A Leslieville Back Yard Garden Fall Cleanup

Getting yet another Toronto Garden Ready For Winter 

And yes, it definitely feels like winter here in Toronto and it's only the beginning of November. I just hope it's not an omen of a brutally cold winter but I'm hearing we're "due" for one.

In the meantime, I'm swamped with fall cleanups so you, dear reader, are the recipient of all my fine work. 

This post covers a Leslieville backyard garden being cleaned up a little recently. I won't use the word "winterize" as I've seen other landscaping companies describe their philosophy about working in gardens at this time of the year by using this term. That word in quotes suggests something you do to a car or furnace or some other inanimate object, certainly not to a garden.

Leslieville Toronto Backyard
Garden Fall Cleanup before 

 Leslieville Backyard Garden
Fall Clean up before

It seems like I've been cutting down hostas and herbaceous peonies continuously for the past 2 weeks and this cleanup isn't different. You can see hostas in their death throes above and below. 

Just kidding, they're just entering dormancy with the foliage turning yellow, collapsing and getting mushy.

 Leslieville Backyard
Garden Fall Clean up before 

Toronto Leslieville Backyard
Garden Fall Clean up before 

Same deal with the prostrate peonies below. They seem to begging the garden owner to "cut me down and put us out of our misery." I was only too willing to oblige...

Leslieville Toronto Backyard
Garden Fall Clean up before

And post-cleanup....

Leslieville Toronto Backyard
Garden Fall Cleanup after

I didn't bring my leaf blower (electric battery not gas!) to this location so there are a few leaves here and there after raking. This client is more than willing to tolerate a few leaves after the cleanup and even if she didn't, the huge silver maple in the backyard is shedding its leaves by the second.

Toronto Leslieville Backyard
Garden Fall Cleanup after 

Those readers with keen eyes will notice that I left a few perennials alone (heresy for a fall cleanup?). Well, with the monkshood blooming beautifully, one would be insensitive or ignorant in cutting this to stubs.

After all, the homeowner has waited all year for these blooms and having me raze the perennial now would lead to tears and recriminations (mine!)

Leslieville Toronto Monkshood
(Aconitum) fall flowers 

I can't be certain of the cultivar but I think this monkshood's botanical name is Aconitum carmichaelii 'Arendsii'. Just note that while monkshoods are very low maintenance, they're also very poisonous so some consideration is required about their presence. I find them at the back of a perennial border indispensable in the fall due to their height and that wonderful blue.

Monkshood (Aconitum) fall flowers
in a Toronto Leslieville Backyard 

 Leslieville Backyard
Garden Fall Clean up after 

Toronto Leslieville Backyard
Garden Fall Clean up after 

Leslieville Toronto Backyard
Garden Fall Clean up after

Again, I want to point out that a fall cleanup doesn't require one cutting down all perennials. Leave those with strong stalks (e.g., the ubiquitous Sedum "Autumn Joy") and visually-interesting and/or nutritious seed heads for people and the birds (e.g., most ornamental grasses and purple coneflowers and black eyed Susans.)

If your gardener ignores this willfully or "forgets", it's time for a new gardener!

Fall Front Garden Cleanup in the Annex neighbourhood

"I Can See My Path Again, Thank You!"

I didn't expect to hear those words after this fall cleanup for a client in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto but I always accept compliments!

The interlocking brick paver path leading from the sidewalk to the front door had a few weeds growing in the cracks so I dealt with them with my handy "crack weeder" tool. 

The Annex Front Garden Fall Cleanup before

Toronto's The Annex Front Garden Fall Cleanup before

The Annex Front Garden Fall Clean up before 

This small garden section shown above was overtaken by the Creeping Charlie aka Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) from the neighbour's side on the right so I removed it along with cutting down the hosta and daylilies.

Toronto's The Annex Front Garden Fall Clean up before 

Proof above that junipers and spireae are leaf collectors. The area near the sidewalk was a little weedy but there weren't nearly as many leaves as I anticipated. Many trees are still holding their leaves even in early November here.

The Annex Front Garden Fall Cleanup before

The Annex Front Garden Fall Cleanup after 

Toronto's The Annex Front Garden Fall Cleanup after

The shrub in the middle of the picture above is a Japanese Kerria or simply Kerria (Kerria japonica) which I pruned lightly for shape. It has beautiful small yellow flowers in spring but suckers a little and often stems die back so I prune mine at home "hard" every few years to rejuvenate them.

The Annex Front Garden Fall Clean up after

The weeded bed facing west shown above. It gets full sun from noon onwards so this section can be planted full of flowering perennials. The area to the right belongs to the neighbour and is more or less neglected so weeds will always try to spread over. I used up two half bags of different types of mulch, in case you're wondering!

Toronto's The Annex Front Garden Fall Clean up after

The Annex Front Garden Fall Cleanup after 

And the leaves continue to blow in....

A Judicious Front Garden Fall Cleanup in Scarborough

There's No Need to Make Your Garden Look Like the Arctic Tundra in the Fall

Ahh, it's November and the fall cleanups are occurring fast and furiously across Toronto and maybe in your town too. They're hard to ignore: the high-pitch whine from gas-powered leaf blowers deployed by landscape maintenance crews destroy any sense of autumn tranquility, at least until they quickly go off to their next address to inflict the same.

(Now, for the record, I do use an electric battery-operated cordless leaf blower which is handy blowing debris off hard surfaces. It's light, quiet and doesn't produce gas exhaust. Why I don't see any/more landscapers use them is a mystery to me.)

A "fall cleanup" to most homeowners involves, well, "cleaning" up the garden beds. I've discovered that the level of "cleanliness" of course depends on the client who may find leaving a few old perennial stalks and seed heads up for winter interest and a food source acceptable versus a residential or commercial property owner who wants everything cut right down in and all leaves blown out of the garden.

(And when I write "everything", it pains me to include majestic ornamental grasses which are in their glory now. Why landscapers and gardeners who should know better do this is another mystery to me.)

I'm probably preaching to the choir but if you, dear reader, are a new gardener and don't know what plants should be cut down for winter (actually, none but that's for another blog post), keep on reading...

I recently spent a few hours tidying up (notice, not "sanitizing") a client's front garden in the Birch Cliff neighbourhood in east Toronto. Here are some pictures of the garden as it enters November (I admit, it's not looking shabby at all!):

Toronto Fall Cleanup Birch Cliff before 

Toronto Fall Front Yard Cleanup Birch Cliff before 

Birch Cliff Toronto Fall Cleanup before 

The plants are very common and I'm sure you're familiar with most of these perennials and shrubs: Sedum "Autumn Joy", Solomon's Seal, lavender, boxwood, hydrangea, and various ornamental grasses.

So, what to keep up and what to cut down?

Toronto Fall Cleanup Birch Cliff after

Toronto Fall Front Yard Cleanup Birch Cliff after 

Birch Cliff Toronto Fall Cleanup after 

You may be wondering "what did you do?" by comparing the "before" and "after" pictures and noticing not much of a difference. That's the point of this post: leaving those perennials which offer "winter interest" or some other functionality (especially the ornamental grasses) while cutting down those which don't (like the hostas and Solomon's Seal which have or are on the verge of collapsing.) I've left the lavender alone for the winter and will clip them lightly next spring. Next year's flower buds are present on the mophead hydrangeas so I'll leave them alone as well.

The wrong alternative is to cut everything except the boxwoods down to 6" or lower from the ground "in order to get a head start for next spring by really tidying up the garden."

Why the rush? Is it really a good idea to see "stubs" for the next 5 months until next May?

I guess one person's definition of a garden cleanup is to create a barren area. I'm glad my client here doesn't believe in such a philosophy. 

A Cabbagetown, Toronto Front Yard Fall Cleanup

Time to Tidy Up a Toronto Garden in the Fall

It's November and another work season is coming to an end but not before I tackle a bunch of fall cleanups. These involve cutting down many herbaceous perennials that are entering dormancy here in zone 5 Toronto, raking leaves out of garden beds, light pruning of trees and shrubs for dead, diseased or crossing branches and planting spring bulbs like tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, etc.

Cabbagetown Toronto Front Yard 
Fall Cleanup before 

My client, Marian, has asked me over the years to plant dozens of bulbs in her small Cabbagetown front garden whenever I visit in the fall and this year is no exception. 

Cabbagetown Front Yard 
Fall Cleanup before

Toronto Cabbagetown Front Yard 
Fall Cleanup before

Cabbagetown Toronto Front Yard 
Fall Cleanup after 

I always cut down "soft and collapsing" perennials in autumn which include daylilies and hostas. In the picture above, you'll see I left alone the mass of lilyturf (Liriope muscari) to the right and the small patch of yellow Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola') in the upper left corner. This gives the garden some visual interest until the snow buries everything in January onwards.

Cabbagetown Front Yard Fall Cleanup after 

Previously a hedge of "Diabolo" Ninebark spanned this sidewalk bed shown above and below but it suffered from severe powdery mildew every year so it was removed. As an inexpensive solution, I suggested planting two varieties of hostas in groupings. The Virginia Creeper growing in and about the fence was the client's idea. I warned her about this vine's wandering tendencies!

Toronto Cabbagetown Front Yard Fall Cleanup after 

You may notice in the "after the cleanup" pictures above some gray pieces scattered on top of the soil. These are processed hen manure pellets which apparently deter a Toronto tulip grower's worst nightmare: squirrels. After planting the various bulbs, I sprinkled some pellets which act as a fertilizer as well as a deterrent.


We'll see how effective this product is next spring!

What Would You Do? Constraints During the Garden Design Process

Tabula rasa: A blank slate can present some plant selection challenges

(Note: Maybe half a dozen times a season I'm asked to design and plant a new garden for clients. In the past, I've posted pictures of what the garden looked like before and after and sometimes included some of the plant names.  I thought it would be interesting to get your thoughts and suggestions about what you would plant in these type of case studies. I'm in zone 5 Toronto but if you have non-hardy choices, that's fine! I'll put up the "after" pictures for today's "lesson" and give you some of the plant suggestions I made in a separate post later. This is meant to be fun and maybe we can learn a little bit from each other too.)

Requests for me to create new gardens usually occur in May and June when homeowners are itchy to have new plants put in or to start anew from scratch. Coming out of a long Toronto winter, I can hardly blame anyone to think of their garden in a fresh and new way. 

But I did get a request last month to come up with a plant list for some new backyard garden beds, which is unusual given that we're in the fall.

It isn't too late in the year to transplant new perennials, shrubs and trees. I think autumn is a great time to put in new plants because the air temperature and humidity are lower compared to trying to plant in July and August, the soil is warm and often you can get plants on sale at the garden centre. Of course, there may not be a great selection of plants on sale and what's on the shelf could be picked over.

Colin and Monica, the homeowners, moved into their Humewood-Cedarvale neighbourhood house recently. As we walked around the backyard, it was apparent that new sod was just put in (I didn't see a single weed!) and the fence recently was installed. Likely, all the old existing plants were removed, the ground scraped and levelled, many rolls of sod were laid and a few rectangular beds were created. Literally, a tabula rasa or "scraped tablet."

I took these pictures below of the three proposed garden beds:

Humewood-Cedarvale new
backyard garden installation before

Humewood-Cedarvale Toronto
new backyard garden installation before

Humewood-Cedarvale new backyard
garden perennial bed before 

Toronto Humewood-Cedarvale
new backyard garden installation 

Here are the dimensions of each bed (length by width, approximately, in feet):

• the back window bed: 17 x 2.5
• the bed near the BBQ: 9 x 2.5
• the back fence bed: 25 x 2 (not a typo)

And here are some site inventory and other important notes:

• the backyard receives full sun for most of the day 
• looking towards the back fence, you're facing east
• the garden bed soil is native clay with 6 inches of new topsoil placed on top
• no automatic irrigation exists currently
• the new fencing is all horizontal, made from some exotic hardwood
• the house is a modernist "box"
• the clients want to see as much of the yard through the back windows and from the small patio
• the clients know very little about gardening as they have just moved from a condo
• they prefer an "Asian" garden design
• they offered no plant suggestions, specific likes or dislikes, or websites showing me what resonated with them

Given all the above, what would you suggest in terms of plantings and why?