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Outdoor Nova Scotia: Features ... an In-depth Look at 'The Great Outdoors' in Nova Scotia!
"full-of-wind gods" from Cosby's Garden Centre, Liverpool
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This water fountain is Ivan Higgins' latest concrete creation.
These concrete planters can be purchased from Cosby's Garden Centre for as little as $45. |
Ivan
Higgins: Liverpool's Garden Sculptor! by Sandra Phinney  Referred
to as "full-of-wind gods", these creations are humorous, innovative and
charming, as is their creator, Ivan Higgins. They are part of a substantial array of
creative concrete pieces that are gaining notoriety as they adorn the gardens and walkways
of Cosby's Garden Centre, located in Sandy Cove, outside of Liverpool, Nova Scotia.Flashback to 1976. Higgins moved his family from Wolfville to the South Shore. Originally, he operated a Dairy Treat business and dabbled in other entrepreneurial pursuits including a garden centre, fruit stand and craft store to name a few. "We sold just about everything - from travel trailers to wood stoves to kerosene heaters," Higgins notes with a smile. In 1979 as the Higgins family made plans to sell everything and leave, garden centre sales started to pick up and they postponed their move. In 1981 they built Cosby's Garden Centre. The business grew, and today the garden centre includes a much-expanded, product line and a greater variety of gardening services. Higgins has become the local landscape guru and his advice is eagerly sought. In recent years Cosby's has acquired several
interesting contracts, including an exciting project to create a 17th century flower
garden, used in the movie, "The Scarlet Letter." Commissioned in June of
1994, Higgins dedicated two of his greenhouses to use for the project. By the end of
August, the carefully-grown, garden plot was ready to ship to local filming locations -
instant gardens that looked like spring. He smiles a bit ruefully and says: "I guess
it represents about three minutes of the movie - but it went over well." One thing led to another and now the garden centre
has a number of large creations that are on permanent display. There are numerous designs
of planters for sale (selling for as little as $45) and of course, Sandra Phinney is freelance writer living in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. To contact Cosby's Garden Centre, Liverpool call 902 354 2133 or via e-mail at higgins@auracom.com.
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maintained by Outdoor Nova Scotia, Liverpool, N.S. BOT 1KO |
Higgins has had a long standing fascination with art. "I
always painted and drew. That's where the gardening thing comes from. It's just an
expression of art." Several years ago, he listened to a CBC program that featured
hyper tufa, a method of mixing peat moss with concrete to make lightweight planters. He
wrote out the recipe, thinking it would be fun to try sometime. Much to his chagrin, his
initial attempts to make a planter - all failed. Undaunted, he just kept
experimenting. "I started to make my own concoctions. Straw and concrete. Sand
and concrete. Peat and concrete. Vermiculite and concrete." Bingo! Vermiculite was
the magic ingredient. Higgins developed a formula that he now uses extensively when he
sculpts. 
When you're working with heavy
stuff, it's very exhausting." He also uses metal piping for structural
framework in some of the larger pieces.
there are the "full-of-wind
gods" that have become popular lawn ornaments in the county. During the winter
months, Higgins produces items to sell the next season and organizes one day workshops for
people who want to design and produce their own garden creations. He clearly gets a lot of
pleasure from teaching others how to create with concrete.
