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!

 

An East Danforth, Toronto new garden design and installation

A new East Danforth garden in Toronto's Coxwell and Danforth area

Elizabeth hired me last spring to revamp her small backyard garden in east-end Toronto. The site is in full sun although the north-facing part, of course, receives less intensive light and heat during the day. We decided to keep the small redbud tree, smokebush and lilac shrub and move many of the existing perennials. I felt that there were actually two gardens here: a shade garden facing north and a pollinator garden facing south. Another interesting feature is that there are two berms on either side of the path shown below. (I guess that was done by the previous owner/gardener when faced with the problem of having to deal with the excess fill.)

The "before" shot below shows two Feather Reed grasses flanking the gravel path. There's also a very mature "Annabelle" smooth hydrangea on the right side which fills in quickly and blocks much of the view of the garden from the patio. I removed the grasses and hydrangea to improve the sight lines from the patio and house.

Coxwell East Danforth backyard renovation before 

There was a lack of flower colour in the current garden and Elizabeth was interested in attracting pollinators and having blooms throughout the summer. Her mother also loved peonies so we came up with a plant list that included "Honorine Jobert" Japanese Anemone, Japanese Forest Grass, "Beni-kaze" Japanese Forest Grass, "Paul's Glory" Hosta, Anise Hyssop, "Jacob Cline" beebalm, Butterfly weed, "First Arrival" Itoh hybrid (tree) peony and "Bartzella" Itoh hybrid (tree) peony.

Coxwell East Danforth backyard renovation after

Below is another "before" picture, looking east.

Coxwell Danforth backyard renovation before

I kept the Creeping Jenny groundcover and extended the chartreuse/yellow colour around the curve by lining Japanese Forest Grass all the way to the back left (north-east) corner. I also dug out and divided all the Solomon Seal under the background redbud tree and placed them in groups in the shadier bed to the right (north facing) bed.

Along the back fence, we chose to plant two Japanese climbing hydrangeas to hide (or at least minimize) the look of the the board on board fencing that surrounds the garden.

The space where the smooth hydrangea used to be (bottom right triangular space) is now occupied by an existing herbaceous peony.

Coxwell Danforth backyard renovation after 

Coxwell Danforth backyard garden renovation before

Coxwell Danforth backyard renovation after

The black mulch does really stand out against the yellow perennials. (I'd just be as happy laying down a natural cedar mulch that's not dyed.)

It should take a few years before the perennials get established but this should be a full and colourful garden compared to what existed before.

Toronto Danforth Coxwell backyard renovation after