I can’t always get out to the wilderness so I thought I’d bring a little wilderness to our home.  4 years ago I tore up my entire front lawn with a grand plan to turn it into a lawnless, native plant garden.  There were a number of challenges not the least of which was a large, mature Norway Maple smack dab in the middle of the front yard.  Now, I have nothing personal against Norway Maples as long as they stay in Norway where they have developed a shallow water sucking root system, create a thick light blocking canopy, drop countless aggressive seedlings and drip a destructive acid to eradicate competition from other plants.  Now these are great characteristics in Norway where these trees must survive on a thin layer of poor soil over a base of bedrock.  Here in Canada they are now considered an invasive species.  Suffice it to say, we can’t cut it down due to city bylaws and it does provide shade for our house, so I had to find a way to work with it.

Luckily, the former owner had pruned the tree before we bought the house which allowed more light onto the yard particularly on the south and east sides. In hindsight I would have stretched the project out over two or three years doing a small patch at a time but I decided to redo the front yard all in one go.  After removing the grass which was enmeshed with the shallow tree roots accompanied by a whole bunch of cursing and swearing I was battered but not beaten. I carried on even when accosted by a somewhat drunk, smoking, eastern European neighbour who was pulling his pug in a grocery cart and whose only disdainful comment was “Vhy you not have lawn like everybody else?”, as he flicked his cigarette butt on my yard and walked away in disgust. At least he was honest enough to say how he felt to my face, unlike some other passers by who visibly showed their displeasure as they walked by.

I have to admit that the first two years it looked like a pile of dirt with a few scraggly native plants trying to take hold but I was committed.  Even now, in the spring and fall, it looks like a forest floor, but hey, that is the look I was after.  I did add a few features to make it look somewhat like a planned garden including laying down a brick path, planting some evergreens and deciduous shrubs, grouping plants in areas and adding a bird feeder and birdbath.  And to be fair, some of my neighbours did make positive comments about some of the flowers that blossomed and some of the features I added and the kids loved the wild strawberries which helped boost my spirits.

Admittedly, not much to look at in the spring, unless you are into the forest floor look, but most of the plants are ephemeral which means they die right back in the fall and do not emerge from the ground until spring.

This late April picture show some life returning to the garden.  I’ll introduce you to some of the  early spring bloomers now and update you on progress in upcoming blogs.  Here are some close ups for you.