Welcome to Outside Space Blog
What kind of gardener are you?
You’ve never been in trouble before but your garden moral compass has been a bit wobbly these past few years. Could it be all the peer pressure to “do the right thing” coming from a new fashion in gardening? Here’s something that might be of interest to serious...
Toothless new ByLaw.
I’m not an advocate for home gardeners planting dangerous invasive plants. Sadly, I see how Toronto ravines, and even the TBG grounds, are infested with Japanese Knotweed and dog strangling vine. There doesn’t seem much likelihood either that such aggressive plants...
An educated approach to harmful plant species.
A recent study (the Study) by the University of Toronto of vascular plants in Toronto (GTA) was very revealing; https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2688-8319.12036 1 - The Study determined that there are 1,937 plant taxa in the GTA. Of these, 822...
Evolution Fights Back.
BREAKING NEWS Evolution Fights Back. Reports are coming in that Mother Nature has been rushed to hospital and is in intensive care. Boris Liementel, the chief spokesman and publicist for the global enterprise has said, “Mother Nature is feeble and is in danger of...
Borrowed land and borrowed views.
This part of my garden is ‘borrowed” from the City of Toronto. In exchange for weeding and watering I get to plant what I like, but nothing that will invade my neighbours’ outside space. It’s my attempt at a larger scale of naturalistic planting and when viewed...
Companion perennial vegetables.
Even though my earliest days in gardening were all about growing vegetables I gave up the practice shortly after planting my first garden in Toronto 30 years ago. For me vegetable growing in a small city garden was fraught with challenges. From catching the right time...