Garden Muses: A Small Toronto Gardening Services Company Blog

A Toronto Fall Front Garden Cleanup in the Palmerston Area

2022-12-02T08:34:00.002-05:00

Wrapping up Another Successful Season!

Winter has arrived, weather-wise anyway, so I've begun my annual "hibernation" until next spring. By mid to late November, I'm more than ready to "throw in the trowel" as I'm mentally and physically drained from working, more or less, non stop from late April. And working in the November cold isn't appealing, to be honest.

This post shows a very typical, for me, fall garden cleanup during mid October into November. Perennials are entering winter dormancy, tree leaves are everywhere and certain clients want that "tidy" garden look over the winter.

I visit this garden once a year in October and cut down the herbaceous material (e.g., the Ostrich Fern fronds, the Japanese Forest Grass leaves, etc.), rake up the maple leaves from a neighbouring tree, lightly clip the wintercreeper and remove the rambunctious honeysuckle vine that always wants to engulf the poor weeping Japanese maple.

Toronto Fall Cleanup Before

Afterwards, you can see the stone path and dry river bed that is part of the design. It's quite cute but is hidden by summer by the ferns and grasses.

Toronto Fall Cleanup After

So I bid adieu to this garden until next October!

A Little Italy-Palmerston Backyard Garden Cleanup

2022-09-19T09:23:00.003-04:00

Revealing Potential for a Toronto Pollinator Garden?

It seems that with every garden cleanup ("rescue" is a better word for this post as you'll see later) I complete, that question comes to mind. It was certainly the case with this project I finished for a client in the central Toronto area of Little Italy/Palmerston. The backyard garden bed was hidden by weeds, Virginia Creeper and an overgrown rose but once I tidied up things, I easily imagined the garden full of colour and life.

But here are some "before" pictures showing the overgrown garden bed and lawn:

Little Italy Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup Before

Palmerston Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup Before in Little Italy

Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup Before in Palmerston

Afterwards....

And here are some "after" pictures, post weeding and pruning:

Little Italy Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup After

Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup After in Little Italy

Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup After in Palmerston

The bed is quite deep in certain areas so there's potential (that word again) to fill this bed with many flower-bearing native and non-native perennials and shrubs, given it faces south and east and receives full sun for part of the day.

Alas, it's a rental property (which may explain the state of things before I was hired) and the odds that weeds will reappear and re-establish are high. But I've given the owner and tenants a blank slate so the ball is in their court, to mix metaphors.

A Cabbagetown Backyard Garden Cleanup

2022-08-22T08:13:00.008-04:00

A Short Summer Weeding Session in Downtown Toronto

It's late August in hot and hazy Toronto: a bittersweet time when Labour Day is around the corner, school for the kids starts again and summer is unofficially over.

But in the meantime, the weeding doesn't stop!

"Darlene" (a pseudonym) is new client from the central Toronto neighbourhood called Cabbagetown and hired me to tidy up her backyard. Gardens in Cabbagetown are typically narrow but long and usually in shade given the numerous mature trees.

For various reasons, Darlene never got to weeding the back patio and surrounding beds this season as these "before" pictures suggest:

Cabbagetown Summer Garden Cleanup Before

Cabbagetown Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto Cabbagetown Summer Garden Cleanup Before

Cabbagetown Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup Before

Afterwards....

While weeding was a big part of this short session, the longer term maintenance issue is the regular pruning of the Virginia Creeper vines spilling over all three fences from the neighbour's garden.

Cabbagetown Summer Garden Cleanup After

Cabbagetown Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup After

Cabbagetown Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup After

Toronto Cabbagetown Summer Garden Cleanup After

Fall cleanups are around the corner and I'm sure, dear reader, you're waiting with great anticipation hoping to see many plants entering dormancy (sarcasm!)

A Front Tiered Garden Cleanup in Parkdale

2022-07-18T07:54:00.000-04:00

When You Can't See the Retaining Walls from the Vines

I can't believe it's the middle of summer already here in Toronto. I'm in the midst of another busy work season but vacation time is in sight! Until then, the weeding and pruning continue unabated.

I'm taking you to the west Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale in this post to go over a recent cleanup of a two tiered front garden. At first glance, as the "before" pictures below suggest, you may not even be aware of the second upper retaining wall, given the heavy growth:

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto Front Garden Cleanup in Parkdale Before

Toronto Parkdale Front Garden Cleanup Before

Retaining Walls Revealed!

I don't know when the shrubs were last pruned or the raised beds weeded (neither do the new homeowners when I innocently asked) but obviously things were a little out of control!

So I imposed some "control" and "discipline" by pruning the spirea shrubs hard, removing a dead juniper and weed tree saplings, cutting away the wild grape vine and Boston Ivy to expose the retaining wall faces, among other tasks.

Quite a difference, it's safe to say.

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup After

Toronto Front Garden Cleanup in Parkdale After

Toronto Parkdale Front Garden Cleanup After

A Riverdale Summer Garden Cleanup

2022-06-21T17:56:00.001-04:00

Summertime and the weeding is(n't) easy

It's the first day of summer and it actually feels like summer! High temperatures and humidity make it hard working outside, especially when weeding gardens which haven't been tended to since...whenever?

From past experience, I know that any garden cleanup I do now involves a ton of weeds which have grown unimpeded. So when I was hired to tidy up this Riverdale, Toronto back and front garden, I was expecting some serious weed growth and I wasn't disappointed!

Here are some "before" pictures from the back and front yards. I knew it was going to be a long day ahead of me!

The backyard looking down from the deck:

Riverdale Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto Riverdale Garden Cleanup Before

And the front beds from various angles:

Toronto Riverdale Front Garden Cleanup Before

Riverdale Front Garden Cleanup Before

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, as the saying goes. How do you weed gardens in such conditions? One square foot at a time.

You'll go crazy otherwise.

Five hours later....

Riverdale Garden Cleanup After

Toronto Riverdale Garden Cleanup After

Riverdale Front Garden Cleanup After

Toronto Riverdale Front Garden Cleanup After

Similar scenes will be repeated undoubtedly throughout the summer in even hotter weather!

New Pollinator Gardens in Etobicoke

2022-06-07T06:59:00.006-04:00

Creating Oases in a Desert of Landscaping Imagination

I suppose it's an occupational hazard to notice plants and overall landscaping when I travel across Toronto from one client to another. There's no physical danger involved, of course, when I take a quick peek at the good, bad and unusual.

What I mean by "unusual" is anything that doesn't involve planting the Unholy Trinity of Foundation plants: "Emerald" white cedars, boxwoods and hydrangeas. You could add half of dozen other overused shrubs, trees and perennials in this "contractor's must-have" list and see the pattern repeated over and over again in any part of the city. Very boring, unimaginative and lazy.

When I'm asked to create a new garden from a blank slate or simply tinker with an established one, it's an excellent opportunity to "think outside the box-wood" and put in place, hopefully, a functional, ecologically-resilient and attractive piece of the overall property puzzle for the homeowner.

Not everyone gets this: Whether it's due to a small budget, a limited knowledge of plants in general or a myriad of other possible ~~excuses~~ reasons, some prefer not to commit in removing prized shrubs which haven't been pruned in a decade (or, alternatively, clipped constantly into badly executed topiaries). Other truly like (love?) their lily of the valley groundcover.

Neighbourhood peer pressure also can play a factor. Heaven help you if you think of growing vegetables in the front yard in certain tonier areas. You may even receive a letter (anonymous of course) expressing a concern that your little patch is lowering the neighbourhood's property value.

But for those special clients, like these homeowners in the western section of Toronto of Etobicoke, who are tired of the the same old, same old and want to change the look and feel of their gardens, I think I can add value.

This couple "Dave and Sheila" (pseudonyms, although I actually know a couple named so who are very good friends!) reached out to me in 2021 and it took some time to work out the process of developing the two front garden sections. Prior to the new installation, the beds had typical perennials and traditional shrubs like, ahem, a bigleaf hydrangea, a large Euonymus beachball, some bulbs, "Autumn Joy" stonecrop and Shasta Daisies taking over some of the beds:

Etobicoke garden makeover before

New Toronto garden makeover before

Etobicoke garden makeover before

New Toronto pollinator garden installation before

New Toronto pollinator garden makeover before

Etobicoke pollinator garden makeover before

Now, I know how some homeowners can be attached to a certain prized Eounymus so I inquired gently if said plant could be removed. I was greatly relieved to hear the answer "Yes!" Dave and Sheila were also wonderful enough to dig out the old curmudgeon (Euonymus, not me). My back feels sore just thinking about this endeavour.

My vision (sounds pretentious, doesn't it?) was to create small pollinator-friendly oases in a desert of surrounding boxwoods, yews, hydrangeas, etc. Imagine if you're a bee or butterfly flitting around the neighbourhood, desperately looking for pollen and nectar. Not to worry, I have you, my winged friend, in mind!

I'm not hung up about designing with only native plants. Gardens are for people along with our wild friends. Why limit yourself for the sake of achieving the Holy Grail of 100 percent native plants in a design? Being dogmatic seems silly to me. And Dave and Sheila didn't care one bit.

I'm sure they just wanted to get rid of the Euonymus ball without a guilty conscience so I gave them my complete permission and blessing.

Afterwards...

It's a bad habit but I can't help it: whenever I choose new plants for a site, I invariably decide on those plants I would like to see, touch and experience if these were my gardens. Of course, I ask the homeowners what flower colours they like (or, more importantly, what colours they don't like), what plants evoke a good memory (or, again, bad memory) and other probing horticultural questions bordering on armchair psychiatry. It makes my job choosing plants, of course, infinitely easier if I get the usual reply: "it doesn't matter, you choose."

Which was Dave and Sheila's gracious answer.

So I chose a mixture of natives and non-natives perennials, some very ornamental, others more functional (a pollinator favourite), some which bloom early, others later in the season.

Here are some pictures of the beds after transplanting:

Etobicoke garden makeover after

Etobicoke pollinator garden makeover after

New Toronto pollinator garden installation after

New Toronto garden makeover after

New Toronto pollinator garden makeover after

Pollinator-friendly perennials I planted include the usual suspects:

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Black Eye Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida "Goldsturm")

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purp. maculatum ‘Atropurpureum’)

With adequate watering, both humans and other animals should appreciate this collaboration.

I doubt the Euonymus will be missed either.

New Gardens in East York, Toronto

2022-05-25T08:11:00.000-04:00

Adding Colour and Form to an Empty Canvas

I come across, occasionally, requests to plant gardens in newly constructed spaces which has its pros and cons. On the con side, the soil that's unceremoniously dumped in the garden by the contractor can be full of pieces of brick, glass and used coffee cups. On the other hand, if the contractor is kind and considerate, the new space (in this post, a raised bed) has brand new topsoil:

East York Front Garden Installation Before

I didn't want to show the front of the house, for privacy reasons, but the bed is located right below the front windows. New stucco can have an overpowering look so some short plants are needed to soften the house's appearance. I avoided planting shrubs which would hide the windows sooner than later so I chose shorter (3 feet tall or less) perennials which offer flowering throughout the season and give pollinators a reason to visit.

East York Front Garden Installation After

In the backyard, the client wanted to develop this small area below the deck which is also clearly visible from the backyard:

East York Back Garden Installation Before

I wanted to show you more proof that, long term, landscape fabric is useless. The weeds you see have germinated on top on or grown up and through the black textile. I pulled his "rug" of weeds off and dug out the many deeply-rooted weeds in order to prepare the bed for new perennials.

East York Back Garden Installation Before

The existing soil was adequate in texture but I added more composted manure to give the new perennials a head start. The picture below shows gaps between the plants due to a small tree stump which wasn't dug out. The client also didn't get all the plants I suggested for this area as the garden center was short stock. Hopefully, she'll get the rest of the list this season to fill in the spaces.

East York Back Garden Installation After

A Spring Cleanup in Toronto's Wychwood Park

2022-05-14T07:41:00.000-04:00

Removing the Winter Interest, Now That Spring is Here

It's May, the magnolias and ornamental are finally blooming (some are done) and the beautiful May weather is upon is. I just love outside during these May days: sunny, warm and not humid. It won't last long as by late June the humidity and bugs will make their presence known.

On the flip side, it's pure chaos with the scheduling but every May is like this. I guess that's still a good problem to have from a business perspective.

Part of that chaos is the number of spring cleanups being ordered. This post covers a front yard cleanup for a new client in a central Toronto neighbourhood near Wychwood Park.

The two front garden beds weren't touched from last season which allowed the owners to enjoy the "winter interest" provided by ornamental grasses and sturdier perennials. Of course, that interest loses its charm by May so the clients hired me to tidy up and transplant a few new perennials.

Here are the before and after pictures of a very typical spring cleanup I do:

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup After

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto Before

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto Before

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto After

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto Before

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto After

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto Before

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto After

May in Toronto is truly a beautiful time of the year and it almost makes up for the 5 months of winter we had to endure to get here.

A Leslieville, Toronto Spring Garden Cleanup

2022-04-21T15:11:00.001-04:00

A New Client, A Similar Job

It's been a busy month so far with more spring cleanups on the way. This post covers a recent job back in a neighbourhood I often visit: Leslieville. The properties here are usually small in area and therefore easy for me to work by myself.

I'll start with the cleanup in the backyard. As you can probably see in the pictures to follow, I pruned a lot of last season's growth:

Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup Before

Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Leslieville Garden Spring Cleanup After

Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup Before

And in the front, I tidied up a very small bed:

Leslieville Front Garden Spring Cleanup Before

Leslieville Front Garden Spring Cleanup After

Note the still small Colorado Blue Spruce to the right. I strongly recommended to the owner that this small tree need to be removed sooner than later. It's not a dwarf, You can easily imagine how massive this spruce will be. Simply the wrong tree for the wrong spot.

Spring Garden Cleanup in the Junction Triangle Neighbourhood

2022-04-18T17:24:00.003-04:00

A Warm Spring is Nowhere in Sight!

The 2022 work season is underway with spring cleanups taking most of my time. It's been an unusually cold April so far with very few days hitting above 15 degrees C. and above. It feels like November rather than April so I continue to bundle up to keep warm working outside.

This post covers a visited to a new client in the west Toronto area called the Junction Triangle who hired me to tidy up her very small front yard. Here are the "before" pictures of this short project:

Junction Triangle Spring Garden Cleanup Before

Junction Triangle Toronto Spring Garden Cleanup Before

And the "after" results:

Junction Triangle Spring Garden Cleanup After

Junction Triangle Toronto Spring Garden Cleanup After

And as I write this, it's freaking snowing outside!

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup

2022-04-09T19:57:00.002-04:00

Getting a Toronto Pollinator Garden Ready for Spring

Back to work. After another long Toronto, I'm ready to meet new clients and new gardens while trying to lose the weight I've gained over an inactive winter. And, not unimportantly, earning an income again.

My first spring cleanup occurred in Toronto's west end neighbourhood called Parkdale. It was a small job consisting of part of a small front yard and a shared strip of land between the neighbours. All of last season's growth were left over winter so there was a bit of pruning involved. This is proof that there's no need to raze your garden's autumn growth to the ground but, admittedly, some homeowners can't handle seeing this for over five months of the year.

Here are some "before" and "after" pictures of the cleanup which took me about three hours to complete:

Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before

Parkdale Spring Cleanup After

Parkdale Toronto Spring Garden Cleanup Before

Parkdale Toronto Spring Garden Cleanup After

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup After

Parkdale Toronto Spring Cleanup Before

Parkdale Toronto Spring Cleanup After

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Parkdale Spring Cleanup After

And my 17th work season is now off and running!

Wrapping Up the 2021 Work Season with a Fall Cleanup in Little Portugal

2021-11-30T08:46:00.001-05:00

Tidying Up Before the Snow Arrived

Another successful work season is finally over and my reward is now having the time to read, rest and recover. Every year it gets a little harder to work outside but that's just part of getting older. From April to November I get to see all sorts of gardens, good and bad, and all sorts of clients (all good, well...). Working in a cubicle performing the same tasks daily is definitely something I don't miss.

The fall cleanups went on right until the end of November since we didn't have a significant snowfall until a few days ago. I managed to see some new clients who approached me quite late but luckily, the bad weather held out until after I was able to work for them.

This post covers a very small weeding and pruning project in the Little Portugal section of Toronto. The lots in this neighbourhood tend to be narrow and shallow so the actual garden areas are on the small side. Still, if a garden has not been weeded all season, it tends to look like this by late autumn, regardless the size:

Little Portugal Toronto Fall Cleanup Before

Toronto Little Portugal Fall Cleanup Before

Working in the cold (just a few degrees above zero) is always hard but fortunately the front garden wasn't large so after a few hours of weeding and pruning, it looked much tidier.

Little Portugal Toronto Fall Cleanup After

Toronto Little Portugal Fall Cleanup After

The backyard garden is typically (for this area) also small but similarly ignored all season:

Toronto Little Portugal Fall Cleanup Before

Little Portugal Toronto Fall Cleanup Before

I usually suggest that ornamental grasses be left alone for the winter to give the homeowners something to look at for five plus months but as per the clients' request, I cut them down. I also assumed that snow will be piled on to the bed anyway in order to access the garage so it will be easier to do this without the tall grasses getting in the way.

Toronto Little Portugal Fall Cleanup After

Little Portugal Toronto Fall Cleanup After

A Backyard Garden Cleanup in Sherwood Park

2021-10-26T12:21:00.002-04:00

A Season's Worth (At Least) of Weeds

October's weather here in Toronto has been unusually warm and dry, making working outside for a person like me very enjoyable. Even weeding two large garden beds, as shown in this post, was almost enjoyable.

It was a straightforward project: The clients who live in the mid-town Toronto area called Sherwood Park hired me to tidy up the two backyard garden beds they inherited by having them weeded and mulched. Being tenants, they have no interest in buying new plants but instead the directive was to make things look respectable (I paraphrase but that was the underlying message.)

And who can blame them? If you were looking at the beds as shown in these "before" pictures all summer, you'd likely feel the same:

Sherwood Park Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup in Sherwood Park Before

Afterwards...

The clients chose the black-dyed shredded wood mulch that's commonly seen in many neighbourhoods. It is a relatively inexpensive product found in most home improvement stores and like any mulch, by spreading a 3 inch layer on the bare soil surface, it should suppress weed seeds from germinating. This is an important function as these clients lead very busy lives.

So if you're ready to see a lot (a sea?) of black mulch, here you go...

Sherwood Park Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup After

Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup in Sherwood Park After

Not a spectacular garden makeover, I agree, but this post shows you what I usually do throughout the working season.

From Weedy to Wonderful?

2021-10-09T05:51:00.003-04:00

A Front Garden Renovation in East York

Performing garden makeovers (miracles?) seem to be my specialty as I've done more than a few this season. Although the actual weeding can be tiring, it's very gratifying to see order emerging out of the chaos due to my two hands (and strong back, for now.)

I recently was invited to renovate a small front garden in the Toronto neighbourhood of East York. Take a look at this "before" picture of the main central bed in front of the house, looking down from the porch:

East York Toronto Front Garden Renovation Before

As the saying goes, the space has "a lot of potential" which is a euphemism for "a lot of physical work is involved" in getting the garden back to a clean slate. Given the amount of weeds which have grown unimpeded all season, this means methodical hand digging in order to remove all the weeds by their roots. (I don't use herbicides so weeding for me involves a long handled shovel.)

Our immediate goals (after discussing with the client) were to make the main front street bed presentable by removing the weeds, planting a few dozen daffodil, grape hyacinth and allium bulbs for next spring and laying down some cedar mulch.

After a long day, both beds next to the path leading to the front door were weed-free and ready to accept the new bulbs and future perennials. Lastly, I spread a layer of mulch in order to reduce weeding and watering requirements.

Here are more before and after pictures of the small project from various angles around the sidewalk and front porch:

East York Toronto Front Garden Renovation After

By the way, I left the bulb packaging on the beds so that the client can take some pictures or notes and have an idea what bulbs will emerge in what locations next April.

Toronto Front Garden Makeover in East York Before

Toronto Front Garden Makeover in East York After

Toronto Front Garden Renovation East York Before

Toronto Front Garden Renovation East York After

Toronto Front Garden Renovation East York Before

Toronto Front Garden Renovation East York After

East York Toronto Front Garden Renovation Before

East York Toronto Front Garden Renovation After

East York Toronto Front Garden Makeover Before

East York Toronto Front Garden Makeover After

I'll provide the homeowner a plant shopping list so that during next spring, she can get the perennials and fill up this prominently visible garden with lots of colour and form. So, yes, I'm hopeful that we can go from weedy to wonderful in a few seasons, now that the mundane but necessary task of clearing out the gardens of mature weeds is out of the way.

A Front Garden Rescue in the Allenby Neighbourhood of Toronto

2021-09-22T11:04:00.002-04:00

I Can Hear the Neighbours Breathe a Sigh of Relief!

Once or twice every work season, I'm asked to weed or clean up a garden that "has gone to seed", that is, the weeds have taken over the beds or the existing shrubs haven't been pruned in over a decade. If things are too extreme and/or the gardens are too large, I often won't accept the project (I work by myself after all.)

So when I was given the client's address, walked up to the house and saw this, I thought "well, here we go again!"

Allenby Toronto Front Yard Cleanup Before

Here are some other views from various angles. They don't get any better.

Allenby Toronto Front Yard Cleanup Rescue Before

Toronto Allenby Front Yard Cleanup Before

Allenby Toronto Front Yard Cleanup Before

My heart sank a little (well, a lot) lower when I saw the river rocks protruding between the weeds as the odds were very high that the original installer used the classic "river rock on top of landscape fabric" technique. For those who have to weed these areas, you know my pain. Weeds will grow up and through the thin fabric from below or in between the rock crevices.

This was certainly the case here as the rocks are partially hidden by weeds.

I knew the weeding had to occur over several visits and wasn't looking forward to dealing with the river rocks.

The upper tier had no rocks but infested, for lack of a better word, with grass and creeping bellflower:

Toronto Allenby Front Yard Weeding Before

Toronto Front Yard Cleanup Before in the Allenby neighbourhood

Being Sisyphus Again

Remember the Greek legend of Sisyphus? You can research as to why he was punished but his eternal fate was to roll a huge boulder up a hill in the netherworld, seeing it fall back down and forced to roll it back up over and over. In other words, he was destined to repeat a futile, frustrating and backbreaking task.

Sounds familiar?

Just like me and river rocks!

For this cleanup, I had to place all the river rocks on the street (lucky they were near the road), uncover the old and tattered landscape fabric underneath, discard it, remove the weeds growing underneath, roll a new piece of fabric and place the rocks back on top.

Unlike poor Sisyphus though, this is not an eternal punishment for me at this client's front yard in dealing with the rocks but rest assured, I will be doing the same thing at another client's place sooner or later.

Here are some "after" pictures showing the garden being rescued. The clients were thrilled with the "new" area and I'm sure their neighbours were too.

Allenby Toronto Front Yard Cleanup After

Toronto Allenby Front Yard Cleanup After

Allenby Toronto Front Yard Cleanup Rescue After

Toronto Allenby Front Yard Weeding After

Toronto Front Yard Cleanup After in the Allenby neighbourhood

I guarantee weeds will reappear within a few years in between the river rocks but someone else can be Sisyphus for a day then.

A Summer Garden Cleanup in High Park

2021-07-19T06:39:00.002-04:00

Weeding Under a Majestic Oak

It's mid-July and the new garden installations are all done but the weeding is incessant. That's a good thing, though, from a cash flow perspective!

I'll go over a small front garden cleanup in Toronto's High Park neighbourhood in this post.

The area is under a huge oak so I raked many leaves that weren't collected last autumn.

And, yes, the weeding...

Here are some before and after pictures, which feature a very beautiful Japanese maple!

High Park Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup Before

High Park Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup After

I didn't intend to make the fire hydrant a design focal point but there's no way to screen or hide it!

High Park Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup Before

High Park Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup After

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup After

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup After

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup After

Gardening Under a Maple Tree: A Sisyphean Task?

2021-07-09T09:27:00.000-04:00

Installing a New No Lawn Front Garden in the Fairbank/Belgravia Neighbourhood of Toronto

Gardening under a big maple tree is often an uphill battle. Much like Sisyphus being condemned by Zeus to push the same boulder up a hill, seeing it fall back down and repeating this task for the rest of eternity, a gardener who is foolishly optimistic and plants a new garden under a thirsty maple often sees the new plants die due to the dense shade and losing the competition to the tree for nutrients and water and feels the need to replace them. The process is repeated often until the gardener runs out of patience or funds.

I suppose it's a little better than what Sisyphus is currently dealing with, according to the myth.

But it's also a myth that establishing a garden in dry shade cannot be done. I've seen many gardens under mature trees which seem to thrive in seemingly inhospitable conditions. (Although, to be fair, I'm not privy to the homeowner's water bill if irrigation is constantly needed).

With this foolish optimism, I created this new garden in less than favourable conditions.

Here's a picture showing the client's small front garden in Toronto's west end, under and around a maple tree before I "renovated" ("resurrected"?) it:

Fairbank Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

This space was a small patch of lawn until last year when the homeowner decided to remove it. She was tired of watering and mowing such a small patch of grass and the lawn was probably patchy anyway, being in the shade of the maple.

As you can see, weeds have taken advantage of the bare soil before I arrived!

The soil itself was very compacted due to construction (house renovation) so digging holes for the new transplants was a challenge. The maple's extensive surface root system didn't help with the transplanting process either, especially near the base of the trunk.

But I managed to find pockets of soil to place the small starter perennials.

Here are more before and after pictures of the no lawn garden makeover:

Fairbank Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation After

Belgravia Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

Belgravia Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation After

Belgravia Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

Fairbank Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation After

Toronto Belgravia No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

Toronto Belgravia No Lawn Front Garden Installation After

Toronto Fairbank No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

Toronto Fairbank No Lawn Front Garden Installation After

Toronto Fairbank No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

Toronto Fairbank No Lawn Front Garden Installation After

With regular watering by the homeowner, the new perennials should overcome the typical challenges of living under a maple. But then again, I'm a half full glass kind of gardener!

Renovated Garden Beds in Riverdale

2021-06-28T07:00:00.003-04:00

Another Toronto Shade Garden Makeover

The garden makeover requests continue to pour in! Here's one I recently completed in the east Toronto neighbourhood of Riverdale.

The client has a long and narrow backyard with four small garden beds which were ignored for many years so, not surprisingly, they were filled with weeds and other "undesirables". Here are some pictures of the to-be-renovated beds, before I dug out the lily of the valley, goutweed, and wild daylilies:

Riverdale New Backyard Garden Makeover Before

Riverdale Toronto New Garden Makeover Before

These two beds above face each other and are easily seen from the back deck.

Similarly, there are two small beds in the back corners facing each other as shown below:

Riverdale Toronto New Garden Makeover Before

Toronto Riverdale Backyard Garden Makeover Before

Toronto Riverdale New Backyard Garden Makeover Before

I chose, with the client's input, a variety of native and non-native perennials and small shrubs while leaving the existing herbaceous peonies and P.G. hydrangea.

Here are some pictures of the beds after transplanting and mulching. Again, I'll start with the two front beds:

Riverdale New Backyard Garden Makeover After

Riverdale Toronto New Garden Makeover After

Toronto Riverdale New Backyard Garden Makeover After

And finally the back beds:

Toronto Riverdale Backyard Garden Makeover After

Riverdale Toronto New Garden Makeover After

We're heading into another hot and humid summer in Toronto. I hope you're enjoying your gardens wherever you are!

Bye Bye Spireas! A Moore Park, Toronto Front Garden Partial Renovation

2021-06-21T07:41:00.001-04:00

Creating a Pollinator-Friendly Patch in the Front: It's a Start

I loathe to call myself as a garden designer since the term can mean anything, at least here in Toronto. (But for those reading who are licensed and accredited as such, kudos.) I rarely create a new garden from scaled blueprints with details for hardscaping, lighting, etc. as this is much too complex for me and I'm busy as it is with more mundane tasks like weeding.

I prefer the term "plant editor" as I'm often hired to tweak an existing (small) garden, suggest plants to add and remove and move things around for better visual impact. Thus, I edited this established Moore Park, Toronto front garden and limited the scope of work to a relatively small but visually prominent area.

The client approached me and asked what could be done with this space right at the street (there is no sidewalk):

Moore Park Toronto Pollinator Friendly Garden Makeover Before

We have an older P.G. hydrangea standard to the upper left, emerging ornamental grasses in the lower right and several Spirea (a.k.a. Spiraea) shrubs. The tangled mess at ground level is made up of periwinkle (Vinca minor), which, on a positive note, is suppressing weeds from germinating.

The client asked me what we should do in this area. I thought about it, briefly, and suggested we dig out all the spirea shrubs and the periwinkle up to the hydrangea. In this cleared out space, I would plant many native species of perennials to encourage more insect and bird activity. And, yes, we may even have flowers this summer!

I didn't know if she was receptive to this idea (some homeowners can be sentimental about shrubs, even spireas) but luckily she was. Here are more "before" pictures of this small area being edited:

Moore Park Pollinator Friendly Garden Makeover Before

Moore Park Pollinator Friendly Toronto Garden Makeover Before

Moore Park Toronto Pollinator Friendly Garden Makeover Before

Toronto Pollinator Friendly Moore Park Garden Makeover Before

And afterwards....

Moore Park Pollinator Friendly Garden Makeover After

Moore Park Pollinator Friendly Toronto Garden Makeover After

Moore Park Toronto Pollinator Friendly Garden Makeover After

Toronto Pollinator Friendly Moore Park Garden Makeover After

I doubt the client misses the spireas one bit!

A New Harbord Village, Toronto Pollinator-Friendly Garden

2021-06-11T07:26:00.000-04:00

A Central Toronto Front Garden Makeover with Pollinators in Mind

I find that the catalyst to renovate or "re-invent" a garden occasionally has nothing to do with plants. In this post, for example, the homeowner planned to have new stairs and a path leading to the house's front door installed and felt having a lackluster garden would detract from the beauty (and dollars) of the new hardscaping.

I first met the client way back in March this year on a cold morning as she wanted to get the process of putting in new perennials and shrubs going. She was open to the idea of pollinator-friendly perennials planted so I came up with a list of native and non-native hybrids.

I finally had time for her project recently so here are some "before' pictures of the front garden to give you an idea of what I mean by "lackluster".

Perhaps "underwhelming" is a better word.

Harbord Village Toronto pollinator garden makeover before

Harbord Village Toronto pollinator garden renovation before

Harbord Village Toronto pollinator-friendly garden makeover before

Harbord Village Toronto pollinator-friendly garden renovation before

Toronto Harbord Village pollinator garden makeover before

Toronto Harbord Village pollinator garden renovation before

I dug out all the old shrubs, weed tree saplings and perennials but, of course, left the healthy and thriving "Bloodgood" Japanese maple. With a new blank slate, I transplanted many pollinator-friendly perennials like Echinace, Liatris and Rudbeckia. The client wanted some new shrubs so she also bought a shrub rose and rhododendron.

A few hours later, here are the results of the new front garden, freshly transplanted and mulched!

Harbord Village Toronto pollinator garden makeover after

Harbord Village Toronto pollinator garden renovation after

Harbord Village Toronto pollinator-friendly garden makeover after

Harbord Village Toronto pollinator-friendly garden renovation after

Toronto Harbord Village pollinator garden makeover after

Toronto Harbord Village pollinator garden renovation after

The homeowner should see, for the first time in many years, signs of insect and bird activity in this front garden. We're both very hopeful!

A Toronto Pollinator Garden Creation in Lambton-Baby Point

2021-06-08T12:22:00.001-04:00

Renovating an Abandoned Raised Bed to Attract Pollinators

I think the word "renovating" doesn't reflect the work I put into implementing a new pollinator-friendly garden profiled in this post. "Resurrection" is more accurate, as the raised bed was not used as a garden for many years. It was full of wild daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) and Lamiastrum with a Bridal Wreath spirea that needed pruning about five years ago.

The client wanted a new garden space to admire as she sat nearby and, not surprisingly, didn't want to see this all summer:

Toronto Lambton Baby Point New Pollinator Garden Before

I came up with a plant list with mainly native species to blend in the naturalistic style in the backyard. The property has many mature trees around but the canopies were so high that some direct sunlight fell to the ground level.

But first, I had to deal with digging out all the "ditch" daylilies and Lamiastrum groundcover and prune back the spirea.

Here are some more before and after pictures of the transformation:

Lambton Baby Point Toronto New Pollinator Garden After

Toronto Lambton Baby Point New Pollinator Garden Before

Toronto Lambton Baby Point New Pollinator Garden After

Toronto Lambton Baby Point New Pollinator Garden Before

Toronto Lambton Baby Point New Pollinator Garden After

It feels like I've been saving one garden after another all spring!

Creating New Perennial Beds in Toronto's Mount Pleasant East Neighbourhood

2021-06-02T07:17:00.000-04:00

When in Doubt, Overplant

Buying and moving into a new house also means you inherited whatever the old owners defined as a garden. You likely won't be happy with the garden you paid for but it does give you the opportunity to plant whatever you want, more or less (mature and healthy trees are almost impossible to remove for "aesthetic" reasons here in Toronto.)

The owners of the backyard garden profiled in this post wanted colour, and lots of it. Some of the existing trees and shrubs were kept but I was hired to come up with a list of perennials that could handle the part sun, part shade and offered flowers.

The garden is quite deep as property lots in the neigbourhood are typically much longer than wider. This gave me various sections to fill and fill them I did to the point where the client asked me "is it necessary to buy all these plants?" I guess the sticker shock was surprising to her and for most new garden owners, plants can seem expensive. I gently reminded her that we had a lot of space to consider and if you want a gorgeous perennial garden (which the clients obstensibly wanted), filling it with hostas isn't going to do the job.

(Cue the hosta lovers demanding my head!)

In the end, my original plant choices prevailed, aside from more than few substitutions by the garden centre, so you can tell me if there are too many new plants (as a theoretical exercise, they are in the ground and aren't coming out.)

Here are some pictures of the various garden sections before and after transplanting.

There should be a "great show" in this garden in a few years once the perennials become established and fill in.

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Garden Makeover Before

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Garden Makeover After

I re-used lots of black eye Susans (Rudbeckia) which were planted in the section right of the path above.

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Garden Makeover Before

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Garden Makeover After

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Garden Renovation Before

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Garden Renovation After

Toronto Garden Makeover Before in Mount Pleasant East

Toronto Garden Makeover After in Mount Pleasant East

Toronto Garden Makeover Before in Mount Pleasant East

Toronto Garden Makeover After in Mount Pleasant East

Toronto Garden Makeover Before in Mount Pleasant East

Toronto Garden Makeover After in Mount Pleasant East

The clients intend to install a flagstone path in the section to the right above.

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Shade Garden Makeover Before

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Shade Garden Makeover After

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Garden Renovation Before

Mount Pleasant East Toronto Garden Renovation After

I can't take credit for removing the ancient Euonymus vine/shrub above as the clients decided to tackle this big job. The space was now free for me to transplant three Serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.)

A Seaton Village, Toronto No Lawn Front Garden

2021-05-28T13:57:00.000-04:00

Stop the Insanity, Stop Trying to Grow Grass!

After three attempts to grow a lawn in their front garden, my Seaton Village, Toronto clients threw in the towel (trowel?) and called me to create a "no lawn garden." (It's telling how strong the pull is to grow grass in downtown Toronto even if the conditions often make this exercise unlikely to be successful.)

The small front garden faces east so receives only morning direct sunlight that's filtered through a large Japanese maple. Here are some "before" pictures taken from various angles showing the poor condition of the grass:

Seaton Village Toronto Front Garden Makeover Before

Seaton Village Toronto Front Garden Renovation Before

Toronto Front Garden Makeover Seaton Village Before

Toronto Front Garden Renovation Seaton Village Before

It was a fairly straight-forward process: dig out the grass and weeds, transplant some new shade tolerant perennials and spread some mulch. And place the rocks somewhere (my clients didn't offer specific locations.)

Here are the "after" pictures, as "another lawn bites the dust", to paraphrase Queen's immortal lyrics:

Seaton Village Toronto Front Garden Makeover After

Seaton Village Toronto Front Garden Renovation After

Seaton Village Toronto Front Shade Garden Makeover After

Toronto Front Garden Makeover Seaton Village After

Toronto Front Garden Renovation Seaton Village After

I asked my clients to buy more shade perennials and plant them in "the sea of black mulch and rock islands". They may or may not do this but at the very least, they'll never need to mow the front anymore.

A Toronto Pollinator Garden: A Leslieville Front Garden Makeover

2021-05-08T06:16:00.000-04:00

If I Build It, They Should Come

Who or what are "they"? In some gardens, these would be insects, birds and other animals while in other gardens, such wildlife isn't encouraged or even actively discouraged to drop by. I prefer to build and work in gardens that are alive with activity and are visually interesting so row upon row of boxwood hedges don't do it for me.

I help create "oases" for bees, butterflies and other species which are always foraging for their daily meal among a desert of either non- or poorly-productive landscapes. ("Oases" is a grandiose word so perhaps "buffets"?)

I've received many requests this spring to plant pollinator gardens. The message seems to be getting out to more Toronto homeowners: by planting native species, both our animal friends benefit with food and habitat and garden owners don't have to continually worry about spraying for the usual ornamental plant pests and diseases.

Another enlightened client has realized these benefits by hiring me to convert their small (tiny but typical) Leslieville front garden into a functional, resilient and attractive space. The garden faces west and receives full sun all day as there are no nearby trees or west-facing buildings to cast shade.

Here's a "before" picture showing the space:

Toronto Pollinator Friendly Leslieville Front Garden Before

The enclosed part is obviously small but, unfortunately for me, completely filled with Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica) that has travelled here and, for lack of a better word, infested the exposed soil areas from the hedge to the fence. So in order to prepare the bed for the new pollinator-friendly perennials, I had to hand dig it all out or as much as I could since some of the bulbs are tiny.

I added some composted cow manure as the soil texture was mediocre, transplanted and applied a thin layer of mulch to reduce weeding and watering needs.

Here's a similar view from the front landing looking down a few hours afterwards:

Toronto Pollinator Friendly Leslieville Front Garden After

Pollinator-attracting perennials include the usual suspects: Echinacea, Liatris, Agastache and others. Since they are getting full sun, it now is up to the homeowner to water regularly to help get these small one gallon-sized at least through the first summer.

More "before" and "after" pictures from various angles:

Leslieville Toronto Pollinator Friendly Front Garden with Native Plants Before

Leslieville Toronto Pollinator Friendly Front Garden with Native Plants After

Leslieville Toronto Pollinator Friendly Front Garden Before

Leslieville Toronto Pollinator Friendly Front Garden After

Toronto Leslieville Pollinator Front Garden After

I've built it so we'll see if they come....

A Roncesvalles Front Raised Garden Makeover Under a Maple Tree

2021-05-04T07:58:00.000-04:00

A New Toronto Dry Shade Garden

Gardening under a maple tree can be a challenge as your valued perennials and shrubs will constantly fight the tree for light, moisture and nutrients and usually end up losing. And if not losing outright (dying), they'll be forever competing with the behemoth above them, look stunted and lead to disappointment.

But some maple trees are more forgiving than others and will allow you to at least dig a small hole for new transplants.

My client in the west end area of Toronto called Roncesvalles recently rebuilt his front yard's raised bed with a new retaining wall and wanted to "celebrate" by having me choose and plant a variety of shade and drought tolerant perennials. I advised him that gardening under a tree with a thick canopy and aggressive shallow roots like a maple is usually not easy and he'll notice a higher-than-normal water bill but he agreed with these caveats in mind so he hired me to choose plants and get them in the ground.

Here are some "before" and "after" pictures of the new raised bed that is about 3 to 4 feet above the sidewalk. I saved as much of the Muscari or grape hyacinths as possible which are blooming now but dug out and discarded everything else. (A surprise awaits you at the very end!)

Roncesvalles Toronto shade garden installation before

Roncesvalles Toronto shade garden installation after

Yes, I used up two types of cedar mulch (both undyed) as the lighter coloured material was lying around and the client told me to get rid of it. Luckily, it all fades to grey in a few years.

Roncesvalles Toronto shade garden installation After

Roncesvalles Toronto shade garden installation before

Roncesvalles Toronto shade garden makeover before

Roncesvalles Toronto shade garden makeover after

Toronto Roncesvalles shade garden installation before

Toronto Roncesvalles shade garden installation after

Toronto Roncesvalles shade garden installation before

Toronto Roncesvalles shade garden installation after

The transplanting process wasn't too maddening (which can be the case trying to dig under a maple) but there were small areas of Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) infestation. If you've ever tried to remove this particular weed from your flower bed (my sympathies), then you know the pain of seeing roots like these:

Creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) roots