A Palmerston-Little Italy Front and Back Garden Cleanup

An autumn weeding project in downtown Toronto

It's mid-October and finally the feeling of autumn is here in Toronto. We've had above normal temperatures so far this month but it looks like more seasonal weather is here to stay. For the next month and a half, I'll likely be very busy again with fall cleanups, i.e., raking leaves, cutting down perennials and tidying up gardens. But this latest post covers my most recent project of pure weed removal!

The client rents out the house (located in Toronto's central neighbourhood called Palmerston-Little Italy) so the tenants naturally ignore the gardens' maintenance. I find in these scenarios, there comes a point often where the homeowner/s feel the need to do something with their neglected property in order to prevent complaints and attract new tenants; hence, I get hired!

The project was broken into two stages: the small front yard and bigger backyard:

Palmerston Little Italy Front Yard Garden Cleanup before 

Above is the front area of the garden adjacent to the sidewalk. The bed is mulched, thankfully, but is quickly being overwhelmed by the Creeping Charlie weed ( Glechoma hederacea aka ground ivy) invading from the right neighbour's garden which is not maintained at all. I also had to prune back the several scarlet firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea) shrubs away from the path leading to the house. The orange-red berries are on full display now but the shrubs are a real pain, literally, to work around due to their ferocious spines (thorns). 

Palmerston Little Italy Back Yard Garden Cleanup before

The second part of the weeding work involves the backyard beds as shown above and below. I'm certain no weeding occurred this year so, not surprisingly, the beds were choked with foxtail weed, goldenrod, more ground ivy and 3 weed tree saplings. The patio pavers also needed to be weeded and swept and the wisteria trimmed.

Palmerston Little Italy Toronto Back Yard Garden Cleanup before 

Little Italy Palmerston Toronto Back Yard Garden Cleanup before

Palmerston Little Italy Toronto Back Yard Garden Clean up before 

Little Italy Palmerston  Toronto Back Yard Cleanup before 

And afterwards...

Palmerston Little Italy Front Yard Garden Cleanup after 

Not much of a retaining wall as shown above, just a strip of plastic edging. The mulch does help reduce the amount of weeds germinating but offers no protection from the ground ivy which has taken over the right neighbour's front area.

Palmerston Little Italy Back Yard Garden Cleanup after 

I suggested to the client to at least put down a few bags of mulch to reduce the weeds, even if she doesn't want to add new plants. Otherwise, we'll be revisiting the same situation a year from now.

Palmerston Little Italy Toronto Back Yard Garden Cleanup after 

Little Italy Palmerston Toronto Back Yard Garden Cleanup after 

Removing the root balls of the several large maple and tree of heaven saplings in the narrow area above was quite a task!

Little Italy Palmerston  Toronto Back Yard Cleanup after

Palmerston Little Italy Toronto Back Yard Garden Clean up after

And finally here's the picture of the weeded paver area leading to the back laneway parking space. I dare not show you this area. That would require a separate session to deal with the monstrous weeds growing back there!