Location: Saskatoon, SK

Brick Contractor/Irrigation: Brick by Brick YXE
Bricks Used: Broadway Paver from Barkman Concrete
Plants: Dieter Martin Greenhouse
Excavating: Dirt Pro Excavating and Landscaping
Plantings: Tufted Hair Grass, Karl Foerster Grass, Weeping Crabapple, Creeping Jenny

We have more and more clients coming to us and asking to ditch their lawn in place of a low maintenance landscape. I think this yard is a great example of this application. Most importantly, when installing a garden, is to start with quality soil. We source our favourite compost/topsoil blend from Deptucks Landscaping. This front yard was unfortunately infested with Campanula rapunculoides better known as Creeping Bellflower or “Evil Weed” as some gardeners call it. It is basically impossible to get rid of. Since we had the luxury of a new build and the opportunity to bring in some heavy machinery (thank you Jesse from Dirt Pro) we excavated one foot of weed infested soil from this yard before replacing it with our Deptucks mix. Instead of mulching with traditional wood chip mulch we decided to use crusher dust which is a finely chipped aggregate sourced here in Saskatchewan. This small chipped rock knits together very tightly when compacted and creates a semi impervious crust on top of the soil. The compaction makes it harder for weed seeds to penetrate and set root. It also allows water to flow through naturally and we were able to high our drip irrigation lines under a thick layer of the crusher dust. The boulders came from one of the client’s relatives and add the perfect amount of natural texture to an otherwise flat yard. We used a mix of native and bred grasses for a soft contrast to all the rock we were working with.

★★★★★

“ Gen and her crew were a pleasure to work with. Timely, creative, quality work.”

— DH