Gardening
Is there magic in your backyard?
Unlike front yards, backyards are private spaces that can be used in many ways. A perennial garden, a playground for the kids or a quiet place to reflect. A backyard can be whatever you want …more
Gardening
Gardening
Tribute to a piece of paradise at Randolph and Kenrae
1 Kenrae Rd. is now sold, and the neighbours are worried – not for the usual reason (think monster home replacement) but because of the future of the jewel of a garden that graces the …more
Gardening
Leaside is blooming, but is it buzzing?
“Monarch butterflies could disappear.” “Bats headed for extinction.” “Rusty patch bumble bee now an endangered species.” Headlines like these opened our eyes to just how little we know about pollinators and the serious state many …more
Gardening
The great rain gain with rain barrels in Leaside
“The best things in life are free. The second-best things are very, very expensive.” —Coco Chanel What kind of summer will we have? A wet one with flooding like last year? Hot with a record-breaking …more
Gardening
Gardens for the future: More Leasiders are going lawn-less
Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, it’s in the mind and heart, and when thoughts and feelings change, so do the visions of beauty. For more than 60 years the garden aesthetic …more
Gardening
Houseplants: do we really need them?
This long and cold winter has kept me indoors more than I’m used to and caused my annual spring fever to kick in earlier. A bunch of fresh tulips usually calms me down, but not …more
Gardening
The Leaside Gardener: The Magic of the Bayview Pixies
Like a tiny seed that blows in the wind and lands on fertile soil, the magic of unseen forces stirs and something new begins. In 2015 a retired teacher and local resident wrote a letter …more
Gardening
The Leaside Gardener: A step in the light direction – in search of the stars!
Leasiders take gardening seriously and know it’s about more than just growing plants. Gardening is about connecting to nature, understanding the environment and working with it. Soil, water, air, temperature and light are essential to …more
Gardening
The Leaside Gardener: A tribute to the Northern Spy Apple
We have a wonderful history of apples here in Leaside thanks to John Lea and his son William, who dedicated most of their farmland to apple orchards. Not just any apple either, but the Northern …more
Gardening
Perennial Containers 101: how to avoid “empty balcony syndrome”
Since my August column in Leaside Life, Container Gardening- Growing up to cool us down!, I asked a few friends with condos in Leaside why so many balconies are empty. Their response? “It’s too windy, …more