The secret garden? Heavy machinery is not the secret.
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Man and machine tackle a task in less time with more strength, but is that always a good thing? Is that always what we need?

In the case of using stone in landscaping or gardening , no. It's simply not enough to be able to move stone, even a lot of stone, even very big boulders quickly and effortlessly. A bulldozer, no matter how powerful it is, cannot move rocks better than human beings can. And a front-end loader, especially if the operator isn't thinking about what he's doing, will only make more work for people. The efforts of machines should help, not hinder, what we can do on our own, albeit at a slower pace.

Beyond that, the result of mechanically moving a lot of stone around swiftly, shouldn't offend our sensibilities by producing effects that are visually unsatisfying (never mind the noise, smoke, pollution, deep ruts and damage to the soil that are usually part of these activities).

The tremendous roar and raw power of machines is very seductive. To create a garden space with a sense of peace, let alone one where design, proportion, harmony, rhythm and balance come into play must be very difficult. Perhaps people think this can be injected into the landscape later . . . or that a big rocks look good no matter what spaces they are shoved into . . . or that aesthetics and taste are for the "artsy-fartsy" to discuss over wine and cheese. I suspect that, once behind the controls of a front-end loader or skid steer, the thought is "There are a hell of a lot of trees to push and rocks to move, so let's get at it."

Last spring, the Dry Stone Wall Association of Canada was invited to two major garden shows in Toronto. We came with wheelbarrows and a few hand tools to demonstrate the art of building walls without mortar. Even armed with hammers and chisels, we are a relatively low- impact technology more a counter-technology a quiet, ecologically friendly, "grass roots" association (which is appropriate, considering we are gardening). We are a team of skilled individuals intent on helping make Canada a little bit more beautiful by stacking stones carefully instead of shoving them around quickly. Heavy equipment was involved only to deliver our stone to the show.

While we were working at both exhibits, we were amazed to witness what can only be described as huge, ruthless landscaping armies mobilized en masse in aggressive campaigns, each company carrying out its marching orders, showing people what a modern Canadian "garden" should look like. It was a noisy, dusty, wasteful, joyless spectacle. Everywhere there was reliance on machines and man-made supplies. It looked more like a battle scene from a war movie than a creative garden activity. To my eye, the results looked rushed and sometimes lacking in a sense of quality.

Garden shows attract people like you and me. We appreciate gardens and stones and want to see something beautiful made of our property. To see what happens behind the scenes during the onslaught of mechanized "gardening" is quite astonishing. Apparently, this is what it takes for landscapers to create that man-made, machine- dominated, over-priced, product-endorsed cliché-of-a-backyard that we have been manipulated to think we've always wanted.

Wouldn't it be better to design and create spaces - even if they have to be smaller and more labour intensive - that don't disrupt the environment in the process? Why fabricate new, mechanized garden concepts when all a garden really is, and always has been ,is a place where natural material and growing things thrive in a delicate balance of tranquility and beauty?

Let's put human craftsmanship and artistry back into our gardening and start doing some beautiful landscaping ,instead of brute 'landscraping'.

Submitted by John Shaw-Rimmington