I was taking in the Apple Festival today and was intrigued by the labyrinth next to the Minotaur sculpture. What are the overall dimensions of the labyrinth? How was it constucted? It was just turf - how do you keep the grass from filling in the lines? Also, was any preparation given to the lawn itself before marking and digging? The reason I'm asking is that many people, and kids, were having fun following the pathways and I was wondering how easy it would be to put a labyrinth in my back yard? I do have an area in mind but my lawn is very uneven and lumpy. I think I may also have to scale it down to a 14'-20' circle. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. I also would like to add that the Apple Festival was fabulous! I went with my youngest and both of us had a great time. We had apple cider, apple pie, candy apples and dried apples. I bought an apple tree and my daughter had her face painted and made a "fruit loop" necklace (although apple-cinnamon cheerios would have been more appropriate.) I regret that we didn't get to the apple tasting but with a toddler you can only do so much. I can't wait until next year's festival. Thanks, Linda
Hi Linda, I'm not certain about the overall dimensions of the labyrinth - I'll point out this question to some of the people at the garden involved in the design on Monday, so there should be an answer to that by Monday afternoon. I do know the method (and rationale), though. Since the sculpture and turf labyrinth is a temporary installation, the garden wanted a way to create the labyrinth that would allow the lawn to quickly recover. The answer to this has been to use a small weed-burner. The garden normally uses this device as a chemical-free way of tackling weeds on gravel paths. A much larger version of these weed burners is demonstrated in this thread. The one at the garden is more the size of a garden tiller (its wheeled around by pushing it - no tractors involved!). I believe, but am not speaking from first-hand experience, that this device means the lumpiness of the lawn is not a factor in creating the paths. I'm not certain if they can be rented - perhaps someone else may be able to comment on that. Thank you for your comments on the Apple Festival - glad to hear you enjoyed your time.
Just a quick update - I've emailed the person who designed the labyrinth, so I should have an answer sometime soon.
Hi Linda, So here's the scoop: The labyrinth designer also made the following offer - if you'd like one for your garden and can't work it out yourself, she'd be willing to do it for her flat rate design fee of $500 - this money would in turn be donated directly to help establish the planned Sensory Garden here at UBC Botanical Garden. If interested (or if anyone else is interested), you can drop me an email and I'll inform the designer.
Thank you very much for that information Daniel. I like the idea of a weed-burner to make the pathways of the labyrinth. It doesn't seem as back-breaking as digging up the turf and trying to keep the lines straight. Now that the rains have come I think I will plan this over winter. That will give me time to get my existing lawn into good shape and less bumpy. I've also had the chance to google labyrinths and there is some helpful information out there in cyber-space. Again thank you, Linda
Hi Linda How is your project coming along? I too wish to build a labyrinth. I live on a farm and have a lot of land. Still, the maintenance is a consideration. I too wanted 'dimensions' for the Chartres model. In the Google search I typed in 'dimensions of a labyrinth'. I came across one fabulous site: Not only can you calculate your own dimensions based on your property size (with an excel spreadsheet) there are also powerpoint outlines on how to create it. (For both the Chartres and Cretan formats). The site is a Canadian one, through McMaster and Waterloo Un. with Dr. Brian Baetz and Nick Giles, and I found the downloads to be extremely helpful. (www.eng.mcmaster.ca/civil/sustain/downloads.html) Cheers and good luck Diggy
