A new garden in the Danforth/Greektown area of Toronto: a case study

Formally informal or informally formal...you decide

As you, gentle reader, may know, I occasionally design gardens and when I do, I remember and implement the design principles I learned as a student of landscape design, oh, about ten years ago. We (the students) were taught the process of:

• creating a preliminary scaled site drawing
• site review of existing conditions and deficiencies
• speaking with the client to determine needs, wants and budget
• drawing a functional diagram with "bubbles", based on specific uses and activities
• considering certain geometric styles (square, rectilinear, circular or free-form)
• considering certain garden styles (informal, formal, Western, Eastern)
• creating several preliminary designs, one of which will be selected
• creating a planting plan
• creating a final master plan

Oh, and a last point not usually included in textbooks: getting paid in full.

Of course, to roughly paraphrase German military strategist Helmuth von Moltke, no landscape plan survives contact with the client. (His quote was "no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.") Assumptions surface and promptly blown out of the water. Material and plant lists change depending on budgets or lack of them. And on and on...

But creating the final plan wasn't painful with these clients at all. They're really sweet people!

Since I'm not a landscape architect, landscape gardener, landscape designer, or their variations, I haven't gone through this formal checklist since my final landscape design assignment. But they are ingrained and I recalled them more or less automatically when I was asked to create a planting plan for this garden:

the danforth Toronto garden design before by Paul Jung Gardening Services

Greektown Toronto garden design before by Paul Jung Gardening Services

the danforth garden design before by Paul Jung Gardening Services Toronto

the danforth new garden design before by Paul Jung Gardening Services Toronto

Greektown garden design before by Paul Jung Gardening Services Toronto

Here's my thought process:


A) Site analysis:

The area:

• is a 16' x 14' rectangle with the side bed measuring about 2 ' by 25'
• has compacted clay, mainly due to construction equipment
• receives full sun until mid-afternoon so about 6 hours of direct sunlight
• is in front of the new garage, wall colour is a dark grey or charcoal if you want to get fancy
• bounded by, as you can see, grey concrete pavers making up the patio and path to garage

B) The clients want:

• perennials with a specimen tree or standard
• a green and white motif (green leaves, white flowers only)
• lower garden maintenance, and agree to water with a hose regularly
• an informal garden design (after rejecting my first formal style plan)

C): Functional bubble diagrams not required

 This area was the last piece of the puzzle when the backyard was rebuilt. I imagine the owners viewing the garden mainly from the patio table when entertaining or from the kitchen door. Creating a bio-diverse garden environment isn't important to them.

D) Plant selection:

Based on the green leaf and white flower request, I suggested:

• "Guacamole" Hosta
• "Bridal Veil" astilbe
• "Honorine Jobert" Japanese anemone
• "David" summer phlox
• "Seiryu" Japanese maple as a focal point
• Maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis "Gracillimus" for the side strip) 

There's a flowering sequence from late spring (the astilbes) until fall (the Japanese anemones). The specimen Japanese maple has green foliage until turning a lovely crimson/orange in the fall.

There's a contrast in foliage texture as well between the finely dissected foliage of the "Seiryu", the hostas' bold lime green and rough, almost hairy, astilbe leaves. 

The maiden grass would accentuate the length of the path, spills over nicely and softens the paver edge and requires very little care.

E) Garden style:

• clients prefer the plants sited informally, no rows or quadrants
• I sited them ad hoc, based on intuition and feel.

F): Soil amended:

25 bags of triple mix dug into the compacted clay. A 2-3" inch of black mulch (clients' preference) applied on top after planting.

Here are the immediate results:

the danforth Toronto garden design after by Paul Jung Gardening Services

Greektown Toronto garden design after by Paul Jung Gardening Services

the danforth garden design after by Paul Jung Gardening Services Toronto

the danforth new garden design after by Paul Jung Gardening Services Toronto

Greektown garden design after by Paul Jung Gardening Services Toronto

The monochromatic colour scheme lends to a formal style but the plant placement (in small groups co-mingling with one another) feels more informal.

I returned recently to clean up the gardens a little (weeded and trimmed away the wilting hosta leaves) and had a perfect opportunity to see the Japanese anemones on full display. The clear white blooms contrast so well against the dark grey garage wall. The "Seiryu" Japanese maple is just starting to change colour but won't peak until November. Lastly, the maiden grass is just forming its seedheads. They will not be cut back until net spring, providing winter interest until, yikes, March.

the danforth Toronto garden design after autumn by Paul Jung Gardening Services

Greektown Toronto garden design after autumn by Paul Jung Gardening Services

the danforth new garden design after autumn by Paul Jung Gardening Services Toronto

Greektown garden design after autumn by Paul Jung Gardening Services Toronto

It will be interesting to see how this garden evolves over the years. I imagine the plantings will get bigger and lusher to balance the hard edges and surfaces of the pavers. And just maybe the clients will invite me over for dinner outside one evening so that I can truly admire the design!


Update as of September 2015:

Yes, the plants have really filled in nicely! It's late September and the "David" summer phlox is still blooming while the "Honorine Jobert" anemones are the real stars now. The clients planted two columnar hornbeams as well in keeping with the green and white monochromatic colour scheme.

 "Honorine Jobert" Japanese anemone x hybrida
and "David" Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
fall blooms in Toronto

"Honorine Jobert" Japanese anemone x hybrida as part of monochromatic colour scheme

Monochromatic green garden design
in this Danforth backyard

 Paul Jung Gardening Services
Danforth new backyard update

Danforth new backyard installed by
 Paul Jung Gardening Services: an update

Summer blooms at James Gardens, Etobicoke

Summer annuals and perennials at James Gardens

Another visit for my client, Dale, means another visit to nearby James Gardens in west end Toronto (Etobicoke). It's public garden run by the city's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department so that usually means a ton of annuals are planted and looked after. I guess it's assumed that visitors will appreciate this vestige of the Victorian gardening style I profiled previously in posts titled "Toronto's James Gardens, in Technicolor" and "Lovers of bedding plants: get thee to James Gardens!".

Luckily, there are perennials and shrubs that anchor the rest of the garden:

Liatris spicata "Floristan Violet" (Blazing Star)
and Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
at James Gardens, Etobicoke

Massed pink Astilbe "Rheinland" 

Massed Echinacea purpurea
(Purple Coneflower)

Pink shrub rose flower detail 

Same shrub roses with pale blue balloon flower
 (Platycodon grandiflorus),
Liatris spicata (blazing star/gayfeather)
and Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)
at  James Gardens,  Etobicoke 

Red dahlia at James Gardens,  Etobicoke

Magenta-coloured sweet william (Dianthus barbatus)
at  James Gardens,  Etobicoke 

Same sweet william massed
with group of pink astilbe "Rheinland"
at James Gardens,  Etobicoke 

Pink zinnia detail at James Gardens, Etobicoke

Summer blooms at James Gardens, Etobicoke

Written by Paul Jung on July 22, 2014

Summer annuals and perennials at James Gardens Another visit for my client, Dale, means another visit to nearby James Gardens in west end Toronto (Etobicoke). It's public garden run by the city's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department so that usually means a ton of annuals are planted and looked after. I guess it's assumed that visitors will appreciate this vestige of the Victorian gardening style I profiled previously in posts titled "Toronto's James Gardens, in Technicolor" and "Lovers of bedding plants: get thee to James Gardens!". Luckily, there are perennials and shrubs that anchor the rest of the garden:

Toronto Music Garden with the Kids

School's out and what's a Toronto gardener to do?

The kids finished school and their day camp starts next week so I had to entertain them yesterday. Did I take them to a movie or the mall? They know better!

As it was an absolutely beautiful day, I wrangled / bribed / threatened them into accompanying me to a garden we last visited last fall: the Toronto Music Garden. Designed by Julie Moir Messervy , cellist Yo Yo Ma, and others, the three acre space is "a reflection in landscape of Bach's Suite No. 1 in G Major for unaccompanied cello, BWV 1007."

There are six sections of the garden which corresponds to each dance movement in Bach's piece: Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, and Minuets. Here is the link which describes each movement's physical, design, and horticultural components.

I think a visitor can have a greater appreciation of the space if she/he actually knows the music driving the design. Since I don't (but should simply add it to my iPod and listen to it during my next visit,) I am more interested in the perennials and woodies used and their placement in the design which equally drive the design.

Toronto Music Garden Gigue section
showing Japanese forest grass, blooming smokebush,
purple salvia, yellow potentilla 

This picture is in the Gigue section but more importantly, to me, shows the design principles of mass, line, and repetition in combination with using complementary colours (yellow and purple) for visual tension and excitement. Yes, you can grow the Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’) in full sun and doesn't it look smashing containing the Dropmore Blue Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii ‘Dropmore Blue’) and the yellow cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentate) on top? A smokebush in bloom to the left and a crabapple in the background provide more structure throughout the year.

Looking eastward, there's an ubiquitous condo to the left and the CN Tower in the middle. To the immediate right is the lakefront, providing conditions which make the visit very pleasant with a prevailing breeze.

Mass of pink astilbes

Lines are always flowing in this space and here's a great example in the Minuet section. The curved metal bench merges into this bed with the Japanese Anemone, a mass of pink astilbe blooming so nicely for us, "Makamik" crabapple, and dwarf lilac in the background. If you like pinks, this area is for you!  I hope you can make out the path to the right. It leads down a grove of nannyberry viburnum fronted by a mass planting of "Stella de Oro" daylilies, both in full bloom.

To their credit, the kids humored dad for about an hour before making plaintive cries of starvation and neglect. Time for lunch and they led the way up the stone stairs of the gigue. If you're in the Habourfront area, as a local or visitor, try to spend some time at this garden. It's hard to believe that the busy city is so close when you're wandering down the garden's many spiralling paths.

Among the many things I adore about it is the realization that there is not one annual used in the plantings so the space is visually interesting (arresting, peaceful) for most, if not all, of the year. Come back in October to confirm this. Its design principles are timeless, like Bach's music.