Julia from Kitchener

1. What were your major reasons for replacing your grass?

I just didn't want to use pesticides. I only used a weed & feed once, the year after I moved into my own home 18 years ago and then I stopped. I didn't want my nephews, nieces and pets any where near any chemicals on the lawn, nor did I want any wildlife to be affected. Also, I love gardening, it's my hobby!!!!!

 2. Did you do the work yourself?

I did everything on my front garden except removing the grass. I started to do that but it was a very back breaking job & hired a contractor to remove the grass.

 3. Did you create your own plan/design for your landscape or purchase one from a landscaping/garden center?

Yes, I planned & designed all of my gardens (I have more in the back of the house too!)!  

I basically did the following:

1. I took some paper & drew out where my house, driveway, walk way would be with some basic measurements of the area I was working with.

2. I started with picking some of my favorite plants (lavender, there are 24 of those in my front garden) that would as least work well in a drought environment. 

3. Also, picking plants with different blooming times  and different heights, colours & textures of plants. You also need to consider the size (height, width) the plant will eventually grow too as well, and draw basic circles as to where you would like these to be on your plan.

 

 

 4. What resources did you use for selecting the features and plants in your project? For example, workshops, books, websites that you would recommend. 

I went through some of my gardening books, magazines (basically have my own gardening book library) but other fellow gardeners could go to the library & gets some ideas for what you like.

For examplle: structured, formal, informal, Old English, low maintenance, drought tolerant etc. 

5.What were your biggest challenges in completing the project? Any other tips/hints or advice for other residents considering doing the same? 

The biggest challenge I faced was keeping costs down!  So, I re-landscaped in the fall (October/November). This is what I did and why:

 1. Some of my plants were obtained at end of season garden centre sales; you can get great deals when they are closing down, sales, sales, sales! You can also get other materials too if you need them, like landscape fabric, mulch, enriched soils and so on.

2. Ask neighbours, friends and family if they are downsizing any plants that are spreading and need to be divided or if any plants created any offspring that they are removing. I checked out my own yard for plants that could be reduced in size in other areas and transplanted those to the front.

3.If you'd like to incorporate other non plant materials check out some construction sites & ASK if any of the materials from old buildings being torn down, like old bricks and stones, are free.  Either these would be recycled else where or they would go to a landfill for waste. 

It's a great way to recycle!  I used old bricks for a walkway & large stones as accents - all free. 

 5. What sort of maintenance does your project require, how much time to you spend on it compared to when you had a lawn?

I mulched a lot; first laying down several layers of newspaper then adding bark mulch on top several inches thick, this keeps the moisture in and weeds down. I only watered (from rain barrels) for the first month, as the plants were new to the area.  Then I let nature take its course. I don't water at all (nature takes care of that) and just do some weeding, in which I spend only a couple of hours, every couple of months - that's all!

 6. What do you enjoy most about your new space?

It's giving back more than it taking! More beautiful flowers, more wildlife, like the birds, bees and other insects to enjoy watching. And it takes less human energy & no machine or fuel energy. And there's just a wonderful peaceful and calming scent with all those lavender plants in the air!