can only imagine what the scene must look like during the summer," says Lemkey. "Brilliant layout."
Lemkey also visited The Hive, a 17-metre-tall mesh-framed structure in the shape of a honeycomb that is in the centre of a wildflower meadow. It provides visitors with a unique, immersive experience: an accelerometer picks up vibrations from the activity of bees that live in Kew Gardens. One thousand LED lights gl ow according to their vibrations. "Just fascinating," says Lemkey. "But it’s there to create awareness of the importance of bees."
The grass displays at Kew include about 550 species. "Near the Princess of Wales Conservatory there is an area with a huge display of pampas grass — standing six to eight feet tall or more. Massive banks of pampas grass are planted in drifts so the impact of the display with its textured plumes is just so immense, it’s really quite breathtaking," says Lemkey. Shorter varieties of different types of grasses border the display. Initially, from a design perspective, Lemkey says he felt almost a measure of disappointment because it would be so difficult to try and replicate the density, texture, and mass of the tactile display. Pampas grass can only be grown as an annual in our cold climate and would never achieve the same scale.
The simplicity of this garden archway at Kew Gardens has a soothing element.
Scale, which is the relative size of one component of a landscape compared to another, often gets missed in most people’s landscapes, says Lemkey, because we try to have too much variety in our landscapes. "I would rather simplify things. Whenever I look at something that I find really appealing, it’s usually the simplicity of the design that attracts me the most. The design needs to flow into or connect with everything else that’s around it. It’s that interaction from one type of plant or one type of texture, structure or size, mass, density — that sense of flow — which has a soothing element."
Many people, for example, want to replicate what they see in the English Garden at Assiniboine Park, says Lemkey. "The size of the English Garden and the mass (of the plantings) and how the textures flow from one to the other, all of it plays well. But if you are trying to scale it down, miniaturize it into somebody’s yard, it doesn’t work. You can’t make something that is big, small, and have the same visual effect. When you go to places like Kew Gardens, Versailles, Busch Gardens, Montreal Botanical Garden, or Butchart Gardens, you are looking at layers upon layers of plantings which create that sense of vista."
Photos supplied by Keith Lemkey
Wondrous layering at Montreal Botanical Garden combines textures, colours, and shapes that play well with one another.
Attempting to replicate the beautiful layers of plantings, for example, at Montreal Botanical Garden, just would not be practical in a small urban garden. So how could you scale it down? "The best way to do that is through simplicity," says Lemkey. "Keep things calmer or more relaxed to the eye." The size of every component in the landscape should be in proportion to its surroundings, says Lemkey. Emulate the textures, colours, and shapes that play so well with one another and that you admire but on a smaller scale. "Those are some of the subtleties that are key to achieving balance."
Those are some of the subtleties that are key to achieving balance. - Keith Lemkey
"A change I’ve noticed over the last 10 years," says Lemkey, "is that most people are no longer waiting until April to plan their landscaping projects. More people are planning their projects during the winter. I think as people travel more, and watch travel shows, they are becoming more aware of the design possibilities. Wherever they travel, they bring ideas and inspiration back home."
A great garden, says Lemkey, is a reflection of a lifestyle influenced by personal experiences, travel, art, culture, and history.
colleenizacharias@gmail.com
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Renovation & Design
Understanding homes that go BANG in the night
Question:
We had vinyl siding installed on our house, approximately five years ago. Since that time, we have experienced a loud banging in a particular area of the back of the house. It seems to become louder during the winter months and the colder it is, the louder the banging is. There is a deck attached to the house and there is also an electrical outlet near where the banging seems to come from. Do you have any suggestions what may be causing this?
Thank you.
Bill Pearcey, Portage la Prairie.
Answer: Mysterious banging noises, particularly in the evening and during the winter, are simply due to expansion and contraction of various building components. They may appear to signal some issue to be dealt with, but are normal for older homes and nothing to be concerned about.
One of the most unusual questions I frequently receive may exactly mirror the one you have recently sent. Strange, loud, noises in the night, often emanating from the upper floor of the home. These have been described as banging, crashing, popping, but all are quite audible and brief. When investigating the cause of an issue like this, I always look for two main things. Has anything changed in the home, recently, like a significant renovation? Secondly, I look for commonalities with other situations I have observed in other buildings, over the years.
To satisfy my first question, you have stated that you had vinyl siding installed on your home a few years ago. While this is a fairly extensive renovation, the impact on the home would certainly depend on the method used by the contractor. Did they completely remove the old siding or stucco? If so, did they add a layer of insulation to the exterior of the house before strapping and nailing on the new siding? We will explore these two questions, as they may be somewhat of a clue to why the noises are only happening now, as opposed to in the past.
If they simply installed wood strapping to the older siding or stucco on your home, and built out the window and door frames to accommodate the added thickness of the new vinyl siding, then there should be minimal disruption to the actual building enclosure. In that situation, there may be no correlation between the new noises and the renovation. But, if they removed all the siding, especially if it was older, cement-based stucco, then the situation is completely different.
Removing older stucco is very labour-intensive and typically involves extensive hammering on the surface to break it up into smaller, more manageable sections. The stucco is secured to strong wire mesh, which is nailed or stapled into the exterior wall sheathing, beneath. Once the stucco is fairly damaged and the wire partially exposed, smaller, lighter sections can be pried off the old sheathing. The wire can then be cut in various locations to allow easier removal of smaller sections of material. That method is much safer than trying to remove the entire stucco assembly in larger sections, which would be very heavy and a safety hazard if it fell on any workers. This process takes a fair amount of time and may cause some damage and looseness to the exterior wall sheathing beneath. Removing older wood siding may be easier, but will also require use of pry bars and hammers to pull it and the old nails off the substrate, which can have similar effects on the outside walls.
In the simplest of upgrades, the new vinyl siding would be loosely nailed to the sheathing over top of the existing building paper. As long as the building paper was not damaged during removal of the older siding, it could be reused. If it is not in satisfactory condition, new building paper or Housewrap should be added before installation of the vinyl planks. If the thickness of the new vinyl is roughly the same as the old material, installation may be as easy as nailing it directly to the older plywood or solid wood planks. In that case, it would be very important to inspect the older sheathing and re-secure any sections that have become loose from the wall studs, beneath. Alternatively, thin wood strapping could be nailed over top of the sheathing, preferably directly through to the studs, to allow a well-secured nailing surface for the new vinyl.
If the older sheathing was inadvertently loosened during removal of the original siding, and not properly re-fastened, it may provide an answer for which building materials are noisily expanding and contracting during the daytime to nighttime temperature swings, especially on a sunny winter day. The sun heating up the exterior wall during the daytime may cause significant expansion, while rapid temperature drop after the sun goes down can facilitate sudden shrinkage of the sheathing, strapping, and especially metal fasteners. This quick contraction can cause different materials to move slightly against other, suddenly, releasing built up pressure and creating the loud noises you are hearing.
This newer phenomenon may also be happening if you added rigid insulation to the exterior walls prior to the siding. That common practice would certainly have made the house more comfortable and energy efficient, but may also have affected the temperature of the entire wall cavity. While that was a wise choice, it may have inadvertently changed the thermal dynamics of the wall assembly, allowing some components to be more affected by the outside temperature swings than previously.
Loud noises, normally heard in the winter evening or nighttime, may seem like a problem but are simply due to extreme temperature changes after the sun sets. This may have been caused by some aspect of your siding upgrade, but tying to do anything to fix it it should be unnecessary for this common nuisance.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and a Registered Home Inspector (RHI)(cahpi.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at 204-291-5358 or check out his website at trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
Renovation & Design
Handy tips to help make 2022 a HAPPY NEW YEAR
To unclog a plugged drain, use one cup of salt mixed with one cup of baking soda — no liquid. Pour the dry solution into the drain, followed by a pot of boiling water.
Instead of regularly buying paper towels to clean up messes, invest in thin towels that you can wash and reuse. They’ll last a long time, saving you the cost and trouble of buying paper products.
When dusting furniture, lightly dampen your cloth. Whether you use an old T-shirt, a cheesecloth, or another soft cloth, it should be damp enough to pick up dust, but not wet enough that it pools water while in use.
Simple trick to putting pillowcases on pillows. Turn the pillowcase inside out. Lay the pillow on top of the case. Pull the pillowcase over the pillow.
Homemade window cleaner: Combine 12-16 ounces of water, half cup of white or apple cider vinegar, and one-quarter cup of rubbing alcohol. Spray and wipe with newspaper.
To remove fresh stains on fabrics, pour salt on the area, to prevent setting. Press with a damp white cloth to blot the stain.
Keep the refrigerator vegetable drawer fresh-smelling by lining the bottom with newspaper.
To dry wet shoes without harming the leather, hold the nozzle of your hairdryer inside each shoe for a few minutes. Stuff shoes with newspaper to absorb the moisture and help them dry in shape.
If you find that you have an excess number of pens, consider donating them to a school, library, or restaurant.
If you love cheese, you’ll want to make sure it’s free of mould, for as long as possible. Keep your cheese in an airtight container and add a few lumps of sugar to the container.
Use two secret ingredients to make great sugar cookies: orange zest and cinnamon.
Freshen furniture by sprinkling the cushions with a liberal amount of baking soda. Leave for 20 minutes, then vacuum.
A paste of baking soda and water is great for removing Crayon from walls.
Make your own fizzy bomb toilet cleaners. Mix half cup of each of the following: citric acid, baking soda and cornstarch. Separately combine one tsp. water and 30 drops of your favourite essential oil into a spray bottle. Slowly spray the liquid into the dry ingredients. Spoon mixture into silicone moulds and freeze for four hours. Remove from moulds and store in a sealable container. When ready to clean the toilet, drop one bomb into the bowl and scrub with a toilet brush. Nice and clean!
Note: Every user assumes all risks of injury or damage resulting from the implementation of any suggestions in this column. Test all products on/in an inconspicuous area first.
Have a great suggestion or tip? Please send an email. Reena Nerbas is a popular motivational presenter for large and small groups; check out her website, reena.ca
info@reena.ca.
Renovation & Design
Wrap your hands around a toasty mug of hot chocolate
Question: Can you recommend a homemade hot chocolate powder recipe that I can keep on hand to portion out as gifts? Pat
Answer: Holding onto a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day brings a certain warmth to frosty Manitoba. Into a mixing bowl, combine 10 cups milk powder, 4.5 cups icing sugar, 1.5 cups cocoa powder, and 1.5 cups powdered non-dairy creamer. Store in an airtight container. Makes mix for about 12-13 cups, or enough for about 40 servings. Add 1/3 cup mixture into a mug along with 3/4 cup boiling water or milk.
Question: Other than purchasing boxes or containers of breadcrumbs, what can I use to bread meat? Ben
Answer: Firstly, you never need to purchase breadcrumbs. Instead, save bread ends or stale bread in an open ice cream bucket. When they dry out, toss them into a food processor to make your own breadcrumbs. Other alternatives include: Cornflakes, crackers, potato chips, Rice Krispies cereal, rice crackers, or crushed pork rinds.
Question: How can I remove tree sap from a cotton blouse? Verna
Answer: Wipe the area with a small amount of mayonnaise. The tree sap will come right off. Follow-up with a solution of dish soap and water. Blot the area and wash the shirt according to the care label.
Question: I have brown, circular marks on my vinyl floor from a wrought-iron plant stand. I have tried everything I can think of to remove the marks. Can you help? Morgan
Answer: Test this remedy on an inconspicuous area first. In a measuring cup, combine one millilitre dish soap and 125 mL water. Pour onto the affected area. Next, combine 60 mL of three-per-cent hydrogen peroxide and 15 mL household ammonia. Blot and cover the area with plastic wrap and pile a heavy pan on top of the plastic. Leave for eight hours. Remove pan and plastic. Scrub area with a damp scrubby pad, and rinse.
Question: I bought a large container of cream cheese and put one-third in a smaller container. Should I freeze the rest, or is it better kept in the fridge? It would take me over a month to use the small container.
Answer: I am often amazed at how long cream cheese lasts. Check the expiry date before taking any further steps. If the expiration date allows you to keep the cheese in the fridge, it should be fine.
Foil-wrapped cream cheese should last three to four weeks in the fridge. You can freeze cream cheese, but only do so if you have no plans to use the cheese for baked goods such as cheesecake because the consistency changes after freezing. If you use cream cheese for spreading on toast, then freezing it is no problem.
Merry Christmas and beyond
When my kids were young and had itchy, scratchy sore throats I gave them a marshmallow to chew on. It coated their throat and helped the pain. Of course, I would not give marshmallows to kids under four years old, because of choking hazards. — Layna
I came to the end of my Nutella jar and had a brainstorm that turned into a tasty win! Place a few scoops of vanilla ice cream into the jar and…eat with a spoon. — Michael
Preserve the life of your tree. Add a few teaspoons of sugar to the water to reduce the number of needles that drop from your real Christmas tree. — Michael
Note: Every user assumes all risks of injury or damage resulting from the implementation of any suggestions in this column. Test all products on an inconspicuous area first.
Have a great suggestion or tip? Please send an email. Reena Nerbas is a popular motivational presenter for large and small groups; check out her website: reena.ca.
info@reena.ca.
