Garden Muses: A Small Toronto Gardening Services Company Blog

25.5.22

New Gardens in East York, Toronto

Adding Colour and Form to an Empty Canvas

I come across, occasionally, requests to plant gardens in newly constructed spaces which has its pros and cons. On the con side, the soil that's unceremoniously dumped in the garden by the contractor can be full of pieces of brick, glass and used coffee cups. On the other hand, if the contractor is kind and considerate, the new space (in this post, a raised bed) has brand new topsoil:

East York Front Garden Installation Before

I didn't want to show the front of the house, for privacy reasons, but the bed is located right below the front windows. New stucco can have an overpowering look so some short plants are needed to soften the house's appearance. I avoided planting shrubs which would hide the windows sooner than later so I chose shorter (3 feet tall or less) perennials which offer flowering throughout the season and give pollinators a reason to visit.

East York Front Garden Installation After

In the backyard, the client wanted to develop this small area below the deck which is also clearly visible from the backyard:

East York Back Garden Installation Before

I wanted to show you more proof that, long term, landscape fabric is useless. The weeds you see have germinated on top on or grown up and through the black textile. I pulled his "rug" of weeds off and dug out the many deeply-rooted weeds in order to prepare the bed for new perennials.

East York Back Garden Installation Before

The existing soil was adequate in texture but I added more composted manure to give the new perennials a head start. The picture below shows gaps between the plants due to a small tree stump which wasn't dug out. The client also didn't get all the plants I suggested for this area as the garden center was short stock. Hopefully, she'll get the rest of the list this season to fill in the spaces.

East York Back Garden Installation After

14.5.22

A Spring Cleanup in Toronto's Wychwood Park

Removing the Winter Interest, Now That Spring is Here

It's May, the magnolias and ornamental are finally blooming (some are done) and the beautiful May weather is upon is. I just love outside during these May days: sunny, warm and not humid. It won't last long as by late June the humidity and bugs will make their presence known.

On the flip side, it's pure chaos with the scheduling but every May is like this. I guess that's still a good problem to have from a business perspective.

Part of that chaos is the number of spring cleanups being ordered. This post covers a front yard cleanup for a new client in a central Toronto neighbourhood near Wychwood Park.

The two front garden beds weren't touched from last season which allowed the owners to enjoy the "winter interest" provided by ornamental grasses and sturdier perennials. Of course, that interest loses its charm by May so the clients hired me to tidy up and transplant a few new perennials.

Here are the before and after pictures of a very typical spring cleanup I do:

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup After

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto Before

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto Before

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto After

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto Before

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto After

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto Before

Wychwood Park Spring Cleanup Toronto After

May in Toronto is truly a beautiful time of the year and it almost makes up for the 5 months of winter we had to endure to get here.

21.4.22

A Leslieville, Toronto Spring Garden Cleanup

A New Client, A Similar Job

It's been a busy month so far with more spring cleanups on the way. This post covers a recent job back in a neighbourhood I often visit: Leslieville. The properties here are usually small in area and therefore easy for me to work by myself.

I'll start with the cleanup in the backyard. As you can probably see in the pictures to follow, I pruned a lot of last season's growth:

Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup Before

Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup Before

Toronto Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup After

Toronto Leslieville Garden Spring Cleanup After

Leslieville Back Garden Spring Cleanup Before

And in the front, I tidied up a very small bed:

Leslieville Front Garden Spring Cleanup Before

Leslieville Front Garden Spring Cleanup After

Note the still small Colorado Blue Spruce to the right. I strongly recommended to the owner that this small tree need to be removed sooner than later. It's not a dwarf, You can easily imagine how massive this spruce will be. Simply the wrong tree for the wrong spot.

18.4.22

Spring Garden Cleanup in the Junction Triangle Neighbourhood

A Warm Spring is Nowhere in Sight!

The 2022 work season is underway with spring cleanups taking most of my time. It's been an unusually cold April so far with very few days hitting above 15 degrees C. and above. It feels like November rather than April so I continue to bundle up to keep warm working outside.

This post covers a visited to a new client in the west Toronto area called the Junction Triangle who hired me to tidy up her very small front yard. Here are the "before" pictures of this short project:

Junction Triangle Spring Garden Cleanup Before

Junction Triangle Toronto Spring Garden Cleanup Before

And the "after" results:

Junction Triangle Spring Garden Cleanup After

Junction Triangle Toronto Spring Garden Cleanup After

And as I write this, it's freaking snowing outside!

9.4.22

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: