Still Weeding in October....
My fall cleanups are steadily being booked for the end of this month and all of November but I'm still getting requests to pull weeds! This post covers my latest job in the swanky Toronto neighbourhood of South Forest Hill and shows that weeds don't discriminate over their location.
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| Forest Hill front yard fall cleanup before |
Here's the small path leading from the street into the driveway. My crack weeder (yes, that's the real name of this tool) is indispensable in getting into the paver cracks but it's still a tough and tedious task prying out these weeds. An alternative for us in Ontario (since the government allows homeowners only a limited number of herbicides) is to spray with a commercial brand of horticultural vinegar. I suggested this to the client but he didn't want to wait a week before seeing the dead weeds.
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| Forest Hill front yard fall clean up before |
This view above shows (hopefully) the weeds completely growing under, through and on top of the old landscaper favourite technique of laying down black landscape fabric and a yard of river rock. Over time, as you can see, this method fails unless you regularly weed and blow out the million tree seeds falling in between the crevices. I had to move almost every single rock in order to pull out the weeds by their roots. To be honest, it's very calming as my mind blanks out, moving one rock, pull, turn over another rock, pull....
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| Forest Hill Toronto front yard fall clean up before |
I think I also pulled out several dozen Siberian Elm seedlings and saplings during the cleanup. (You can see a few healthy specimens behind the Japanese Forest Grass.)
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| Forest Hill front yard fall clean up before |
This section above is actually a Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) nursery. Just kidding but you can see the infestation occurring especially near the back fence and gate. Luckily, these weeds were still small enough that I could dig out their tap roots easily. Next year, not so easy...
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| Forest Hill Toronto front garden fall clean up before |
Even an eight of an inch between the base of the retaining wall and asphalt driveway allows weeds to thrive. Nature really does hate a vacuum.
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| Forest Hill garden fall cleanup before |
Looking from the driveway, weeds at the base of the Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) include more Queen Anne's Lace and Canadian Thistle (Cirsium arvense), the latter being a prickly customer. This location needs a few more Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra) as that singleton at the right looks very lonely....
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| Forest Hill garden cleanup before |
And finally, we see the weeds that especially love to lodge themselves in the cracks at the base of the retaining wall!
And about five hours later....
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| Forest Hill front yard fall cleanup after |
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| Forest Hill front yard fall clean up after |
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| Forest Hill Toronto front yard fall clean up after |
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| Forest Hill front yard fall clean up after |
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| Forest Hill Toronto front garden fall clean up after |
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| Forest Hill garden fall cleanup after |
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| Forest Hill garden cleanup after |
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