General

Before and after photos of a walkway at the side of a house.   BEFORE:   AFTER:  

One of the newer trends that I’ve noticed has been designing gardens that remove all or most of the lawn in my customer’s back yards. This has involved enlarging the gardens and adding or expanding a patio. This has created better use of the yard and made for an increased living space that is almost …Read more About “How To Create A Stress Free Backyard Oasis”

There are a few good things about our lawns going dormant in the summer heat and one of them is that the weeds slow down in growth too! But when the temperatures cool and we have some well needed rain, the weeds are growing again. With the existing herbicide ban in Ontario it is getting …Read more About “Crab Grass: If You Let it Visit It May Be Here To Stay!”

Nothing frustrates a new gardener more than the watering issue, largely due to the fact that the signs for over watering are very similar to those for under watering. •    Yellowing and/or wilted leaves •    Plants not thriving i.e. no new growth •    Brown needles in evergreens The best way to know if your plant …Read more About “To Water Or Not To Water”

This time of year everyone has a different question for me. Here are 3 quick facts that everyone should know about summertime gardening, thanks to your questions. Q: Why are my plants nice and bushy but no flowers? A: Use a fertilizer with a high middle number, like 20-52-20. The middle number promotes flowering. Q: …Read more About “3 Simple And Effective Ways To Get Better Results From Your Summertime Gardening”

Your plant tags and plant info from the internet may not be accurate. Let’s start with plant tags. The plants that are at our local nurseries are not all necessarily grown here in Ontario nor are the plant tags necessarily printed here or contain our Zone 5 growing information. Please keep that in mind and …Read more About “Facts Everyone Should Know About Plant Tags And Plant Info”

Canada Blooms 2013 was the best show I had seen in years. A lot of nice display gardens and the hardscaping booths were all creatively done. Here are some highlights:    

This is becoming a reasonable option for residential yards even here in Southern Ontario. Is this going to be the solution… …to keeping our “green lawns”?

I had the opportunity to attend a Toronto Botanical Garden tour in the Rosedale neighborhood. What an opportunity it was to see some mature and well established gardens and to see some newer and updated gardens in the area as well. Also some interesting hardscaping.  As many people ooh’d and aah’d at some of the …Read more About “A Peek Inside Rosedale Gardens”