Adele Pierre’s Trade Secrets

The garden guru creates outdoor spaces that are as stunning as they are sustainable

Adele Pierre spent four decades playing violin for the Stratford Festival, the Canadian Opera Company and the Calgary Philharmonic. Last year, she ditched the orchestra pit for the dirt patch, devoting herself full-time to landscape design. Pierre plants sustainable rain gardens with native species. She often nixes entire lawns, replacing them with heaps of bee- and bird-friendly flowers (echinacea, black-eyed Susans, ninebark) and terracing the land to redirect water away from storm drains and back into the earth. While excavating a recent project, she pulled a boulder out of the earth and transformed it into a water feature. Although she’s hung up her violin, Pierre’s client list is a who’s who of the Toronto music scene, including COC concertmaster Marie Bérard and National Ballet musical director David Briskin.

 


Her Current Obsessions

Blink wall fixtures project light downward, illuminating pathways and reducing light pollution

Greenville’s red planters are designed to withstand Canadian winters without dulling or cracking

Felco pruners are lightweight and never wear out

Enviro Midori’s permeable pavement has a sleek finish and prevents stormwater runoff

Echinacea is one of her favourite flowers. There’s a variety for every garden, and pollinators love them

 

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