Dorval and the West Island · Tiohtià:ke

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Our garden in Dorval

Flight Path Garden

The Flight Path Garden is our own lot in Dorval: 135 square metres at the front and 600 at the back. The front has the ornamental borders we took over in 2021 and a lawn-to-eco-garden conversion, sheet-mulched in October 2025 and planted in May 2026 with 380 plants of 41 native species. Summer 2026 was its first summer. The back holds a mini-forest started in 2022, two rain gardens, a hügelkultur garden, an ornamental border in progress and an eco-mix lawn, with a bog garden planned for 2027.

Every plant in this guide grows somewhere on this lot. Drag the sliders to compare the yard before and after, then look through the beds one by one.

The front garden in its first summer, full of native perennials along a curving lawn path and stone walk. — The front garden in its first summer, 2026.

Before and after

Drag the line to see what the lawn became.

The same front yard after planting, with native grasses and perennials along a curving lawn path. — **The front yard.** Lawn along the sidewalk, then the same edge planted with grasses and perennials behind a curving mowed path.

The front lawn before the conversion, with a newly mulched bed at the top. — **The front yard.** Lawn along the sidewalk, then the same edge planted with grasses and perennials behind a curving mowed path.

The back yard after the first stage, with new beds and young trees set into the lawn. — **The back yard.** An open lawn under the old trees, then the first beds and young trees of the back conversion.

The back lawn before the conversion, open grass under mature trees. — **The back yard.** An open lawn under the old trees, then the first beds and young trees of the back conversion.

How it changed

From the first trees in 2022 to a full front garden in 2026.

A newly planted bed in the back with a young white pine, birch saplings in trunk guards and Rudbeckia hirta. — **2022.** The mini-forest begins at the back of the lot, with a young white pine and birches in trunk guards.

The front lawn covered in wood-chip mulch around a young tree, before planting. — **October 2025.** The front lawn goes under mulch and is left to break down over the winter.

The newly planted front garden with young grasses and perennials in fresh mulch. — **May 2026.** 380 plants of 41 native species go into the front, larger potted plants first and plugs around them.

The front beds beside the stone walk, with hostas, grasses and flowering perennials. — **First summer, 2026.** The front beds start to fill in along the stone walk, with mulch still showing between the young plants.

The front bed seen from the sidewalk, with Joe-Pye weed, grasses and boulders. — **From the sidewalk, 2026.** Low plants at the front edge and the tall Joe-Pye weed set back from the walk.

A monarch butterfly feeding on pink Joe-Pye weed flowers. — **Summer 2026.** A monarch on Joe-Pye weed, one of the plants in the front garden.

The zones

Front yard, 135 m²

Ornamental Border, Full Sun

The left-hand border by the front door, in full sun. Perennials, foliage plants and annuals, including most of our plants from outside North America. We took this garden over in 2021.

Ornamental Border, Partial Sun

The right-hand border by the front door, in partial sun, with hostas, Hakone grass and other shade-tolerant foliage plants. Also part of the original 2021 gardens.

St. Lawrence Lowlands Ecosystem Demonstration Garden

About three quarters of the former front lawn, set around the boulder, planted in 2026 with native plants of the St. Lawrence Lowlands.

Meadow and Alternative Lawn Demonstration Bed

Shows how to mix grasses with flowering plants, and our low-mow and no-mow alternatives to lawn. As seen on CTV News Montreal.

Back yard, 600 m²

Mini-Forest

Started in 2022 with the first trees from GRAME and still growing: maples, birches and white pine planted close, with shrubs, ferns and groundcovers below.

Rain Garden #1

At the back, near the composter. Three native sedges take the runoff, with swamp milkweed.

Rain Garden #2

Mid-yard, draining to the back ditch, with winterberry, willows, turtlehead and meadow-rue. It will connect to the bog garden in 2027.

Hügelkultur Garden

Hügelkultur mounds at the far back, under the maple, built over buried logs and branches. Hostas, Canada anemone, ferns, wintergreen and a small cedar.

Ornamental Border

Mid-yard and in progress, with the full border planned for 2027. Daylilies, coneflowers, elderberry, a weeping spruce and Rudbeckia hirta so far.

St. Lawrence Lowlands Eco Mix Lawn

The third of the back yard nearest the house stays as lawn, now being converted to a flowering eco-mix of clover, thyme, self-heal and other low plants. As seen on CTV News Montreal.

Bog Garden

In the planning stage for 2027, fed by Rain Garden #2, and it will feature native carnivorous plants.

Coming in 2027

Sources and credits

Where every name and photo comes from.

Photos are from iNaturalist observers who chose a Creative Commons licence that allows reuse (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA). Names in Kanien'kéha and Anishinaabemowin are only shown where a source records them, and each links to that source. Where no source records a name, the page says so.

Photos

Photo credits.

Photo	Plant	Stage	Photographer	Licence	Where, when

Names and facts