Got Leaves?

A Fall Cleanup in Toronto's Greenwood-Coxwell Neighbourhood

What happens when your backyard is surrounded by several huge mature Silver Maples (Acer saccharinum) and you go away on vacation for most of the autumn? Well, you likely will see this upon your return:

Monarch Park Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

The homeowners scheduled me for a fall cleanup many weeks ago in anticipation of these leaves. I worked for them last year and profiled that autumn visit in a blog post titled "Another Toronto Fall Garden Cleanup in the Coxwell-Danforth Area; Putting A Garden To Rest (With This Gardener To Follow!)" so I knew what to expect, more or less, of the amount of work involved. Still, I marvelled at the amount of leaves covering their small east end Toronto backyard when I arrived and took these pictures:

Coxwell-Danforth Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

Greenwood-Coxwell Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

Coxwell-Danforth Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

Monarch Park Backyard Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

Greenwood-Coxwell Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

Monarch Park Toronto Fall Cleanup Before

Greenwood-Coxwell Toronto Fall Cleanup Before

The small front yard wasn't covered by nearly as many leaves as the back but required some tidying up like cutting off the old Siberian Iris and herbaceous peony leaves:

Coxwell-Danforth Toronto Fall Cleanup Front Yard Before

Greenwood-Coxwell Toronto Fall Cleanup Front Yard Before 

Monarch Park Toronto Fall Cleanup Front Yard Before

And afterwards, with the excellent help of an electric leaf blower...

Greenwood-Coxwell Toronto Fall Cleanup After

Coxwell-Danforth Toronto Fall Cleanup After 

Greenwood-Coxwell Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

Coxwell-Danforth Toronto Fall Cleanup After 

Greenwood-Coxwell Toronto Fall Cleanup After

Monarch Park Backyard Toronto Fall Cleanup 

Monarch Park Toronto Fall Cleanup After 

Monarch Park Toronto Fall Cleanup After 

And to the front...

Coxwell-Danforth Toronto Fall Cleanup Front Yard After 

Greenwood-Coxwell Toronto Fall Cleanup Front Yard After 

Monarch Park Toronto Fall Cleanup Front Yard After