New Garden Installation in North High Park/The Junction

Enough With the Spring Cleanups, Let's Get Planting!

You've been patient, I'll give you that. Either you've endured the many spring cleanup posts in April and May or ignored them (I'm fine with that). June is here and traditionally I spend the month putting in one garden after another. New and fresh perennials, shrubs and trees are in the garden centers now and temperatures are still reasonable for transplanting.

In this post, I weeded and edged two backyard garden beds for a property in Toronto's High Park North neighbourhood, near "The Junction" area. I originally did a spring cleanup in this backyard way back in April (feels like a lifetime ago) and since then the weeds, of course, have grown vigorously during a very warm May. 

I was presented with this the other day when I arrived:

In the Junction a New Backyard
Garden Installation Before 

New Backyard Garden Installation
Before in Toronto's The Junction

High Park North Backyard
Garden Installation Before 

and on the other side of the backyard:

New Backyard Perennial Garden
Installation Before in Toronto's The Junction 

A Backyard Perennial Garden
Installation Before in High Park North 

High Park North Backyard Perennial
Garden Installation Before 

The lawn is in poor shape but since I'm not involved with lawn care, the homeowner should get some quotes to have it re-sodded as I feel re-seeding won't be effective due to the many weeds in the turf.

More pressing for me was to deal with the weeds infesting the two beds. The biggest culprits were violets and creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) which were quickly taking over the beds. Hand digging them out, roots and all, was the most quickest and effective way to create "clean" beds ready for transplanting. And, yes, edging makes a difference appearance-wise, besides keeping the grass out of the beds.

On the shadier north-facing side, I chose plants like astilbes, hostas and bleeding hearts to accompany Buddha. The strange-looking stem is part of the old grape vine that was removed from the blue wall and roof. I left it alone as it looks decorative (i.e., I didn't want to deal with the root ball.)

You'll notice the beds could use more plants but let me explain: the client couldn't get all the perennials I suggested way back in April and I'm leaving room for the to grow. That "sleep, creep, leap" aphorism when it comes to perennials does apply if they are sited and cared for well during the first few seasons after transplanting.

In the Junction a New
Backyard Garden Installation After 

New Backyard Garden Installation
After in Toronto's The Junction neighbourhood 

High Park North Backyard
Garden Installation After 

On the sunnier south-facing side, I planted purple coneflowers (Echinacea hybrid) and two variegated Feather Reed grasses (Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Overdam'):

New Backyard Perennial Garden
Installation After in Toronto's The Junction 

A Backyard Perennial Garden
Installation After in High Park North 

High Park North Backyard
Perennial Garden Installation After 

"It's a start" as the saying goes. I advised the client to lay down more mulch and buy more perennials to fill up the south-facing bed especially.

Many more transplanting examples are on the way, along with "summer cleanups" because the weeds just keep on growing!

A Backyard Spring Garden Cleanup in the Junction

It's Spring Somewhere, Just Not Here!

I had some déjà vu moments working outside over the past week. It was as if I've still been raking leaves since last late November with temperatures stuck in the lower single digits (Celsius). It's been cloudy and windy with some flurries at times. Gardening in your thermal underwear and woolen hat in April seems like a zone 3 habit but, to be honest, it's made being outside bearable for hours on end with these "spring" cleanups. So back into cold we go with this post as I prepared yet another backyard garden ready for new perennials and shrubs.

Located in the Toronto neighbourhood called "the Junction", this garden has two existing beds facing south and north. The cleanup, as usual, involved raking out last year's tree leaves and cutting away dead perennial stems. I would normally empty out the old containers but with overnight temperatures below freezing last week, the pots' contents essentially were blocks of ice so this would have to wait.

Spring Garden Cleanup Before in The Junction 

Spring Garden Cleanup After in The Junction

The big vine you see above that is partly trying to strangle Buddha is an ancient grape that was planted decades ago by the previous homeowners. I'm guessing there was some sort of trellis supporting the vines from one side of the garden to the other. The grape now is growing up and on top of the garage which isn't good for the roof. In fact, I saw evidence of weeds growing on the roof. This is not a type of roof garden the homeowner wants: a mass of vines and weeds!

 The Junction Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup Before

The Junction Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup After 

The Junction Spring Garden Cleanup Before

The Junction Spring Garden Cleanup After

And St. Peter (or Francis?) located in the north bed. The client wisely added a layer of mulch last year to keep the weeds at bay. The euonymus (the green blob right of the saint) doesn't add anything so I'll suggest that it be removed.

The Junction Spring Garden Cleanup Before

Perhaps you can make out the two metal poles and grape vine next to the fence above. I'm sure they supported the trellis for the grapes, which has been long removed. But the grape is still there! I'll strongly suggest it be dug out as my client prefers a lower maintenance flower-filled garden.

The Junction Spring Garden Cleanup After

The Junction Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup Before 

The Junction Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup After 

The tight and narrow space behind the patio chairs and in front of the deck should be massed with Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’). The grass's erect form and low care requirements will fit in well here. Also, with no flowers to attract pollinators, guests won't be bothered by bees (there are always a few visitors who don't like insects buzzing around when they're trying to enjoy a meal or drink.)

The Junction Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup Before

 The Junction Spring Backyard Garden Cleanup After

I'll try to post pictures of pretty flowers soon instead of nasty brown bits. This weekend calls for freezing rain and temperatures in the low 40s F. or low single teens in Celsius, just lovely!

The Junction, Toronto back yard garden clean up

A back yard garden cleanup in the Junction neighbourhood

This garden cleanup was from a few years ago. The Junction is a funky neighbourhood in the western part of Toronto and "funky" would describe this backyard before I cleaned it up. The owners are a couple with a young child who have little time to maintain the garden.

Weeds like goldenrod, lamb's quarters, and more than a few thistles took over the back area; moreover, Virginia Creeper was on its way in covering the lawn completely. Shrubs like purple leaf sandcherry, lilac and a variegated willow required much-needed pruning and shaping.

These next two pictures were taken from the raised deck, looking east. (The fenced in area next to the garage is a dog run area installed by the previous owner.) Yes, many of the weeds were at least 3 feet tall!

The Junction backyard garden cleanup before 

The Junction backyard garden clean up after 

These next two before and after shots are looking west, on the ground level towards the back of the house. I suggested to either overseed the lawn or to replace it with new sod. The area does receive full sun for most of the day so growing turf can certainly occur.

The Junction backyard garden clean up before 

The Junction backyard garden cleanup after