Some fall blooming perennials (no Rudbeckia here!)

Extend your Toronto garden's seasonal interest by growing these perennials

The start of autumn is just around the corner but these perennials apparently haven't received the memo and are blooming profusely around zone 5-6 Toronto right now. Some are common as nails (e.g. Sedum) but others perhaps are new to you and worth your consideration to extend your garden's interest as long as possible. I took these pictures coming from a client's house around her neighbourhood:

It really is such nice time of the year. Temperature and humidity are at more civilized levels for working outside and the tree leaves are just starting to change.

"Serenade" Japanese anemone x hybrida 

Sedum "Autumn Joy" 

"September Charm" Japanese anemone x hybrida

Toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta) blooms in detail 

Yellow sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)

Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale)

"Honorine Jobert" Japanese anemone x hybrida 

"Honorine Jobert" Japanese anemone x hybrida blooms
behind some switch grass seedheads

"September Charm" Japanese anemone
(Anemone x hybrida "September Charm" bloom in detail

Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua)
You can see some very happy turtles!

Cimicifuga simplex ‘Brunette’
(Black Bugbane/Snakeroot)

Aconitum carmichaelii arendsii
(Autumn monkshood)

By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog"

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Garden cleanup in the Leslieville area of Toronto

Toronto garden clean ups in Leslieville: front yard and path and backyard garden renovation

Here are some before and after pictures of a front and back yard garden cleanup for a client in the Leslieville area of Toronto.

The front wasn't too bad compared to the back!

Toronto front garden cleanup Woodfield Rd. before 

Toronto front garden cleanup Woodfield Rd. after

The backyard lawn was completely covered/replaced with creeping charlie, goldenrod, broadleaf dock, mulberry and Manitoba maple saplings and burdock! The client wants to re-sod the area: therefore, the entire area was weeded in preparation. No herbicides were used: I dug out the entire area to remove as much of the weeds' roots as possible.

Toronto backyard garden cleanup Woodfield Rd. before

Toronto backyard garden cleanup Woodfield Rd. after

Toronto garden cleanup backyard Woodfield Rd. 

Toronto garden cleanup backyard Woodfield Rd. after

Toronto garden cleanup backyard Woodfield Rd. after

Yes, there was a Muskoka chair hidden back there!

Toronto garden cleanup Woodfield Rd. backyard after

A Tale of Two Toronto Gardens

An Ecological and Formal Garden: And Never the Twain Shall Meet?

First, let me apologize for the lack of posts lately, dear reader. I've been (still) very busy at work, weeding and pruning here and there for my clients across Toronto. Most of the tasks are mundane but some of the settings are not. By coincidence, I tended two gardens back to back and wanted to share the stark differences I discovered between the two.

The first one is completely ecological in philosophy and practice. The owner has chosen only native perennial and shrubs in the design (aside from two veggie beds) and will not use pesticides at all. These are non-negotiable!

Some highlights showing the biodiversity and visual interest on a sunny late summer's day:

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) in a rain garden

Common milkweed (Ascelepias syriaca) with plump follicles

Giant coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima)

Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea) blooms with a hungry visitor

Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
in full bloom in the rain garden

Two raised gardens with a rather large Tuscan kale 
(Brassica oleracae) making its presence known! 

American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) fruit

Sun and vine ripened tomatoes. Yummy!

Nothing earth-shattering. I just like the colour contrast and texture
of the underside of this swiss chard leaf.

The next day I visited this garden in a "tonier" section of town to do some hedge clipping.

Formal spiraea and euonymus hedge with White Chiffon rose of sharon standards

I guess either you love or hate this geometric and modern look.  Not much visually going on. Actually, not much of anything going on. No pollinators, no birds, just the persistent background noise and whine of lawn mowers, trimmers and blowers during the entire job coming from surrounding equally sterile landscapes. Which I find ironic: one pays big dollars to live in "nicer" sections with manicured gardens only to hear gas-powered equipment throughout the day.

Which of the two gardens appeal to you and why?

I think you know my answer, if you go by the number of photos!

By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog"

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Fall garden cleanups now being booked for Toronto homeowners

Get your gardens ready for winter with a fall cleanup

Autumn 2013 is here! Are your gardens ready to be weeded, raked and cleaned up one last time before winter arrives? 

Brilliant yellow leaves of a ginkgo biloba tree in Toronto

Call me at 416-515-2780 or e-mail at info@pauljunggardening.com to book your appointment today before all my spots are taken!

By Paul Jung, owner of Paul Jung Gardening Services Inc. of Toronto