A New Front Garden on a Slope
Gardening on a slope can be difficult if retaining walls and tiers are not constructed but not impossible. In this post, I'm returning back to a sloped "garden" in the Toronto neighbourhood of Koreatown.
My first visit in September 2019, profiled in a post titled "A Front Garden Cleanup in Koreatown: Labouring on Labour Day" , involved heavy duty weeding. It became apparent quickly during my second and most recent visit that no maintenance occurred between visits, as the "before" photos show:
My first visit in September 2019, profiled in a post titled "A Front Garden Cleanup in Koreatown: Labouring on Labour Day" , involved heavy duty weeding. It became apparent quickly during my second and most recent visit that no maintenance occurred between visits, as the "before" photos show:
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| Koreatown Toronto Front Slope Weeding and New Installation Before |
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| Koreatown Toronto Front Slope Weeding and New Installation Before |
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| Koreatown Toronto Front Slope Weeding and New Installation Before |
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| Koreatown Toronto New Front Garden Installation Before |
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| Koreatown Toronto New Front Garden Installation Before |
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| Toronto Koreatown Front Garden Installation Before |
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| Toronto Koreatown Front Garden Weeding and New Installation Before |
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| Toronto Koreatown Front Slope Weeding and New Installation Before |
The client requested a new garden with some sort of groundcover, with the aims of filling in the exposed slope surface (and reduce future weeding), retaining the soil that naturally wants to spill to the bottom with every heavy rainstorm, and creating some curb appeal. Simply throwing a layer of mulch on top of the slope just means a nice big mound at the bottom over time.
The slope has no retaining elements (e.g., boulders) and the client does not wish to pay for the construction of tiered beds. The area faces west so receives full sun all afternoon.
After removing the wonderful thistle and other large weeds, my plan was to create a rock garden look, without the rocks. Unfortunately, she couldn't find my suggested plants like moss phlox and rock cress but was able to purchase other "alpine" type of perennials.
And afterwards....
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| Koreatown Toronto Front Slope Weeding and New Installation After |
Admittedly, new "baby" perennial transplants seem puny (they are) but with regular watering during the first season, they should fill in over time.
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| Koreatown Toronto New Front Garden Installation After |
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| Koreatown Toronto New Front Garden Installation After |
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| Toronto Koreatown Front Garden Installation After |
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| Toronto Koreatown Front Garden Weeding and New Installation After |
The new garden is prone to heavy weed infestation with all the freshly exposed soil so I advised the client to keep on top of the weeding and watering. It will be interesting to see if these maintenance tasks were actually done!
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