A Summer Garden Cleanup in High Park

Weeding Under a Majestic Oak

It's mid-July and the new garden installations are all done but the weeding is incessant. That's a good thing, though, from a cash flow perspective!

I'll go over a small front garden cleanup in Toronto's High Park neighbourhood in this post. 

The area is under a huge oak so I raked many leaves that weren't collected last autumn. 

And, yes, the weeding...

Here are some before and after pictures, which feature a very beautiful Japanese maple!

High Park Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup Before

High Park Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup After 

I didn't intend to make the fire hydrant a design focal point but there's no way to screen or hide it!

High Park Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup Before 

High Park Toronto Summer Garden Cleanup After 

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup After

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup Before 

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup After

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup Before 

Toronto High Park Summer Garden Cleanup After

Gardening Under a Maple Tree: A Sisyphean Task?

Installing a New No Lawn Front Garden in the Fairbank/Belgravia Neighbourhood of Toronto

Gardening under a big maple tree is often an uphill battle. Much like Sisyphus being condemned by Zeus to push the same boulder up a hill, seeing it fall back down and repeating this task for the rest of eternity, a gardener who is foolishly optimistic and plants a new garden under a thirsty maple often sees the new plants die due to the dense shade and losing the competition to the tree for nutrients and water and feels the need to replace them. The process is repeated often until the gardener runs out of patience or funds. 

I suppose it's a little better than what Sisyphus is currently dealing with, according to the myth.

But it's also a myth that establishing a garden in dry shade cannot be done. I've seen many gardens under mature trees which seem to thrive in seemingly inhospitable conditions. (Although, to be fair, I'm not privy to the homeowner's water bill if irrigation is constantly needed).

With this foolish optimism, I created this new garden in less than favourable conditions. 

Here's a picture showing the client's small front garden in Toronto's west end, under and around a maple tree before I "renovated" ("resurrected"?) it:

Fairbank Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

This space was a small patch of lawn until last year when the homeowner decided to remove it. She was tired of watering and mowing such a small patch of grass and the lawn was probably patchy anyway, being in the shade of the maple.

As you can see, weeds have taken advantage of the bare soil before I arrived!

The soil itself was very compacted due to construction (house renovation) so digging holes for the new transplants was a challenge. The maple's extensive surface root system didn't help with the transplanting process either, especially near the base of the trunk.

But I managed to find pockets of soil to place the small starter perennials. 

Here are more before and after pictures of the no lawn garden makeover:

Fairbank Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation After 

Belgravia Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

Belgravia Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation After 

Belgravia Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

Fairbank Toronto No Lawn Front Garden Installation After

Toronto Belgravia No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before 

Toronto Belgravia No Lawn Front Garden Installation After

Toronto Fairbank No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before

Toronto Fairbank No Lawn Front Garden Installation After 

Toronto Fairbank No Lawn Front Garden Installation Before 

Toronto Fairbank No Lawn Front Garden Installation After 

With regular watering by the homeowner, the new perennials should overcome the typical challenges of living under a maple. But then again, I'm a half full glass kind of gardener!