A Front Tiered Garden Cleanup in Parkdale

When You Can't See the Retaining Walls from the Vines

I can't believe it's the middle of summer already here in Toronto. I'm in the midst of another busy work season but vacation time is in sight! Until then, the weeding and pruning continue unabated.

I'm taking you to the west Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale in this post to go over a recent cleanup of a two tiered front garden. At first glance, as the "before" pictures below suggest, you may not even be aware of the second upper retaining wall, given the heavy growth:

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup Before 

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup Before 

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup Before

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup Before 

Toronto Front Garden Cleanup in Parkdale Before 

Toronto Parkdale Front Garden Cleanup Before 

Toronto Parkdale Front Garden Cleanup Before

Toronto Parkdale Front Garden Cleanup Before 

Retaining Walls Revealed!

I don't know when the shrubs were last pruned or the raised beds weeded (neither do the new homeowners when I innocently asked) but obviously things were a little out of control!

So I imposed some "control" and "discipline" by pruning the spirea shrubs hard, removing a dead juniper and weed tree saplings, cutting away the wild grape vine and Boston Ivy to expose the retaining wall faces, among other tasks.

Quite a difference, it's safe to say.

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup After

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup After 

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup After

Parkdale Toronto Front Garden Cleanup After 

Toronto Front Garden Cleanup in Parkdale After 

Toronto Parkdale Front Garden Cleanup After 

Toronto Parkdale Front Garden Cleanup After 

Toronto Parkdale Front Garden Cleanup After 

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup

Getting a Toronto Pollinator Garden Ready for Spring

Back to work. After another long Toronto, I'm ready to meet new clients and new gardens while trying to lose the weight I've gained over an inactive winter. And, not unimportantly, earning an income again.

My first spring cleanup occurred in Toronto's west end neighbourhood called Parkdale. It was a small job consisting of part of a small front yard and a shared strip of land between the neighbours. All of last season's growth were left over winter so there was a bit of pruning involved. This is proof that there's no need to raze your garden's autumn growth to the ground but, admittedly, some homeowners can't handle seeing this for over five months of the year.

Here are some "before" and "after" pictures of the cleanup which took me about three hours to complete:

Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before 

Parkdale Spring Cleanup After

Parkdale Toronto Spring  Garden Cleanup Before

Parkdale Toronto Spring  Garden Cleanup After 

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup After

Parkdale Toronto Spring Cleanup Before 

Parkdale Toronto Spring Cleanup After

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before

A Parkdale Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before 

Toronto Parkdale Spring Cleanup After 

And my 17th work season is now off and running!

Another Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup

A West End Toronto Front and Backyard Cleanup

Sensing a pattern of my recent posts? Well, more spring cleanups are on the way as the job requests are flooding in so far in May (not surprising, since April's weather was capricious.) This post brings as back to west-end Parkdale. Jenn, my client, has asked me again this spring to tidy up her front and back gardens. The front yard wasn't too much of a challenge, other than trying to rake old maple leaves and keys out of the periwinkle and taking out the immature goldenrod seedlings:

A Parkdale Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup Before

A Parkdale Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup After 

A Parkdale Spring Yard Cleanup Before 

A Parkdale Spring Yard Cleanup After 

 A Parkdale Spring Yard Cleanup Before

A Parkdale Spring Yard Cleanup After

But the backyard needed a bit more effort ...

A Parkdale Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup Before

A Parkdale Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup After

A Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup Before 

A Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup After

A Parkdale Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup Before 

A Parkdale Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup After 

A Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup Before

A Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup After

It was an absolutely perfect day to work outside: sunny, around 15 degrees Celsius or low 60s F., with a light spring wind. I'll miss these types of days once the heat and humidity slam into Toronto in July and August but for now, it doesn't feel like work being outside (but don't tell my clients this!)

A Parkdale, Toronto Spring Backyard Cleanup

Goodbye April, Don't Let the Door Hit Your Rear As You Leave!

Finally, it feels like spring. It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago, the gardens were buried under a foot of snow and ice. So with the warm temperatures, here come the spring cleanups which you all enjoy reading!

This garden is in the Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale, west of downtown. The backyard is narrow and somewhat deep, with a large mature crabapple smack in the middle. The two beds are in part to full shade once the tree leaves emerge.

The cleanup wasn't complicated: raking last fall's leaves and adding several bags of composted cow manure. The latter will make the existing perennials very happy in the future!

Here are the before and after pictures looking down one side:

 Parkdale Spring Cleanup Before

 Parkdale Spring Cleanup After

Parkdale Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup Before 

Parkdale Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup Afte

And across to the other side:

Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup Before 

Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup After

Further proof of spring? Here's a close up of some resident daffodils soaking up the sun's rays.

Toronto Daffodils Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup 

Wishing you a happy Spring (or Fall if you're down south) 2018!

A Parkdale Spring Garden Cleanup

A Spring Garden Clean Up in the west-end Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale

After another quiet winter hibernating, this bear is ready to work again, motivated by the warm weather and, truth be told, the need to replenish cash. Four solid months of winter are increasingly harder to tolerate for a Toronto gardener like myself. Geez, other bloggers have been posting pictures of spring blooms for months now while we're only finally seeing the colourful blooms of hellebores, snowdrops and crocus. But enough whining...

This April has been milder compared to previous years so I've received more calls for "spring (garden) cleanups" than usual from old and new clients.

(As an aside, I don't like the terms "spring/ (or fall) cleanup" as it suggests a garden has to be sterile and polished like, for example, your bathroom. But that's the vernacular so I'm not going to quibble with a client over this usage.)

The weather was pleasant the other day so I scheduled a visit to tidy up the front and back gardens belonging to this client living in the west-end Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale.

Parkdale front garden spring cleanup before 

Nothing too elaborate involved here: primarily raking up last season's decomposing leaves and stems, pruning a few dead branches and removing the old (very dead) annuals from the three containers.

Typical of city gardens, there was quite a bit of garbage mixed in with the leaves. The juniper seemed to attract and collect most of the debris and working around it is always a delight (sarcasm inserted.)

Parkdale front garden spring cleanup after

Parkdale Toronto front garden spring cleanup

Parkdale Toronto front garden spring cleanup

Parkdale Toronto front garden spring clean up 

Parkdale Toronto front garden spring clean up after

Toronto Parkdale front garden spring cleanup
(Sorry for the glowing orb at the bottom.
I'm not sure why it's there!) 

Toronto Parkdale front garden spring cleanup 

Toronto Parkdale front garden spring clean up

Toronto Parkdale front garden spring clean up 

Here's to Spring 2017, Toronto version,  another work season for me and more dirty fingers for you!