Backyard
The backyard is the Green garden – ‘Green’ because the dominant color scheme is green and white, although other colors are also present in lesser amounts. Because the backyard is shady (even with the removal of the ash tree in 2022), the plants have to be ones that can cope with shady conditions. White is the most common color of flowers on shade plants. Far from being monotonous, the color scheme contributes to the cool, serene oasis feel of the backyard. With the shade from the red oak and white pines and the evergreens of various sorts belonging to the neighbours behind us, the temperature in the backyard in summer can be cooler in the backyard than in the front – a welcome difference in the heat of the summer! In winter, the sun warms the living room. However we took down the ash tree in 2022 
as Emerald Ash Borer damage was increasing even though we had the tree treated for it several times. The red oak was also limbed-up in 2022 and some pruning done on one of the white redbud trees and the white pine was also limbed-up. This removal/pruning altered conditions in the backyard garden but should reduce maintenance by eliminating some of the leaf clean-up and removing ash tree seedlings as a weed problem. As we are now both in our 60s, reducing garden work is desirable.
The backyard is a shade/woodland garden and conditions are managed in order to give as natural woodland conditions as possible. The key component of this approach is that all leaf litter, including pine needles, and plant material are retained and allowed to ‘compost in place’ in the garden beds. Snails have been the main insect pest in the backyard (although ticks are now also a concern for people and dogs!) While they do benefit from overwintering in the leaf litter, the plants and soil benefit more. Leaf damage from snails will occur and is tolerated, although as many snails as can be found are hand removed and killed during the garden season.
The woodland garden, unfortunately, comes with an abundant collection of woodland insect life – namely mosquitoes! During the summer, they are a major deterrent to working out there unless in a full ‘bug-suit’. They can also make eating outdoors in the evening very uncomfortable, so we gave up on using the patio for outdoor dining. Outdoor recreational/entertaining seating is largely patio chairs and loungers on the back porch, where the mosquitoes are less prolific. Major garden work in the backyard should be timed to be completed in April-early May before the mosquitoes come out of hibernation, and again after late October when they return to hibernation. Otherwise, wear bug protection.
Ticks that carry Lyme Disease have moved into southern Ontario. Here in suburbia, deer are not an issue but chipmunks and white-footed mice are other carriers of the deer ticks. We have chipmunks in the garden (probably mice too although we haven’t noticed them….). So I’ve been thinking over the past several years about what might need to change in the garden to reduce tick risk (aside from trying to get rid of the chipmunks!) The first thing that came to mind is to reduce the number (or size) of bushy perennials and shrubs abutting paths to minimize the number of plants that you brush against when walking along a path. We removed a couple of big goatsbeards in fall 2015, replacing them with Actaeas set further back from the path.
Many sites that discuss ticks recommend removing leaf litter to help deter ticks by eliminating habitat. The garden plants like the leaf litter for nutrients and soil improvement. So the leaf litter will stay but great care is needed to do tick checks after working in the garden, and dressing appropriately to minimize opportunity for them to attach. Spring and fall are apparently the most dangerous times – i.e. when they are emerging from dormancy in spring and looking for a blood meal, and when they are preparing for dormancy in the fall and looking for blood meals to build up their food reserves for the dormant period. Unfortunately, spring and fall are also busy chore times in the garden, so caution and lots of tick-checks are recommended!
When the ash tree was removed the light conditions in the backyard changed (although less than expected – as the shade from other trees was more extensive than anticipated….) which could change the range of plants that will grow there. Over our tenure in the garden, we have planted a number of ‘understory’ trees that helps the north side of the garden to remain a shade garden in the absence of the ash. Many of the plantings will tolerate either sun or shade so will survive significantly higher light levels. The oak tree in the south woodland area was be limbed-up which will allows more light into that area but the area remains shady. Barring disease, there is no reason to expect the oak tree to fail, so it should stand for at least another 50 years, and probably longer! So, the loss of the ash has minimal impact on the light and growing conditions south side of the yard has minimal effect on the light level. The neighbour to the south is now in his 90s and the likelihood that his bungalow might be sold and replaced with a bigger, two story house with tall wood fences is a significant concern re future light levels and growing conditions in this area. In January 2019 the neighbours to the north removed their dying ash tree. It was not near our property so its removal did not have any effect on the light levels in our garden. In the winter 2019/2020 the neighbour to the north also removed a dead pine tree that was near our fence. Since the neighbour’s pine tree had been dead for a couple of years, its removal also did not have much of an impact on our garden. (In 2015 we had removed a dead pine on our side of the fence – and used the stump as a ‘nurse log’ to hold moisture and provide nutrients for a ‘Wolf Eyes’ dogwood we planted in the area, and pieces of the trunk as ‘nurse logs’ at the base of the fence for the plants located there.) In the Fall of 2021 the neighbour behind us started doing major house renovations and replaced the existing 3′ chainlink fence with a 6′ cedar one. 
It will be Spring before we know what effect it might have on plants in that area but it already makes that part of the garden look smaller! This picture was taken from the back porch Jan. 16 2022. The green in the background in front of the fence is lower branches of the neighbours spruce trees. Those branches were removed by them in the summer of 2022.
The components of the backyard garden are:
The path network, which encompasses both the back and front gardens, serves a number of purposes.
- It provides structure to the garden space, most notably highlighting the rectangular lawn.
- It makes it easy to navigate through the garden which makes it possible to be IN the garden when you are in the garden so you are immersed in the garden experience.
- Since it is possible to make a complete circuit of the garden, front and back, by starting at any point and following where the path leads you, the path network is one of the elements that link the ‘private’ back garden to the ‘public’ front one, making the whole space one coherent garden.
- Maintenance is facilitated by making it easy to move wheelbarrows, wagons, lawnmowers, and other garden equipment through the garden. Since it is possible to reach the center of most beds (with the notable exception of the large front bed in places) from the paths without needing to step into the bed, weeding and deadheading are easier, with less risk of damaging plants or compacting the soil.
The paths had been usually 1/3 concrete sand and 2/3 pine bark mulch from Petrie’s. Beginning in 2021 hemlock bark mulch was used. In 2022 hemlock bark was applied to all paths, in both the front and back gardens. All bark mulches will deteriorate with time. Every 3-5 years, top up the path material with new mulch . Since we did all paths in 2022 we will be ordered 6 cubic yards of mulch. Hemlock mulch can come in a range of colors depending on the age of the tree source and age of the mulch. So it is a good idea to take a look at the mulch before buying it! We preferred the color of the Petrie’s hemlock mulch at their yard in Milton. Hemlock is also supposed to be slower to breakdown than other bark mulches. Dump in small loads of the bark along all the garden paths. Spread with a heavy rake. It is also desirable to compress it flat with a water-filled roller – although this step is often omitted! In areas where water accumulates during spring run-off and on slopes there may be a bit of erosion/washouts of mulch after heavy rains. A few years ago we used ‘crusher run’ gravel (which packs to a firm surface but is fast-draining) as a path base in wash-out prone areas, packed it down with the roller, before topping it with the bark mulch to keep the paths’ color blended into the garden.
In Fall 2018 the garden service we employed used leaf-blowers to clear leaves from paths (blowing them into garden beds). Unfortunately under the pines the years of accumulated half-rotted pine needles were very light and the leaf-blowers blew too much material off the path, exposing drainage gravel – and old no-longer-used soaker hoses. The hoses were removed, the gravel covered with mulch, and no leaf blowers should be used in any areas where the underlying material on the path is anything other than packed earth!
The patio bed is dominated by large, mostly blue, hostas
and is simple and easy to maintain while being quietly showy.
We added a fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) 
in 2010 to provide future shade for this bed in anticipation of the eventual loss of the ash. Most of the hostas can take some sun but will do better with shade; the fringetree should eventually provide that in the absence of the ash. While the ash was still present, the fringetree did not get a lot of light but the fringetree grew and flowered well. It is not a fast-growing tree and will only get to be 15′ or so in any case. It’s a very pretty small tree that seems to suit the location and is happy there.
When the hostas get very large they should be divided. One division should be replanted in the same spot. Other divisions can be placed in the oak garden, the ‘wet corner’ or available space in other beds – or given away or composted. The neighbour to the north has added various hostas from our garden to their garden. In 2023 divisions from existing hostas will likely be added to places in the front garden to attempt to smother rampant lemon balm! While it is conceptually simple to divide hostas, the sheer mass of the plants can be an issue. They should be divided in spring just as the tightly furled spears of the new leaves are 2-3” tall. Dig out the entire root ball (a crow bar may come in handy at this point!). Divide the ball into pieces – this is not a delicate task; a hatchet can be useful… Any chunk with leaf spears and roots attached can be easily transplanted. Refresh the rootball hole with compost and replant a chunk in the same location. Plant remaining pieces elsewhere in the garden if there is a need for them, or give them away to other gardeners, or compost them.
The Persicaria polymorpha (large, white-flowered perennial that looks like a shrub by June but dies to the ground each year…) blooms well in shady conditions – there are several in various locations in the backyard – but has a more open habit and blooms a bit later than the one in more sun in the front garden. They require minimal maintenance. Deadheading can extend the bloom time. The fading flowers are not attractive so you’ll want to deadhead them. In the fall, cut the stalks down to the ground and add to the compost pile or put them out for the fall garden waste pick-up by the Town. By late summer the plant is very large and has been known to blow over and uproot part of itself if there is a very windy day. If that happens, cut it back, replace the uprooted section into the ground and tamp down. It will survive!
In 2018 we moved a Veronicastrum that was in too much shade under the oak tree to the hosta patio bed where it gets a bit more light. It did very well in 2019 and subsequent years so seems happy in its new location. It should need minimal maintenance other than deadheading if the flowers look unattractive as they fade.
There are a number of columbine under the clothes-dryer and on the south end of the patio bed. They will self-sow if you wait until the seed heads ripen (turn brown) before cutting them down. The foliage of columbine generally gets ‘ratty’ after the flowers finish so, after sufficient seed has ripened to regenerate the plantings, cut the old foliage to the ground and new, fresh foliage will emerge from the base and remain attractive for the rest of the season.
There are miscellaneous other perennials in the patio area – largely varieties of heuchera, ferns, daylilies and corydalis. Cut back any unattractive dead foliage in spring. Deadhead daylilies as necessary but otherwise these will need minimal care. Eventually the daylilies, and perhaps the heuchera, may need dividing but they all should be able to remain in place for a long period of time. Actually I dislike the daylilies in several places in the garden that have golden-yellow flowers. That color better suits the neighbour to the north’s garden and I hope to move those to her garden in 2023.
There are a few spring bulbs in this bed, but conditions are not ideal. The emerging hostas will hide any dying bulb foliage so no effort is required to care for the bulbs. If you wish to add more spring bulbs, concentrate on the smaller bulbs (e.g. snowdrops, scilla, muscari, winter aconite, miniature daffodils etc.) that do not require full sun conditions.
There is no need to clean up the dead hosta foliage in either Fall or Spring. It will feed the soil if left to ‘compost in place’. Snails may overwinter in it but they can be removed/killed by hand picking whenever you see any. The hostas in this area are all ones with fairly heavy foliage which is less attractive to snails. You can also add chopped leaves from the lawn clean-up in the fall to add more organic matter. Adding a layer of the fallen pine needles is useful as organic matter and also seem to help to deter the snails.
The living room bed runs across the back of the house. It is largely under the overhang of the roof and therefore very dry. The plants are ones that can handle tough conditions with little extra care.
The bed is bracketed at either end with Bridalwreath spireas (Spiraea prunifolia ). These big, old-fashioned shrubs are smothered with tiny white flowers on the long, arching branches in June. The flowers bloom on ‘old wood’ – i.e. woody stems produced in the previous year(s). Therefore, if you prune these shrubs in late summer, you will cut off next summer’s flowers! These are NOT shrubs that can/should be pruned into stiff shapes because that will likely prevent the formation of enough ‘old wood’ to allow them to flower well. In addition, a good part of their attraction is the flowing, arching shape of the branches. They can get to be very large though so, to control size and maximize flowering potential, after the flowers fade, each year remove 1/3 of the woody stems at ground level, removing the biggest (oldest) stems each year. That will control the size and completely renew the shrub every three years, while ensuring maximum flower display each year. If the shrub still gets too big for your taste, you can cut it completely to the ground after flowering finishes and let it regrow. If you cut it back just after the flowers fade, it should still be able to regrow enough new stems to put on a flower show the following summer.
The other large shrub in this bed is Beautybush (Kolkwitzia amabilis) – which is what is flowering in the picture to the left. Like the Bridalwreath spirea, this is an ‘old wood’ bloomer so can/should be pruned in much the same way, although it will not take as kindly to a complete cutting back. It is best to stick to the 1/3 a year. It will get taller than the spireas and was, in fact, planted in front of the ‘blank wall’ between the living room and office windows with the intention for it to eventually reach as tall as the roof overhang. At that point, when it blooms in late spring/early summer, it should be a cascade of fragrant pink down that wall! 
By 2011, the beautybush had got large enough, with fairly woody/bare lower stems to make me see the potential to train it to arch over the path to make a tunnel effect. Beginning in spring 2012, I have been attempting to train it into a tunnel effect. Combined with the arching form of the nearby white redbud, it is beginning to make a nice effect. (The arch took a bit of a setback in 2013 as a miss-communication with DH resulted in a too-severe pruning of the beautybush. But it recovered…)
The bed has a number of small bulbs for spring interest, although some of them have petered-out and need to be replaced, although I keep forgetting to do it! The dying foliage is hidden by the perennials that emerge as the bulbs fade. The perennials can largely be left to their own devices, needing little care or dividing for many years. 
The most unusual perennial in the bed is probably ‘White Pearl’ bugbane (Cimicifuga simplex ‘White Pearl’ =Actaea matsumurae ‘White Pearl’), which does not start blooming until early November!
This bed should be covered each fall in a thick layer of chopped leaves to add organic matter to increase its nutrients and water retention ability. A perforated extension pipe connected to the downspout near the patio has been run through the back of this bed to carry rainwater from the downspout into this bed.
The rectangular lawn is one of the most striking features of the garden, partly because most people find it unexpected. 
The path around the lawn highlights it as a separate feature and not just residual space left over from making the garden beds. The expanse of simple green is the serene and calm heart of the woodland garden, contributing greatly to the feel of the space as a cool and peaceful place. (note that in this older picture the ash tree is shown near the north end of the lawn – this tree was removed in 2022.)
In spring 2015 we decided to put a path between the south end of the lawn and the bed under the oak. (Previously the path only went around three sides of the lawn.) The new path made access to the bed easier and although it made the lawn a bit smaller, it improves circulation around the garden. The proportions in this drawing are not totally accurate, but it shows the general layout of the lawn and backyard garden: (The red Xs indicate where trees were removed – a dead pine and a dying pussy willow on our property and a dead ash on the property to the south of us.)
The first dusting of snow in December also does a good job of outlining the garden’s layout as shown in these pictures:
Since the lawn grass was shaded by the ash, it was fairly weak. The only maintenance required in this area is:
- Weekly grass mowing.
- Fertilize the grass spring and fall. Top dress and overseed the lawn in either spring or late summer if necessary (see comments below).
- Early spring, using an edging spade or half-moon edger, cut a line along the edge of the grass and path (stakes and string can be helpful in keeping the line straight) and remove any grass roots that have invaded the path.
- Renew the path material as needed per the instructions under Paths above.
In the fall when the ash drops its leaves, there were a LOT of leaves! 
(One of the contributing factors in the decision to remove the ash in 2022 was to minimize maintenance required by fallen leaves and removal of ash tree seedlings).
The big project in the backyard in 2022 was the removal of the ash tree, which included grinding out the stump and re-sodding the lawn (in part, because of failing of the grass due to shade from the tree and, in part, due to the damage done by equipment during the tree removal). A relatively large branch was trimmed off the red oak in the spring and the leaning/propped up side of the north white redbud tree was also removed at the same time.. Here are some pictures of the process:
Red oak after removal of lowest branch. The bark has regrown over about half the cut portion and should have completely covered it by next summer.
The leaning/propped up side of the redbud removed:
The long process of removing the ash – although it was all done in one day! Although the tree was removed in early April and the lawn was re-sodded in late May….
Between taking down the tree and re-sodding the lawn. the paths were re-mulched.
Re-sodding the lawn was a very necessary and important part of the project!
The north woodland beds are those bounded by the patio bed on the east, the pines on the west, the chainlink fence on the north and the lawn path on the south. The beds were created using the ‘lasagna’ method where leaves and miscellaneous organic matter were piled on the grass and all left to rot down for a few months before planting into it. This approach results in slightly raised beds with rich soil high in organic matter. Over time the soil level has reduced so it is now almost level with the paths in most places.
There is little maintenance required in these beds. White corydalis (Corydalis ochroleuca) is a groundcover over much of these beds. It is almost evergreen as it is one of the first things to green up in spring and one of the last to die off in fall. It will bloom from early spring to late fall. It does seed around a lot but is easy to remove (by yanking handfuls of the unwanted plants – they uproot easily) if it appears where you don’t want it. Watch out for yellow ones that might appear (most are from seeds blown in from the neighbor to the north’s garden…) Remove any yellow ones you see or they will out-compete the white ones.
There are a number of Brunneras, particularly in the beds closest to the pines. They have pretty forget-me-not blue flowers in spring at the same time as the whit
e redbud tree blooms. It’s a very pretty combination (see picture to the right – this is from 2008 so the tree is more substantial now and the see-trough chainlink fence was recently replaced by a tall cedar/wooden one as discussed above.) Redbuds are not very hardy so there may be winterkill – in spring 2015 there was extensive winterkill that needed to be pruned off. The tree survived though and, while it did not bloom in 2015, was looking good again by the end of the summer. After the winter 2019/2020, the redbud developed a severe lean. We debated taking it down but we like the flowers and the flowers didn’t seem to be affected. On the advice of an arborist, we propped it up. In 2022 we had the leaning side pruned off by the arborist that removed the ash. That substantially reduced the size of the tree but, hopefully, it will survive and grow more upright!
But the brunnera also seed around – and crossbreed freely! Watch out for seedlings, particularly in the paths closest to the pines. Remove the seedlings. The silver ones can be attractive but many are not ‘true’ to their ‘Jack Frost’ parent. You may want to keep some of the seedlings with attractive foliage. Some particularly large-leafed very silver seedlings appeared in late 2014 among the ‘Branford Beauty’ ferns to the north of the shed. The original brunneras there almost completely died out in the brutal winter of 2013/2014. The very silver, large seedlings have thrived since 2015.
The main thing to watch out for in these beds is ash tree seedlings. Learn to recognize them at the seed-leaf stage and remove them as soon as you see them. Once they get their true leaves, they rapidly develop a deep tap root and are difficult to remove. Hopefully the tree seedling problem will go away as the ash tree was removed in 2022. I am not sure how long the ‘seedbank’ for the ash might remain viable so it makes sense to still look for the seedlings in the next year or two.
This is a difficult area to garden in (and take pictures of – too dark…) because it is very dry and shady. It takes a very heavy rain in summer to penetrate the pine tree canopy. Soaker hoses were used to establish initial plantings but have not been used in a number of years and the last of them were removed in spring 2014. A few bits of them may appear when you dig in this area since hoses under the pines were gradually buried by the annual fall ‘needlecast’ when the pines drop their 2-year-old needles each year in late October. In spring the pines replace those needles with a new growth of needles.
We limbed up the major pine in summer 2022 to provide more light and moisture to the shrubs under there. I hope the variegated weigela will bloom more noticeably as it blooms at the same time as the beautybush in the living room bed – which is across the lawn for this area. It should also improve the fall color and spring bloom for the small serviceberry bushes that grow at the south end of this area.
The bank against the rear fence is particularly dry so finding what will grow there has been a continuing process of trial-and-error. I first hoped to be able to grow rhododendrons there. They struggled for several years before I gave up and gave them to the neighbor to the north in exchange for some seedling Japanese maples. A couple of the baby Japanese maples survived for quite a few years but declined and died in the past few years.. Some blue hostas are hanging on at the top of the bank. Apparently the green hostas do better than the blue ones in low light so I may replace some of the blue ones with divisions of some of the green ones from elsewhere in the garden to see if they do better than the blue ones in the light conditions of the bank. When we removed a dead pine a few years ago, we put sections of the dead trunk along the back fence to act as a moisture sponge for the hostas and other things growing there. It seems to help a bit but the dry conditions still mean things struggle to grow well. What effect the neighbours behind us replacing the chainlink fence with a tall wooden one in late 2021 will have on the plants growing in this area remains to be seen…
A Prosartes trachycarpum (a wild Fairybells) popped up on its own on the side of the bank and has been left to grow – and hopefully spread (although there are still no signs of it spreading….). Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is also establishing in a couple of places on the top of the bank, as are some Trillium grandiflorums. Both of those are spring ephemerals that will disappear after flowering. Solomon’s Seal has been doing well with hostas in a nearby area so I had added more of those along the bank. It is related to the Fairybells so they both seem adapted to the tough conditions. Unfortunately, in the past few years Solomon’s Seal has been struck by a nasty leaf miner insect by mid summer, which shreds the leaves and turns them yellow. At the first signs of it, I now cut all affected stems down to the ground and discard in the garbage (do not compost them!) I fear that, eventually, all the Solomon’s Seal may need removing from the garden!
In past years I grew Golden Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’) in pots on the patio and transplanted it into the bank in the fall. They survived surprisingly well for a few years, although they struggled to deal with the dry conditions – and nibbling by our small poodle! But, by 2015, they had largely given up the ghost 😦 In 2010 I added a ‘Sum and Substance’ large golden-green hosta near the beginning of the path under the pines on the shed end. Since a golden path to light up under the pines appealed to me. I added some gold-leafed evergreen euonymus along the fence on the bank in spring 2011 to see how they would do. I also added a couple of small Japanese maples and a couple of perennials with golden-green foliage, particularly Golden Japanese Forestgrass and bright green heucheras. The heucheras did not manage to survive more than a year and the other plantings, aside from the golden Full Moon Japanese maple have not done well. By 2018 the S&S hostas disappeared too and there are few remains of the euonymuses, and the Full Moon Japanese maple died in the winter 2020/2021 so this remains a rather barren area!
In 2013 I added ‘Prairie Fire’ and ‘Golden Shadow’ dogwoods, Hinoki False Cypress ‘Verdoni’, ‘Golden Dreams’ boxwood for their bright green foliage. The brutally cold, relatively dry 2013/2014 winter killed the ‘Verdoni’, and the ‘Golden Dreams’. The dogwoods survived with some damage but continued to decline and were dead in 2018. So I’ve given up on my golden path!
The areas outside/approaching the golden path area have developed a silvery theme – silver-foliaged plants, green and white or blue and white variegated plants, and white or lilac/lavender-colored flowers carry the silver theme. Since there was a green and white variegated ‘Wolf Eyes’ dogwood and a blue and creamy white variegated hosta in the gold area, the two color themes seemed to blend well together.
The vast majority of the ‘Jack Frost’ brunnera visible in the pictures above did not survive the winter of 2013/2014. Since the silvery ‘Branford beauty’ ferns (Athyrium ‘Branford Beauty’) added to the garden in 2013 did survive, more were added to the area where the brunnera died out to continue the silvery theme. By late summer 2014 a few silvery-leafed brunnera had reappeared in the area – obviously from seed. The most silver of the seedlings were retained and have proven to be large, showy plants. Unfortunately the ‘Wolf Eyes’ variegated dogwood was badly damaged in the winter 2013/2014. By spring 2016 it died completely which was a significant loss for the look of that area.
The main groundcover under the pines has been Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum). It is a vigorous spreader and may need to be pulled back off the paths every few years. You can usually just run a flat-bladed tool, such as a crack weeder, under the shallow roots in spring and then just roll up the mass of plants like a carpet until they are clear of the path. Unfortunately, much of it died out in the brutal winter of 2013/2014. Some has returned – either from seed or a few surviving remnants. It is gradually spreading and should eventually become the groundcover there again. There are also a number of trilliums and some small bulbs that will appear in spring. Just leave them alone to flower and spread as they like. They are all ephemerals that will die to the ground after flowering.
There is, however, some lily-of-the-valley that appears sometimes. If you see any, remove them as they would soon spread and choke out everything else. While the flowers are nicely scented, they are otherwise thug plants that are generally unattractive – especially when dying back in late summer.
There is climbing hydrangea on the north fence under the pines. It struggles but is surviving. Since it can’t use its rootlets on the fence, it needs to be tied in – or woven into the mesh of the fence. It had it’s first flowers in 2015. Since there is more light in the neighbour’s yard on the north side of the fence, the climbing hydrangea flowers usually appear facing in their direction!
There are a number of perennials and shrubs towards the lawn edge of this area. All of them can be largely left to their own devices, although you may need to prune off branches that start overhanging the path edges.
In fall, after the needlecast in late October, rake the pine needles off the paths and onto the plants under the pines. The needles make a good mulch and the plants have no problems coming up through them in the spring. Some of the needles can be used to mulch the patio hosta bed to help discourage snails.
In Spring 2015 we noticed that one of the pines on the north side was dead. There are a couple of relatively spindly ones there. We suspect one may have died in the winter of 2013/2014 – and we just didn’t notice! We had it removed in late fall 2015. Since it was relatively spindly for a number of years, its removal didn’t change the garden conditions much in that location. Since we greatly enjoyed the ‘Wolf Eyes’ variegated dogwood that died on the south end of this area and wanted another one, in spring 2016 we planted one by the stump of the dead pine. The stump serves as a ‘nurse log’ for the young dogwood, soaking up moisture and releasing nutrients and moisture to aid the dogwood as the pine stump breaks down. 
In the same area a mystery lily appeared in 2015. As it developed in 2016 it revealed itself as a Martagon lily! We have no idea where it came from as we’ve never planted one! We like it though and hope it will seed around. I do wish, though, that it was a white one instead of pink as white would be a better companion to the variegated dogwood. I may decide to add a white Martagon to the area. The Martagon lily did not appear in 2021 but we hope it may return again in 2022….
This is not the best of pictures but since late summer of 2020, the Wolf Eyes dogwood had got big enough to be somewhat visible from the back porch – if you look closely you can see Wolf Eyes in the background and the fringetree in the patio bed in the foreground of this picture taken from the back porch near the patio door: 
Hopefully if the dogwood continues to do well, it will become increasingly visible from the porch. In Fall 2022 The white edges of the leaves turned pink…! When I looked on-line I can see that this is common Fall colour for Wolf Eyes dogwood. So it makes for another positive attribute for this small tree.
When/if the shed needs repainting and you want to use the same colors; all colors are Benjamin Moore, Aura exterior latex. The door has a semi gloss finish; the rest are low luster. BM 666 Bonsai – door, plus door and window trim; BM 489 Oak Grove – walls; BM 488 Mountain Lane – top and corner trim. .
The Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Blushing Bride’ that flank the shed door bloom on both old and new wood so can be pruned in spring without fearing loss of flowers. They could be pruned down to 18-24” in spring to prevent them from getting too big for the space. When they flower in summer, they will continue to flower if deadheaded/flowers cut to bring into the house.
There had been Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) spilling over the log edge of the bed on the north side of the shed. Most of it did not survive the winter of 2013/2014. A few ‘Branford Beauty’ ferns were added to the area where the candytuft died. On the south side of the shed, what we thought were Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris) bloomed vivid yellow in spring under the pussy willow tree before the tree was removed in 2015. They then went completely dormant for the summer, leaving that area bare. They turned out to be an invasive look-alike and I’ve now been working at removing them! Most are now gone but watch out for round, shiny leaves of seedlings and if you see any, remove them!
In 2016 we moved an ‘Empress Wu’ hosta 
to beside the willow stump. This large hosta should eventually cover most of the bare ground.
By 2020 ‘Empress Wu’ had increased in size substantially!
Watch out for garlic mustard weeds and buckthorn tree seedlings. Both of these are persistent and noxious weed problems and they must be removed as soon as you see them so they don’t have a chance to get established.
There are a number of trees and shrubs around the shed. As they mature, the shed should increasingly fade into the background of the garden. Please note that the purple-leafed tree on the north side of the shed, not too far from the fence, with white spring flower clusters followed by red berries is a chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). The flesh of the fruit is edible – but the pits/seeds are poisonous, as are all other parts of the tree! In front of the shed on the right had been a Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa). It was moved to that location from a shadier spot. Unfortunately it died in the winter 2020/21 and no new growth returned from the roots, so it was cut down in 2022. A young Heptacodium was planted in 2022 in the small bed in front of the shed. It needs to be pruned each year in the next few years to keep it as a single-trunked small tree. Hopefully, the removal of the ash tree will provide it enough light to flower in September and attract monarch butterflies as they migrate south. Time will tell….
There is a large burning bush on the north side of the shed. It should be pruned as necessary in the spring to keep it to several large trunks and removes any seedlings or growth that makes it too dense for easy access. Burning bush shrubs have a reputation in some parts of the continent to being invasive through seeding. So far, we haven’t noticed any problems but it has only in recent years started to flower a lot in late May/early June. So keep an eye on it and remove it if necessary…. It does produce nice Fall colour – although only late in the season (usually November).
As with elsewhere in the garden, minimal clean-up is required in spring and fall as fallen leaves and the previous year’s dead foliage can/should be left to compost in place and feed the woodland soil. There is a Persicaria polymorpha under the pines to the north side of the shed area and it can be cut down in the fall as the dead stems can uproot part of the plant when they fall over. There are other Persicaria polymorphas on the south side under the SW part of the oak canopy. They can/should also be cut down in the fall. There are several hydrangeas in the shed area. All can/should be pruned to control size in the spring.
The compost heap behind the shed is divided into two piles. Add material to one pile one year while applying the finished compost from the other to the garden. In spring the following year, fork the top 6” or so (which will not have composted completely) of the other compost pile into the empty space where the compost that was used in the garden in the prior year was located. Add new material to this pile this year and apply the finished compost from the other side to the garden. If you alternate the use of the piles in this way, you will have a ready supply of finished compost with the least work, while always having a place to add new material to be composted.
- Woodland South side a.k.a. the oak garden
The young red oak that was a scrawny little thing when we bought this property in 1999 is now quite a substantial tree that will continue to increase in size for a number of years. It takes oaks in the range of 25 years to mature enough to produce acorns – this one started producing acorns around 2005. So far, the squirrels diligently harvest the complete crop and all we’ve seen are shell fragments! Since the shape of the acorns is distinctive between oak species, an intact acorn would be useful to determine exactly which species of red oak this tree is – Northern Red Oak is our best guess, but we’re not completely sure.
Oaks are ‘garden friendly’ large trees because, while they cast substantial shade, their roots do not form dense masses that out-compete anything planted under them for moisture and nutrients. The leaves, while large, do not form thick mats when they fall so don’t smother plants beneath them. About 1/3 of the leaves actually stay on the tree through the winter, only dropping off in late winter-early spring when the current year’s growth pushes off the old leaves. The last leaves to come down in spring tend to accumulate in the south alley and along the path by the fence in that area. A spring chore is to suck them up with a mulching leaf-blower and spread the resulting chopped leaves on the south alley/oak beds. Leaves that fall into the beds under the tree itself are left in place to act as mulch and compost in place, although we did use the mulching leaf blower to suck up most of them in spring 2019, and spread the chopped leaves back into the beds they came from.
The oak puts on a surprisingly vivid fall show, best seen through the living room window. 
The color starts off slow and then seems to complete the change overnight. You walk into the living room one morning and it looks like there’s a fire outside – especially if it’s also a brilliantly sunny October day.
Buckthorn seedlings can be a problem in this area, so watch out for those and remove them promptly as soon as they appear.
We’ve been encouraging trilliums to colonize this area. There are both red ones (in the section closest to the shed) 
and white ones (largest colony around the fallen trunk of the dead apple tree).
The white ones are most common and are now spreading by both offsets to the underground bulbs and seedlings. It can take 5+ years for the seedlings to bloom. Be careful not to accidentally weed out the seedlings! Until they get their first true leaves, they only have one seed-leaf instead of three. If you find small ‘weeds’ near a mature trillium, they are likely to be seedlings. Look closely to see if any have three leaves yet which would confirm they are trilliums. If in doubt, leave them be until the next year! In order for the trilliums to thrive, as usual for all the woodland beds, let fallen leaves accumulate. undisturbed and rot down naturally. Do not disturb the soil unnecessarily. Do not water when they are summer dormant. If you need to water a new planting in the garden in the summer, spot water that plant instead of putting a sprinkler on the whole bed.
(Soaker hoses were originally used to get these beds established but the last of the hoses were removed in 2014). The dead apple tree fell over in 2013 and was left in the bed as a ‘nurse log’. Christmas and Holly ferns were planted near it to provide cover for the trilliums after they go dormant (although only a few ferns survived….). The dead tree acts to trap moisture and, as it rots, it feeds the plants growing near it. The reward for allowing the natural accumulation of leaf litter and dead plant material is a thriving colony of trilliums, a beautiful native plant (the floral emblem of Ontario) with a reputation of being difficult to grow.
Across the path from the dead apple tree, there are a couple of hydrangeas. One is an Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), which blooms on ‘old wood’ (previous years’ growth) so should not be cut back. If, after the leaf buds start emerging, you can see tip die-back (i.e. the ends of the branches are dead/black), you can cut the dead parts off. Beside/entangled with the oakleaf hydrangea is a Hydrangea arborescens ‘White Dome’, which blooms on ‘new wood’ (current year’s growth). This one can/should be cut back quite hard as it can be quite leggy/floppy if left unpruned. It has lighter colored, less woody stems so it should be easy to distinguish from the oakleaf one. If you are unsure which is which, wait until some leaves emerge – the oakleaf one, as its name says, has leaves that look like oak leaves. Leave that one alone and cut the other one back to 18” or so. There are are a couple of other hydrangeas in these beds. They are ‘new wood’ bloomers and can be cut back (but not too far) or left alone to get bigger. It may be best to leave them alone until you are sure where they are (easy to find them when they bloom!) and decide how big you want them to get. That pesky weed Garlic Mustard has managed to get itself established near the oakleaf hydrangea, so keep an eye out for it and remove any you see.
There are a number of spring ephemerals (plants that go dormant after they bloom in early spring) in these beds – spring bulbs, trilliums, and Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica). Do not be concerned when these plants appear to ‘die’. The Bluebells are the most obvious when they’re dying back. They will return next spring and emerging perennials will quickly hide the dying foliage. The Bluebells seed around a fair bit and you will probably want to remove some of them from time to time. When they start going dormant, dig out and compost any excess. There are also forget-me-nots in a few places in these beds. They are biennial – produce leaves in year 1 and flowers in May in year 2, set seed and die in July. When you notice the foliage starts to blacken and look messy, rip it out and discard it. Seedlings will pop up nearby to flower the next spring – so they can appear to be perennial.
There is a fair bit of Solomon’s Seal in these beds, especially in the area adjacent to the lawn. It’s a beautiful native plant with pretty dangling white spring flowers. The arching foliage is attractive all summer and then turns a lovely clear yellow in the fall. As noted previously, Solomon’s Seal is now being attacked by a leaf-mining insect that destroys the leaves starting in mid-summer. Cut any damaged stems to the ground and discard them in the garbage (do not compost them!) When the clumps get too big, sections can be dug out in spring just as the new spears are emerging. Replant elsewhere in the garden, give it away or compost it as needs dictate.
There is a Saskatoonberry shrub on the south side at the top end. 
It generally did not get enough sun to fruit well but it’s an attractive shrub with nice fall color. The neighbour’s dead ash across the fence was removed in Fall 2015. That increased the light level enough to improve fruiting and we finally got fruit starting in 2020! The local birds were happy…. The shrub suckers a fair bit and I remove most of the suckers. Removing the lowest (and a few other) limbs of the red oak in 2022 should also improve the light reaching the Saskatoonberry to further improve blooming and fruiting.
There are a number of columbines through the beds, particularly on the south side nearest the fence. Once they’ve finished blooming and are starting to look ratty, they can be cut to the ground. Fresh foliage will regrow from the base. It is best to let some set seed and scatter the seed since they can be short-lived plants. The dwarf Korean goatsbeard (Aruncus aethusifolius) at the top near the path along the back of the house has white flower spikes, turning brown in July. Deadhead them to prevent excessive seeding. There are a couple of large shrub-like perennials – Persicaria polymorpha – that have white plumes of flowers in summer. Cut the stalks down to the ground in the fall (the tall stems can uproot the plant if they are left in place and get blown over in late fall.) The rest of the perennials can be largely ignored during the growing season. In very early spring, remove any woody-looking stalks of prior year’s growth that did not deteriorate over the winter. There is no need to cut back anything other than the Persicarias in the fall as the woodland garden needs the dead organic matter to produce healthy woodland soil.
There is a relatively young nice native flowering dogwood in this area near the shed. Like many dogwoods, it blooms well one year and more poorly the next year, and then goes back to a good bloom again the following year. Native dogwoods are susceptible to anthracnose (Discula destructiva) disease so this one – and another one closer to the south fence – may succumb to this disease eventually. If you see signs of it, cut the tree to the ground and dispose of it in the garbage. From the office window in late May 2019: 
If you look closely in the picture of the dogwood by the shed you can also see that there is a small holly ‘tree’ nearby. The holly started as a shrub and then sent up one straight shoot. Since all the other hollies we tried to grow failed after a few years and this one hadn’t been doing well either, I decided to cut off all other branches and see if it would grow as a tree! It is still small and staked to try to support the trunk until it (hopefully) becomes sturdier! So far, so good…. but the stake and tree were leaning so we re-staked it in 2022 using a metal stake (because the wooden one had rotted). The only maintenance I do is to cut off any branches that appear at ground level – none have appeared in the past year or two but I keep watch for them…. 
This picture to the left below was taken when leaves were off trees in 2017 shows the holly ‘tree’ a bit better, but it is still small so isn’t a big feature! Maybe someday it will be…. Hollies have male and female trees and only the female fruits if there is a male pollinator nearby. I had no idea what sex the ‘tree’ was but, since we have no other hollies, I did not expect it to fruit. But it did starting in 2020! 
I assume a neighbour nearby must have a male holly to pollinate it.
So, while the beds around the oak are large and full of plants, they do not require a lot of care or maintenance.
The ‘wet corner’ garden is the southwest corner of the property, bounded by the chainlink property-line fences on the south and west sides, the shed on the north side and the path along the bottom of the oak garden on the east side. There is a short ornamental iron fence on the path edge – this can be removed if you like. The fence was originally installed to keep our late-lamented Golden Retriever out of this area which is a muddy bog in spring. (While she could have easily stepped over the fence, she recognized it as a no-go sign and never crossed over…) The ‘wet corner’ is the low point of the properties that meet in that corner. Snowmelt and spring rains mean that area is virtually a bog in spring – you cannot dig a hole without it immediately filling with water! It dries out later in the summer when summer drought arrives. So, plants in this area need to be able to tolerate both wet feet in winter and spring, and drought in summer.
Ostrich ferns are a perfect fit – too perfect! There is a spreading mass of them in the corner. 
You need to remove some each spring to keep them confined to the corner area or they will spread out to block the path. There is a large goatsbeard at the back fence, near the ostrich ferns. It makes a nice combination with the ferns. The fading flowers become unattractive when they start to turn brown so need to be deadheaded at that point. Hydrangeas are also doing well on the side closest to the shed. They should be cut back in spring only to control size and remove any dried flowers that remained on the plant all winter. They will bloom on both ‘old’ and ‘new’ wood and will bloom all season if kept deadheaded.
An attractive and somewhat unusual plant in the wet corner is the colony of Kirengshomas. It is a spreading collection of somewhat maple-like foliage that produces tall spires of pale yellow dangling bells in late summer (common name – yellow waxy bells.)
As usual in the woodland garden, let all the leaf litter and previous year’s perennial growth die back and compost in place. Watch out for Buckthorn seedlings, Garlic Mustard weeds and Wood Sorrel and remove immediately.
– stain and several coats of exterior grade varathane – cracked and peeled. In 2011, we sanded the wooden supports for the screen, and painted them in the ‘Bonsai’ dark olive green color to match the shed door and shed window trim. In 2016 we replaced the air conditioner – and forgot to check the dimensions of the new one before committing to buy it – it is taller than the old one! 
clothed in clematis, kiwi, and honeysuckle vines. Until the clematis got established, there were annual Morning Glories on the copper fence and east end of the chainlink fence. Now that the clematis are well established, I have been trying to eliminate the Morning glories so have been removing as many seedlings as possible in spring. By 2019 I did not see any Morning Glories so the seedbank in the soil is probably used up by now. The clematises on the fences are all of the Group 3 – hard prune type which can be cut down to 12” or so in the spring – but I just cut them down to the top of the chainlink fence if I cut them down at all. Originally, ‘Jackmani Superba’ was the primary clematis on the copper fence. ‘Huldine’ and ‘Betty Corning’ were added over the years. Both are very vigorous so the three varieties now compete for the space! The clematises have not performed well in the past couple of years so fertilizing them needs to be done each spring.
in spring to coordinate with the lilac bloom, then to be dark purple and dark red on the arbour, 
shading through pink to white, then shades of blue to dark purple at the far end of the alley. 
rub was beautiful but too vigorous (see picture on the right!), and all the cedar posts supporting the swag chains started rotting at the base! So in Fall 2019 we removed (broke off at the base) all the posts and chains, with the plan to remove all the plantings on the house side and replace them with perennial geraniums as a ground cover. That was done in Spring 2020 – all shrubs in the alley were removed, most surviving clematises were moved to the arbour at the gate and ‘Biokovo’ perennial geranium planted as a groundcover along the house. 
The garden at The Yellow House 
