Don't get distracted by those pesky weeds near the BBQ
In mid-summer, my work is usually mundane: on my hands and knees pulling out the many weeds gracing us in Toronto. If my alma mater ever asked me to return to offer advice to budding (excuse the pun) gardeners-as-employees, I'd offer these four words: "you'd better like weeding." Actually, I'd amend that to "you'd better love weeding" because that is a task all customers would rather hire you (me) to do.
Sure, everyone in "hort school" class believes he or she will be the next celebrity garden duhsigner (no, there's no degree in garden design so I can be snarky. I'd never use that occupational label since it's rather meaningless and, consequently, anyone and everyone can call and advertise himself or herself as one.) But the cold reality is that when you graduate, most landscaping companies will hire you on your ability to push a mower, dig a hole or lift a wheelbarrow rather than create a design.
Anyway, I'll stop this mini-rant and get back to the main message in this post: how I helped save a birthday party!
Occasionally, I get this type of work request: Clients have some sort of get-together in their yards and given the current weedy conditions, need me to tidy up the public areas, lest party guests gossip on their way home after the event, along the lines of "did you see that train wreck of a backyard?" or "I know Bill threw out his back earlier this year but, darn, he's gotta hire a kid to pull out those weeds!"
Does a weedy garden equate to moral turpitude? Hey, it's not for me to debate. I get the call to "deal with the garden before the guests come over this weekend", book the appointment, and do the work. Which is, more or less, how I helped Daniel and his family recently who live in Toronto's Upper Beaches or Beach Hill area.
Here are some pictures of the front and back yards, before the big get-together:
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| Upper Beaches backyard cleanup before |
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| Beach Hill Toronto backyard cleanup before |
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| Beach Hill backyard cleanup before |
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| Upper Beaches Toronto backyard cleanup before |
And the front's "curb appeal"...
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| Beach Hill front yard cleanup before |
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| Upper Beaches Toronto front yard cleanup before |
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| Upper Beaches front yard cleanup before |
3.5 hours later....
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| Upper Beaches backyard cleanup after |
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| Beach Hill Toronto backyard cleanup after |
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| Beach Hill backyard cleanup after |
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| Upper Beaches Toronto backyard cleanup after |
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| Beach Hill front yard cleanup after |
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| Upper Beaches Toronto front yard cleanup after |
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| Upper Beaches front yard cleanup after |
Mission complete! Daniel can now grill with complete peace of mind, now that the weeds are gone on party day.
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