When the Owners Are Away, the Tenants Will...Not Weed!
I've done countless "garden cleanups" over the years but that's what customers want: to have someone else weed, prune, and tidy up their gardens because they can't or don't want to do it themselves and can pay me to solve their problem. (I guess I'm an expert in dealing with "problem" gardens.) But even within the phrase "garden cleanup" there is what I consider a "spectrum of severity" as some gardens require more work than others, to put it kindly. So we can have a cleanup, reorganization, revamp, overhaul, rehabilitation, resurrection and, in extreme cases, an exorcism. Beyond that, I politely refuse the job.
This post deals with a resurrection as the garden used to look nice before the house was rented out. (I credit my sister-in-law Angela who came up with the phrase "garden resurrection" which describes what her weed-ridden garden has to undergo before being usable.) When this happens, months and years go by and the garden generally goes untended. Complaints about the garden cum moose pasture filter to the homeowners who either call someone quick to clean up things or ignore such nonsense of actually caring about the appearance of the property (seen as an unnecessary expense.) But what if the homeowners move back and actually have to see their particular moose pasture?
This is precisely Lisa and Walter's story. They moved back into the house previously rented out and hired me to deal with the front and backyards. The tenants were nice enough to mow the backyard lawn while they were there but weeding the beds? Ummm, no.
The front's appearance wasn't too bad (in relation to the back) with some annual weeds and weed seedlings in the pavers and beds:
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| Toronto Dovercourt Park Front Garden Cleanup Before |
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| Toronto Dovercourt Park Front Garden Summer Cleanup Before |
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| Dovercourt Park Toronto Front Garden Cleanup Before |
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| Dovercourt Park Front Garden Cleanup Before |
With some curiosity and more trepidation I then ventured into the backyard and was greeted by....
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| Toronto Dovercourt Park Backyard Garden Cleanup Before |
and continuing up one side....
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| Backyard Summer Garden Cleanup in Dovercourt Park Before |
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| Dovercourt Park Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup Before |
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| Toronto Dovercourt Park Backyard Garden Cleanup Before |
and down the other side...
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| Backyard Summer Garden Cleanup Dovercourt Park Before |
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| Dovercourt Park Backyard Garden Cleanup Before |
Hmmm, where do I begin?
I knew this was a multi-day affair so much like eating the metaphorical elephant, I took things one bite (or weed) at a time. There was much pruning involved too as I cut down many weedy saplings and legitimate small (15-20 foot) weed trees like Siberian Elms and Manitoba Maples, pruned back a diseased plum tree, overgrown lilac and spirea shrubs and yanked out meters of Virginia Creeper growing happily in the garden beds and onto the lawn. The cleanup resurrection took about 12 hours to complete for the front and back areas and here are some pictures as irrefutable evidence that miracles do exist, with the help of a strong back and many bottles of water.
Here's the front again:
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| Toronto Dovercourt Park Front Garden Cleanup After |
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| Toronto Dovercourt Park Front Garden Summer Cleanup After |
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| Dovercourt Park Toronto Front Garden Cleanup After |
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| Dovercourt Park Front Garden Cleanup After |
and the back:
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| Toronto Dovercourt Park Backyard Garden Cleanup After |
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| Backyard Summer Garden Cleanup in Dovercourt Park After |
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| Dovercourt Park Toronto Backyard Garden Cleanup After |
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| Toronto Dovercourt Park Backyard Garden Cleanup After |
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| Backyard Summer Garden Cleanup Dovercourt Park After |
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| Dovercourt Park Backyard Garden Cleanup After |
I didn't bother removing all the goutweed as it's an effective groundcover (a mild gardening euphemism if there was ever one) and Lisa, one of the clients again, said she would tackle it!
With the gardens resurrected, I leave them to the homeowners for after care. I discussed the possibility of planting perennials and shrubs in the eerily empty spaces or, at the minimum, spreading down a layer of mulch to reduce weeds from germinating.
Fulfilling garden miracles is hard work, I tell you!
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