City legalizes boulevard gardens, just in time for spring planting

Flower and shrub gardens will be expressly allowed on city-owned boulevards for the first time this spring.

"In recent years, there has been a growing interest among residents and community stakeholders in utilizing boulevards for gardening purposes," say Jeffrey King from the city's legal department and Emily Cormier, sustainability coordinator.

"Boulevard gardens beautify streetscapes and well-chosen, non-invasive plants that are designed to retain moisture can reduce water usage and therefore the need to use mowers and fertilizers," say King and Cormier in a report prepared for last week's city council meeting.

Councillors agreed on measures to support development of boulevard gardens, while at the same time ensuring safety, accessibility, and aesthetic appeal of public spaces.

"The proposed bylaw amendments provide opportunity for planting perennial and annual plants no greater than 75 centimeters in height (approximately 30 inches), which is a common height for vehicular traffic sight lines and aligns with the zoning bylaw sight triangles. It excludes any crop producing plants that may attract wildlife to the roadside and offers restrictions of invasive plant species," they say.

No one will be allowed to plant on a neighbour's boulevard unless the neighbour consents.

The city's existing property standards and yard maintenance bylaws require that grass be no more than 20 centimetres (approximately eight inches) high.

City staffers will review the changes prior to the 2026 planting season to determine if changes should be made.

Here, to assist with your design and seed/plant selections, is the full text of the new boulevard requirements:

Established boulevards

All such portions of the highways as are situate between the curb or edge of the roadway and the nearest street line, exclusive of the area covered by the public sidewalk, are hereby set apart for the purpose of boulevards.

Any abutting property owner to a boulevard that abuts a Class A road, being a road with sidewalks, curbs, or shallow ditches, shall maintain said boulevard in accordance with this bylaw and any related municipal bylaw, including but not limited to the city's yard maintenance bylaw

Boulevard improvements by abutting owners

Subject to any other relevant bylaw of the corporation, no abutting owner or occupier to a boulevard shall maintain the boulevard abutting their property other than in grass, flowers, and shrubs, and in accordance with the following standards:

• unless maintained in grass, a 30 cm setback shall remain in place for all sidewalks, curbs and driveway edges
• all flowers and shrubs used to create a boulevard garden shall be limited to perennial or annual plant material up to 75 cm tall except within street intersection lots where flower and shrubs shall not exceed 30 cm tall
• boulevard gardens shall not consist of any crop producing plants
• decomposable mulches are permitted
• noxious weeds and invasive plants are not permitted
• nothing that is protruding, sharp or dangerous in any way, or which may injure any person shall be permitted
• no grasses or weeds shall exceed a height of 20 cm
• the landscape treatment shall maintain positive surface drainage
• the property owner at their sole expense shall locate all servicing, including but not limited to gas, phone, Hydro, cable, prior to commencing any improvement permitted herein on the boulevard
• the property owner shall not remove or modify any existing infrastructure, electrical facility, or other existing object previously placed upon a boulevard by the corporation [city] or any utility
• the property owner at their sole expense shall locate their property line through their legal survey and ensure all improvements follow the city's zoning bylaw
• save for a designated driveway located between curb depressions, hard surfaces such as asphalt or concrete shall not be permitted
• trees, light fixtures, fences, pillars, signage, little libraries, fencing, posts, walls, in-ground irrigation systems, or hard mulches such as pea gravel or small rocks or bricks or concrete slabs shall not be permitted
• no improvement shall be permitted in a location that may, in the opinion of the deputy CAO – public works and engineering or their designate, impede or block access to any sidewalk or utility or interfere with snow removal or create a traffic safety issue
• improvements to a boulevard that include items not permitted in the above subsections require prior approval from the deputy CAO – public works and engineering or their designate, and may also require a municipal consent and a licence of occupation with the corporation

Removal of improvements

No person shall acquire any right or interest in any improvement made on or to a boulevard, as herein provided, as against the corporation. The deputy CAO – public works and engineering or their designate, may at any time enter on any such boulevard and remove, demolish, or otherwise alter or destroy any such improvement when, in their opinion, it is in the interest of the corporation so to do.

The owner or occupier of property abutting a boulevard shall remove any plantings located within the boulevard at their own expense upon 10 days’ notice from the corporation (except in cases of emergency) if such removal is considered necessary by the corporation or a utility for the installation, repair, or maintenance of any utility or for the maintenance of sight lines or if the plantings interfere with the use of the utility.

The owner may re-establish the boulevard improvement within 30 days, if communicated to the corporation or utility otherwise the boulevard shall be established to grass. The corporation assumes no responsibility for the cost of repairs of any of the damage to the garden on the boulevard due to removal for any reason

Prohibition

• no person shall willfully break, injure, dig up or destroy the earth, sod or grass of or in any such boulevard or drive any vehicle on the boulevard, or place or permit anything whatsoever to remain thereon, except as provided by this by- law or any other bylaw of the corporation or as otherwise permitted by law or for the purposes of improvements in accordance with the above conditions
• no person shall throw, place or deposit any refuse or debris on any boulevard
• no owner or occupier shall permit any refuse or debris to be deposited on the boulevard abutting his property
• every owner and occupier shall remove all refuse or debris from the boulevard abutting their property
• no owner or occupier shall place or deposit or permit to be placed or deposited any fill in a road ditch or drainage course located within a boulevard abutting their property
• no person shall leave unattended any obstruction on any boulevard, to wit an obstruction may include any basketball net, hockey net, skateboard ramp or any other object that interferes with the safe movement of pedestrians or vehicles

Improvements removed

The corporation reserves the right to require with due notice that the boulevard be returned to grass at any time at the property owner’s expense, failing which the corporation may remove all non-compliant material and restore the boulevard to grass

Indemnification – boulevard improvements

An owner who improves any part of the boulevard abutting their property... agrees by way of doing so, to indemnify and save harmless the corporation from all claims, demands, loss, costs, charges and expenses from which the corporation may sustain, incur or be liable for in consequence of the erection or maintenance the aforesaid items