Cardinal Glen Ecological Landscaping

10/21/2026

From balcony container gardens to 150 sqf townhouse gardens to 2000 sqf suburban lawn conversions, each and every home garden matters. More than you may realize.

An insightful post from American designer Benjamin Vogt about how ecological gardens are deeply meaningful and desperately needed. When are you creating yours?

10/06/2026

More plants is indeed the answer to almost every garden issue!

10/02/2026

An abundance of fall! Asters, goldenrods, grasses, berries, and seed heads of summer flowers.

09/16/2026

Sleeping and slow bumblebees in the asters, goldenrod, blazing stars, and grasses

08/28/2026

A perfect day for planting in New Edinburgh

08/20/2026

08/15/2026

Matrix design is the foundation of ecological design. Great explanation here. We use grasses and sedges for the matrix in our designs as well as low perennials.

If you’re new to natural garden design and want to show intention while still having a wilder, climate-resilient landscape, the matrix style is it. Plus, honestly, it’s just really darn accessible and actionable no matter if you’re creating a shade meadow or sunny prairie echo -- and no matter...

08/12/2026

Thrilling to watch our spring installations grow in! This streetside section of a lawn conversion features prairie smoke (Geum triflorum) and cylindrical blazing star (Liatris cylindracea), native to southern Ontario, as well as autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis) and calamint (Clinopodium nepeta subsp. nepeta), two cultivated European species.

In the first years of a new garden, plants often grow too tall for their immature roots to balance. The wonky, floppy Liatris cylindracea here will stablize itself and grow upright as its corms grow larger and deeper.

07/14/2026

Layered planting is the key to both beauty and resilience in ecological design.

Here, pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida) is beginning to bloom above drifts of hairy beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus) and a matrix of little bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium).

07/10/2026

During the devastating storms on Canada Day, I happened to be watching the storm out my back window when my neighbour's Norway maple ripped in half.

Half remained standing, half landed on my nursery. Luckily not on any houses.

Today, my son and I watched Neal and his incredible team at Up There Tree Care and his colleagues at Capital Timber Company and Gardiner Tree Trimming & Removal Ltd safely lift the Norway out with a crane. An enormous buckthorn had grown into the maple's canopy many years ago, hiding it from view, and this was also lifted out.

More photos and video to come with advice about managing invasive trees and how to restore soil health after their removal. -Christina