An Incredibly Fabulous City Garden – In The Middle of Toronto!

This week’s Garden Showcase comes to us from Toronto, Canada, courtesy of Jennifer Arnott.

 

From the moment Jennifer purchased her home – she went to work. And as you will see in her story below, we mean she went to work that very same weekend!

As with any type of urban gardening, space is at a premium, and Jennifer really uses her space wisely. She grows everything from heirloom tomatoes, to garlic, flowers and more.

Jennifer has truly created an oasis in the middle of the city.

When she is not tending to her own beautiful landscape, Jennifer loves to help gardeners by writing her own weekly garden tips and resource articles on her blog, The Fabulous Garden.

 

One of things we love most about This Is My Garden – we continue to find great gardeners like Jennifer that love to talk gardening!

Let’s take a look at this incredible city garden, courtesy of Jennifer.

A Fabulous City Garden In The Middle of Toronto!

I love to garden because there’s always something new to learn and I love creating with plants.

I’ve been gardening since I was old enough to hold a trowel, when my dad would give me a little plot of his huge vegetable garden where I could grow what I wanted (with a little bit of help and supervision.) From tending that little vegetable patch to following my maternal grandmother around as she cared for her flowerbeds, gardening was a regular ongoing part of life for me growing up.

All that changed when I went away to university and then started renting an apartment in the Toronto area.

In 2003, the need for some soil to call my own coincided with a bank account finally big enough to cover the down payment on a very small home with a decent size lot in Toronto. The sale closed on a Friday night.

By Sunday afternoon I had the first new flowerbed dug and planted in the front yard. By the end of the summer I had removed all of the grass on the property and planted the foundations of the garden that is still growing and maturing more than a decade later.

Today, most of the front and back yard is covered by a collection of perennials and shrubs. I’m the first one to admit that it’s more of a gardener’s garden than a landscape artist’s garden—although the front garden did win Runner-Up for Best Garden in the western half of Toronto in 2012.

Potscaping is a theme throughout the entire property, adding colour and the opportunity to wedge in more plants. The very back of the garden, where there is full sun for most of the day, is home to the vegetable area.

Most years there are more than 15 heirloom tomato plants, each soaring to more than 10’ in height, along with a year’s supply of garlic and a few other vegetables and herbs.

My garden is a continuous teacher and a source of delight in all four seasons. Wanting to share the joy of gardening with others, I’ve been trying to help new gardeners by equipping them with tips and resources through weekly articles on my garden blog, http://www.thefabulousgarden.com.

Gardening in the city can have its challenges. But I’m able to walk out my door and into a garden that is a complete world away from the cement and traffic, yet minutes away from transit, great coffee, shops and one of the best nurseries in the city.

It’s a delight to have been able to create this garden and work on it, as it works on me.

Share Your Garden With The World…

Thank you so much for sharing your incredible city garden with us Jennifer!

We want to showcase gardens from all around the world! So no matter what you grow, how you grow it or where you grow it – share it with the world on This Is My Garden.Com!

If you would like to have your garden featured in one of our Weekly Garden Showcases, email us your garden story and pictures at info@thisismygarden.com, or use the share my garden tab on the website and submit it online. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to get our updates as well!