Converting Lawn to a Vegetable Garden--A Problem

All is not roses in the new boulevard garden. The little lettuce transplants in the edible section have come onto hard times. (Of course, the kale volunteers are all thriving.) Note the crumpled appearance of the lettuce plant at the bottom centre:

A second plant succumbed in a similar manner a day later, with its main root cut. Digging down I discovered the perpetrators, wireworms! The only good thing about these creatures is that they are such a bright orange color that they're easy to spot. With their hard bodies, they are difficult to smash, so to avoid a time-consuming mass murder, I took a bunch of them over to a new home in the forest. Although quite small they can do a lot of damage, and unfortunately, they live for several years.


I found out later that two of the favorite foods of wireworms are lettuce and grass roots. Perhaps instead of turning over the sod and retaining it for extra humus, I should have removed it entirely. However, the wireworms may have been lurking lower in the soil in the colder months when I was digging up the grass. It's something to consider if you are turning your lawn into an edible space. There is helpful information from British Columbia's Robin Wheeler here: Wiley Wireworms.

A New Boulevard Garden on 31st Ave., Continued

The March 10th blog about my new boulevard garden ended with a blank slate, and the future looked easy. But before planting, there were several tasks. To facilitate reaching into the garden without stepping on it, I divided my plot into two parts--one for flowering plants and the other for edibles (and a few flowering plants), separating the two plots with a path of stepping stones. Stepping stones along the curb are also a convenience for drivers parking on the street. As well, I wanted a bit of a stone barrier along the sidewalk for the part of the plot growing vegetables. I used a level to place the stepping stones (getting a curious comment from a male passing by wondering about a woman using a level). My neighbor installed paths of stepping stones also.

Making that initial decision about where to place plants is daunting. Two blueberry plants were the first to go in.
Along with the blueberry bushes, there is a pink dawn viburnum in the centre of the inedible plot. To the left are Rudbeckia plants, given to me by someone who says that they will get 8 feet tall. I don't believe him.
In this photo of April 14, even though a Brussels sprout plant, a couple lettuce transplants, and other plants were added, the plot still seems relatively empty. The little framed squares contain Nigella seeds.
Ten days later on April 24 the plantings look more established. My neighbor has planted groupings of lavender and heuchera, among other things.
As you round the corner from Camousun Street onto 31st Avenue, the new garden provides a welcome surprise from the usual boring grassy/mossy boulevard.
PS about kale. Despite the compost from the city being inert, two (or do you see more?) tiny rogue kale have established themselves in the inedible plot. Should I leave them there?

Creating a Boulevard Garden

Changes began to to the western end of 31st Avenue on February 8 when the the grass along the sidewalk and curb was dug out. Some of the dug-up sod was placed upside down in the middle to form a slightly raised bed. Cardboard was sourced in a nearby alley and placed over the site in order to discourage the grass from growing. A few leaves were scrounged to partially camouflage the cardboard and to provide additional organic matter. The area awaited the next dramatic phase.




On February 11, a city truck delivered a hot and steamy load of their compost to the block; one-half of it was dumped here.


Over the following weekend, the next door neighbours decided to create a boulevard garden, too.

Now there is a great big blank slate!

Fruit Trees in the Front Yard

One morning before 9 am there was a knock on our front door. It turned out be be a woman from Montreal, on a tour of British Columbia. As a child, she had moved into our house in 1942. We gave her the grand tour of this house that has seen few changes since it was built in the late 30's. I was most interested in her description of the garden that her mother had in the back yard. Along with a rose arbor and a "victory" garden, there were fruit trees at the south end of the lot. Alas, these trees have all disappeared as it is now too shady due to huge conifers in the immediate surrounds. However, one "heritage" apple tree remains. The owner prior to us transplanted it from his farm on Vancouver Island, perhaps in the 50's or 60's. We have enjoyed these tasty Cox's Orange Pippin apples for many years, but age and increasing dense shade have taken its toll, resulting in an unhealthy-looking tree:


At the UBC Apple Festival in October 2008, I met an expert at grafting. She took a twig of the old tree in the spring of 2009, grafted it onto semi-dwarf stock, and produced a "whip". In October in the sunniest spot I could find in the front yard, I planted the new Cox's Orange tree:



Coincidentally, there's another fan of Cox's Orange trees on 11th Avenue who planted two of them on the boulevard, perhaps last fall. This photo is from July:

Three fruit trees (perhaps apple) are newly planted on 30th Avenue, in a front yard that is being dug up. It's hard to see any of the trees, but look for the yellow label on one of them.

On 31st Avenue, east of Dunbar, a new cherry tree has been planted on the boulevard. I suspect that the landowner planted it since it is an edible variety--one of the coveted Rainier cherries!


Planting fruit trees on either side of the city's sidewalk can be a good option in terms of available sunlight, assuming the boulevard trees do not make too much shade. It can be a small beginning to creating an edible front yard!

A Native Plant

On November 1, I encountered these beautiful specimens of Amanita muscaria growing in a front yard on West 31st Avenue in Vancouver. Are these edible? According to Wikipedia, perhaps, but only under certain conditions. It's best only to admire them. I wonder how the animal feels that took a bite from the one in the left background.

In the same front yard, these more mature specimens are growing.

A Walk on 31st Avenue

The marine cloud cover did not lift until noon on the mid-September day when I took a walk on the block where I live on, checking for edibles in each front yard. In my own I found Swiss chard, the ever-present kale, sprouting broccoli, lettuce, and coriander gone to seed.

The next door neighbors get extra points because their two edible plants are also native plants. But they didn't plant them--likely a bird dropped salmonberry seeds.

Growing on further down the street is another salmonberry bush that has sprouted in a boulevard display. It's great to see these native plants.

Across the street are the healthiest Brussels sprouts that I've ever seen. Seeing them, I'm fairly certain that my two disease-ridden plants are losers.

The garden with the Brussels sprouts faces south; this next photo shows the left side. The garden is L-shaped, along the front of the house and west border. It includes a peach tree and an apple tree, along with tomatoes and more Brussels sprouts.


Not to be outdone, the next neighbor also has healthy Brussels sprouts and tomatoes. The cucumber plant has been producing since before Canada Day.


Back across the street, these gardeners have zucchini near the sidewalk and scarlet runners near their house, similar to their last year's planting.


New this year is this gardener's attempt to grow a cucumber on the boulevard, using a tiny decorative trellis.

An eclectic combination is growing on the boulevard--next to the bush is a potato plant and a tomato plant. Judging by the size of the tomato plant, it could be a "volunteer".

Arriving at Crown Street, I decided to check out the next block. It does not have as many adventurous veggie gardens in front yards, but there were two interesting places to see. This unconventional front yard has an apple tree.

But it also has a pear tree, with lots of pears!

Directly across the street is a vegetable garden that is easy to miss because it is situated in a corner next to the house and almost hidden by a boxwood hedge along the angled sidewalk. It is a fairly productive plot, with more of those Brussels sprouts! Can you see the eggplant?

Arriving at Wallace Street, I noticed a raspberry hedge, reigned in by a simple bamboo fence, in a side yard.

Returning home through the lane on the north side of 31st Avenue I came across a back fence with several hand-painted metal signs with sayings about gardening. This is one:

Edible Landscaping on the 4000 Block of W. 31st Ave.

Lurking, almost unseen, are vegetables growing in at least four of the front yards of houses in the 4000 block of West 31st Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. Word has it that someone on the block has encouraged others to plant vegetables in their front yards.

The first garden features Swiss chard growing among native plants adjacent to the front sidewalk. Further back, in an unlikely shady location next to the northeast side of the house, the pole beans are finished for the season but the nasturtiums are still thriving.

In the second garden, Brussels sprouts grow next to a rhododendron. Earlier in the season there were tomatoes and cucumbers. The owners were in the vanguard many years ago when they removed the grass in the front and landscaped with rhododendrons, witch hazel, etc., but now they make more space for vegetables each year.

The third garden has Swiss chard growing near the house. There is potential on this sunny south-facing exposure to grow a variety of vegetables.


In this mulched fourth garden, the green onions would not be seen unless you knew they were there. (A reminder--clicking on the photos enlarges them.)

Since no one has transformed their entire front lawn to vegetables, these are small endeavours. However, taken together, can we see the beginning of a movement? Perhaps next season there will be larger areas devoted to vegetables and more neighbors joining in.