Abkhazi Garden
One of Canada's Most Significant Garden Creations
The Abkhazi Garden is an exquisite heritage home and garden located in Victoria, British Columbia; a city known for its wonderful gardens. Prince and Princess Abkhazi began creating their garden in 1946 shortly after they married and settled in Victoria, after living separate lives touched by both privilege and tragedy. They immediately began to develop their one-acre property, and continued to maintain and improve the garden throughout their lives together.
The garden is a very discreet property placed approximately 100 meters back from Fairfield Road, with only hints of what exists beyond the hornbeam hedge visible from the street. What the visitor will find within the boundaries of this hedge is a garden that both embraces a natural landscape and is completely unique to Victoria. The garden is blessed with dramatic glaciated rocky slopes, magnificent native Garry oaks and gorgeous vistas. It is designed to make the most of these remarkable features and it is the Abkhazis' response to their landscape that qualifies it as a stunning example of West Coast design. Flowing gracefully around the natural rock formations of the property, the Garden takes advantage of deeper pockets of soil for conifers, Japanese maples and rhododendrons, which over the last 50 years have grown to an impressive maturity. Carpets of naturalized bulbs, choice alpines and woodland companions provide interest throughout the year to the discerning plants-man, but it is the overall design that leaves the greatest impression on every visitor.
The Abkhazis worked tirelessly together on their creation for over 40 years, referring to it as "their [only] child." After their deaths the Garden changed hands and in February 2000 The Land Conservancy purchased the property to save it from becoming a townhouse development.
TLC is a charitable land trust that models itself after the British National Trust. Fundraising is ongoing to pay down the remaining mortgage of the property and to secure the Garden's future.
To find out what's happening at Abkhazi Garden this month please call us at 250 598 8096, or email us at abkhazi@conservancy.bc.ca.
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