Leaside is an ideal neighbourhood for gardeners. Although named after a railway junction, it developed in the early 20th century as a model garden suburb with generous curving streets and spacious lawns and boulevards.
Within Leaside is Garden Court, a two-hectare oasis of courtyards and low-rise Art Deco residential buildings designated a heritage property in 1989 by the City. For the past eight years, I have incrementally expanded a native plant garden at my front entrance facing Berney Crescent. Last year it grew tall and lush with compass-plant, red cardinal flower, boneset, grey headed coneflower, New England asters, swamp milkweed, and a buttonbush and spicebush. It was rewarding to see butterflies, bees, and birds visit this diverse patch of over 25 native species.
This past spring, management left notices for tenants in my building that all plants would be removed from the building perimeter and replaced with alpine currant shrubs. A limited area would be left for us to plant but the remainder would be a single species of a non-native shrub.
The rationale was that this shrub was planted as a hedge when the buildings were constructed and is original to the site. However, changes to railings, stoops and signage (for various reasons: code, comfort, wayfinding) vary from the original design. Furthermore, we are living in a changing climate with extreme storms, more frequent floods, hotter and longer heat waves, worsening air quality and species extinction. Trees, shrubs, native grasses and wildflowers all play a part in providing habitat, soaking up stormwater, improving air quality, and mitigating urban heat island effect. With the help of Neighbourhood Climate Action Champion Luisa Perez Colby, we relocated shrubs and wildflowers to other areas of Garden Court and created new plant beds in previously bare and weedy areas. Besides beautifying the grounds, these horticultural areas create a more productive landscape, increasing capacity for stormwater absorption, providing pollen and habitat for pollinators, and sequestering carbon.
Garden Court and Leaside have generous green spaces on both private and public property to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. One of my favourite gardens is on Bessborough Drive where the homeowner has transformed the boulevard to create a wildflower meadow around their young oak tree.
We are lucky to live in a neighbourhood full of green opportunities. It’s time to restore our ecosystem to a healthy and thriving web of life. It’s time to give back and give up a little lawn and neat hedges for the insects and animals that made this area a beautiful place to settle and make a home. The City of Toronto has a PollinateTO program that supports community groups which want to build a native plant or rain garden. Grants open Sept. 10 and the deadline is Oct. 21 to apply for up to $5,000 in funding.
René Fan works for the City of Toronto as a gardener. She is also a landscape architect and previously managed the green infrastructure maintenance pilot with the City’s Green Streets program.