Photo by Michael Graydon
A small patch of green
A fresh transformation of a bleak and narrow backyard in the city delights on all levels
You might call these homeowners the accidental gardeners. Back in 2003, the Toronto couple bought their first property, a semi-detached sliver of a home with an even narrower backyard—18 feet wide by 37 feet long to be exact. The long alley of grass was patchy and brown, and the land sloped down toward the back of the property. Privacy? Forget about it. Plants? Save for a few potted herbs, none to speak of. “It was very…nothing!” says the homeowner, describing the space. But even worse than the yard’s bleak appearance was the dilapidated shed, which the homeowner found, well, depressing: “It had a brown door and two little windows on either side and it always looked like a sad little face to me. But we didn’t know what to do.”
Fast forward to a sunny fall day four years later. An oversized ceramic pot overflows with vinca and crimson chrysanthemums, while spectacular trees including an almost neon-yellow ginkgo and a scarlet Japanese maple rival each other’s beauty. Down a few steps at the back of the yard lies a sunken play area for the couple’s two children. Best of all, an inviting soft-green structure sits in place of the old sad shed.
So how did two black thumbs end up with this contemporary-looking urban paradise? Simple. They sought help from Andrew Skeoch of Fossil Landscapes in Toronto. Skeoch’s first order of business was to level the yard and put up a lattice fence, intended to provide privacy without completely closing off the small space. The homeowner admits she was not convinced about the fence at first. “It was not as high as I initially wanted, but it is actually quite nice and does make the yard feel more open,” she says.
Next, the yard was split into two distinct tiers. The first level, just outside the back door, was designed for entertaining and lounging. Underfoot is a flagstone patio leading to the yard’s most unusual feature: a circular lawn, which Skeoch says is meant to function as an exterior carpet. “It’s like the floor for the sculpted garden that surrounds it,” he explains. Skeoch planted easy-care, self-sustaining plants such as hydrangeas and rhododendrons around the lawn along with lily turf, a grass-like perennial native to Southeast Asia with small purple or white flowers in summer.
At the back of the lawn, another small flagstone patio turns into three steps, which lead to the garden’s lower tier. Down here is the children’s play area—a square filled with crushed granite sand. It’s the perfect place for smashing trucks and splashing in a wading pool. “The kids just love it,” says the homeowner. “They shovel out stones and put them into trucks or wheelbarrows. In fact, all the kids who come to play are fascinated with the stones!”
Last but not least, Skeoch turned his attention to the dreaded shed. Rather than knock it down, he chose to make over the existing structure with fresh paint, new wood siding, a sleek flat roof and modern details such as the steely grey-brown beamed arches. “The shed has made the biggest difference,” says the homeowner. “The beams give it such architectural interest.”
Adding further dimension to the garden is Skeoch’s use of colour. Moss green paint covers the steps from the house, as well as a new storage locker attached to the house, which hides garbage and recycling. The same colour is found on the shed and the retaining wall near the children’s play area. At first, the homeowners wondered if it was too much green. But once they saw the way the colour interacted with the red fruit of the ornamental crabapple and the Japanese maple’s vibrant crimson leaves, they understood Skeoch’s vision. “We wanted hip paint choices that were influenced by trends in fashion and design,” says Skeoch. “The green creates a sense of the outdoors being vibrant and happy all year.”
And that’s exactly how the family feels about their space. From spring to fall, the homeowners share responsibilities in the garden. One handles watering while the other does the weeding and mowing. They’ve managed to keep all the plants alive, except for a few delphiniums that just wouldn’t cooperate. Despite the two-year process, the yard has gone from “nothing” to something functional and beautiful. “I remember the day they started bringing in all the plants, thinking, ‘What are they going to do with all of those?’” the homeowner recalls. “Then I saw how lush it was out there. Just looking out the window makes it all worthwhile.”
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