A Fall Cleanup in the Upper Beaches Neighbourhood

Tidying Up in Beach Hill

After a brief September lull, I'm in full "fall cleanup" mode until the end of November. It's true that I'm not dealing with summer's heat, humidity and bugs but the challenge now is to stay warm! 

This post brings us to the east-end Toronto area called "Upper Beaches" or "Beach Hill" and covers a fall cleanup for a property owned by an out-of-town landlord. Since tenants usually don't bother or worry about garden maintenance, I anticipated that the back and front gardens would be "weedy" and, of course, they were. Luckily, the area wasn't too large for me to handle.

Here are some "before" and "after" pictures of the backyard cleanup performed on this blustery and cold fall day:

Upper Beaches Toronto Fall Garden Cleanup Before 

Upper Beaches Toronto Fall Garden Cleanup After

Toronto Beach Hill Fall Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto Beach Hill Fall Garden Cleanup After 

Toronto Upper Beaches Fall Cleanup Before 

Toronto Upper Beaches Fall Cleanup After

Toronto Beach Hill Fall Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto Beach Hill Fall Garden Cleanup After 

Upper Beaches Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

Upper Beaches Toronto Fall Cleanup After 

And the front....

Toronto Beach Hill Fall Cleanup Before 

Toronto Beach Hill Fall Cleanup After 

Upper Beaches Toronto Fall Cleanup Before 

Upper Beaches Toronto Fall Cleanup After 

Toronto Beach Hill Fall Garden Cleanup Before 

Toronto Beach Hill Fall Garden Cleanup After 

The shrub with the red foliage in the front yard pictures above is a doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum "Mariesii'). While it does get quite wide (easily 15 feet), it has excellent fall colour and its horizontal branches are covered with white flowers in the spring. If you have the space in full sun, this type of viburnum can be useful.

The trio of "failing" shrubs with yellow fall foliage are Fiveleaf Aralias (Acanthopanax sieboldianus). They are usually very tough plants and can handle a wide range of conditions. I suspect that they are hating it under the huge maple tree!