A Don Mills, Toronto Garden Fall Cleanup

Saying Goodbye to the Veggie Patch for the Season

It's Hallowe'en today but nothing spooky about this post. I'm wrapping up my work season with a bunch of fall cleanups booked for all of November and the only scary part is trying to rake leaves in the snow!

Mary Anne, my client here, has this backyard located in the Don Mills area of Toronto. I usually drop by in the spring, mid-summer and late October to tend to things. The garden isn't too large or complicated and typical for the size I work in. At this time of the year, I'm removing "annuals" (plants which will not survive outside during the winter for us in zone 5 Toronto) from containers and emptying the pots of container soil, cutting down perennials (most but not all if the client prefers), and raking leaves out of and removing weeds and non-hardy plants from garden beds. 

And these tasks were exactly what I accomplished here in this post so no surprises.

Looking up the main garden bed,
this end is the vegetable patch.
Several tomato and pepper plants
were yanked out and the small
rhubarb was cut back.

Don Mills Toronto Fall Cleanup Backyard After 

The veggie patch from the side with
some non-hardy zinnias hanging in
on the left side.

Fall Cleanup After in a Don Mills Toronto Backyard 

This end of the bed has a few hostas,
phlox and irises which were cut down as well.

Don Mills Fall Cleanup Backyard After

This semi-circular bed has a "P.G." Hydrangea
standard "ringed" with run of the mill green hostas.

Toronto Fall Cleanup After Don Mills Backyard

More hostas to deal with, as they
are entering into dormancy.

 

Toronto Fall Cleanup After Don Mills Backyard

Mellow yellow fall foliage of balloon
flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus).

Fall Cleanup After in a Don Mills Toronto Backyard 

I usually ask clients not to cut down
ornamental grasses like this mass
planting of Feather Reed Grass
(Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’)
in the autumn because of their excellent
winter interest but this narrow rectangular
section is immediately below the main
rear windows and not easily seen so...

 

Toronto Fall Cleanup After Don Mills Backyard

And the other end...

Pruning ornamental grasses around
live wires is always interesting!

A Fall Cleanup at Yonge and Lawrence

Tidying a Midtown Toronto Back and Front Yard For the Winter

And...we're off! The final month or so of my work season comprises of fall cleanups throughout central Toronto. The pruning, raking and weeding performed during my autumn visit to my client Lisa's front and backyard will be, more or less, repeated at many other gardens for the next 5 weeks or so. 

The work is mundane but at least you'll enjoy some beautiful fall colours coming up!

In the Backyard:

Toronto Fall Cleanup Yonge and
Lawrence Backyard before 

Toronto Fall Cleanup Yonge and
Lawrence Backyard after 

Toronto Fall Cleanup Yonge and
Lawrence Backyard before 

Toronto Fall Cleanup Yonge and
Lawrence Backyard after 

Yonge and Lawrence Backyard
Toronto Fall Cleanup before 

Yonge and Lawrence Backyard
Toronto Fall Cleanup after 

Yonge and Lawrence Backyard
Toronto Fall Cleanup before 

Yonge and Lawrence Backyard
Toronto Fall Cleanup after 

Yonge and Lawrence Backyard
Toronto Fall Cleanup after 

Toronto Fall Cleanup Yonge and
Lawrence Backyard after 

And in the Front Yard:

Toronto Fall Cleanup Yonge and
Lawrence Front Yard before 

Toronto Fall Cleanup Yonge and
Lawrence Front Yard after 

Toronto Fall Cleanup in a Lawrence
and Yonge Front Yard before 

The "soft" perennials like hostas 
and daylilies were cut down

Yonge and Lawrence Front Yard
Toronto Fall Cleanup before 

Yonge and Lawrence Front Yard
Toronto Fall Cleanup after 

These two clumps of herbaceous 
peonies still don't look too bad 
for this time of the year 
but down they come.

Toronto Fall Cleanup--a Lawrence
and Yonge Front Yard after

 Fall Cleanup Front Yard in
Lawrence and Yonge Before

This clump of feral daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) 
was trimmed. The Forsythia to the left 
and Smooth Hydrangea to the right 
are providing some fall colour.

I'd normally leave seed-bearing perennials 
like the purple coneflower above alone 
for the winter to provide some winter interest and 
food for birds but the client wasn't interested so...

we get to enjoy seeing the little red 
toadstool for the next 5 months. 

A Riverdale, Toronto Fall Cleanup

Bye bye Hostas (For the Year)

It's October which means, for me, my wife's birthday, the final visit to the cottage over Canadian Thanksgiving and the beginning of a wave of "fall cleanups" (in that order of importance!) Well, the cleanups aren't that important but merely part of the final two month push towards the end of my work season on November 30 (not that I'm circling that day!) And over these next two months, I'll cut down dozens, maybe hundreds, of hostas as they slip into annual dormancy. 

My first 2018 fall cleanup, as covered in this post, occurred in the Toronto neighbourhood of Riverdale and, sure enough, those ubiquitous hostas were involved.

Fall Cleanup Before in Riverdale Toronto 

Riverdale Backyard Fall Cleanup Before

Riverdale Backyard Fall Cleanup Before 

Riverdale Toronto Backyard Fall Cleanup Before 

Toronto Fall Cleanup Before
in a Riverdale backyard 

Toronto Backyard Fall
Cleanup Before in Riverdale 

Riverdale Fall Cleanup
Patio Weeded Before 

Toronto Fall Cleanup Before
in a Riverdale backyard 

I actually like the soft yellow colour hostas have as they go dormant in autumn; however, the collapsed leaves become a slimy mess by November so many homeowners prefer that they are removed before winter begins. 

Here are the "after" pictures, showing what I typically do during the fall for clients:

Fall Cleanup After in Riverdale Toronto 

Riverdale Backyard Fall Cleanup After 

Riverdale Backyard Fall Cleanup After 

Riverdale Toronto Backyard
Fall Cleanup After 

Toronto Backyard Fall Cleanup
After in Riverdale 

Riverdale Fall Cleanup
Patio Weeded After 

Toronto Fall Cleanup After
in a Riverdale backyard