Divorce your lawn and replace it with perennials. Here's how to kill it.

You've driven past that yard — the one where someone ripped out half the lawn and put in a garden so stunning you slowed down to stare. That garden didn't require a landscaping crew or a five-figure budget.

It started with cardboard.

Now is the best time of year to get rid of your lawn.

Imagine less lawn cutting this summer. It is easy to do. Most people think spring is the only planting window. They're wrong.

Smother your lawn now, and the ground has six to ten weeks to transform before you plant. Late-summer perennials go into warm soil, settle in before frost, and wake up in May like they've always been there. 

Start smothering now. Plant in six weeks and you will have the garden of your dreams!

Choose a prominent spot on your lawn or more than one.

Spend two or three days watching your yard before you do anything. Sun exposure determines everything.

• Full sun (6+ hours): Maximum plant options, maximum drama.
• Part shade (3–6 hours): Still beautiful — different plants.
• Full shade (under 3 hours): Workable, but come talk to us first.

How big?

Start where you can see the garden from inside the house. A garden you can't see gets neglected. And go big. Minimum eight feet across with a walkway on both sides so you can access four feet in for maintenance. 

Smother that lawn. No digging!

1. No herbicides. No sod cutter. No rototiller. You need cardboard, topsoil, compost, and a hose.
2. Mow the area as short as possible. You're flattening, not removing.
3. Remove rocks or anything that creates a gap. Gaps are where grass comes back.
4. Wet the ground thoroughly.
5. Lay corrugated cardboard directly on the lawn. No cardboard with colour printing or gloss. Remove tape and staples first. Overlap every edge by at least six inches — cardboard shrinks as it dries, and gaps are the enemy. Grass will find any gaps and squeeze through, defeating your effort.  Go a few inches past your intended border.
6. Soak the cardboard. It needs to stay wet to smother what's underneath.
7. Spread 3–4 inches of topsoil over the wet cardboard. Don't skimp — thin soil means stressed plants.
8. Spread 3–4 inches of compost on top of the topsoil (North Bay dump has it for a cheap price). This is where your plants will live for the next twenty years.
9. Water deeply after the topsoil and compost are added.
10. Walk away for four to six weeks. The grass is dying in the dark. Earthworms are moving in. Your bed is building itself.
11. Remove any weeds that may pop up in the top layer. They will be easy to pull out.

Edging

A clean edge is what separates a garden that looks intentional from one that looks accidental.

• Trench edge — cut with a flat spade — is the most beautiful and permanent. No materials, no deterioration, re-cut once or twice a season.
• Steel or aluminium edging holds a clean line for years with no maintenance. Worth it if you hate weeding.
• Fieldstone works beautifully in Northern Ontario. If your property has rocks, use them.
• Avoid plastic scalloped edging. It heaves with Zone 4 freeze-thaw cycles and looks cheap because it is.

What to Plant? Book a consultation

Most new gardeners lose money buying what they are attracted to without asking the questions that matter: Does it survive a Zone 4 winter? Will the deer eat it? When does the plant bloom?

Getting plant selection right from the start is the difference between a garden that thrives for twenty years and one you're replacing every spring.

A Gardener Nation design consultation takes the guesswork out of all of it. We design based on two principles:

Right plant, right place.

We build a plan specific to your yard—your soil, your sun exposure, your deer and rabbit pressure, and your vision. 

Blooms from May to October

We will design a garden for you that blooms from May through October. Flowers to enjoy every day!

We will provide you with a mapped-out plan, so you know exactly what to plant, where to put it, how tall it grows, when it blooms, and how your garden will look every month of the season.

Book a consultation, and all the plants you need to fill your garden are 50% off!