Landscape Design
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The Courtyard's landscaped areas will eventually reflect the remarkable biodiversity of Banff National Park. The plan, put together by Siteworks of Charlottesville, Virginia and Skatliff + Miller + Murray of Calgary, Alberta, is to recreate, on a small scale, the three vegetative communities found in the Canadian Rockies.
The montane zones include valley floors, foothills and the lower slopes of peaks and will be replicated on the first level of the Courtyard. Montane areas enjoy more sunshine and receive less moisture than the other two Canadian Rocky zones. You'll find columbines, jacob's ladder, brown-eyes susans, aspens and assorted wild grasses growing in the montane zone.
The subalpine zone, represented on the Courtyard's second floor, occurs at altitudes above the montane zone, below tree line. This zone accumulates the most snow. It experiences later snowmelt and a shorter growing season. Larches, wild strawberries and powderface willows all grow in the subalpine zones.
The third floor of the Courtyard will feature the alpine zone, areas above tree line. It is windier and colder above tree line and precipitation can be sudden and heavy. Here, you'll find spruce trees, moss campion, stone crop and saxifrage bravely living among the rocks.
Limestone and rundle rock from a small quarry just outside the Park complete the Courtyard's gardens. Keep your eyes open for the Triassic fossils preserved in some of the stones.
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