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Sustainable Landscaping
The City is seeking input from residents and businesses on sustainable landscaping and the transition to zero-emission outdoor power equipment. Share your thoughts（https://haveyoursay.toronto.ca/transition-zero-emission-electric-outdoor-power-equipment-survey） by November 20.
The City is creating a cleaner, greener and quieter future. Through initiatives that support green infrastructure（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/enhancing-our-streets-and-public-realm/green-streets/green-infrastructure-resources/）, pollinator habitat creation（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmental-grants-incentives/pollinateto-community-grants/） and protection of local biodiversity（https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/parks-recreation/places-spaces/ravines-trails-natural-parklands/biodiversity-in-the-city/）, the City is transforming Toronto’s urban landscape. Building on these efforts, the City is transitioning to zero-emission outdoor power equipment (ZEOPE),（https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2025.IE21.4）adopting electric leaf blowers, lawn mowers and manual tools like rakes, while phasing out gas-powered engine equipment.
Zero-emission outdoor power equipment includes battery-powered or corded leaf blowers and lawn mowers, along with human powered tools like push mowers and rakes. These tools are preferable to the gas-powered alternatives (especially the human powered ones) as they are quieter and do not emit harmful pollutants like particulate matter and hydrocarbons.
Rethink Your Lawn
In Toronto, conventional turfgrass lawns are common, but they require frequent watering (accounting for about one-third of all residential water use) and demand time-intensive maintenance that often depends on outdoor power equipment. You can eliminate the use of these tools just byrethinking your lawn（https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw4HFX74m_k）.
Torontonians can rethink their lawns by introducing native plants and other habitat-supporting alternatives that reduce environmental impact, promote biodiversity, and save time and money. Lawn conversion doesn’t have to mean turning your entire yard into a garden; options include incorporating low-growing, trample-resistant groundcovers that provide ecological benefits while maintaining the function of a conventional lawn. Use the City’s interactive tool（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/live-green-toronto/help-native-bees-pollinators/native-plants-trees-shrubs/） to find species suited to your site and create a customized plant list.
The Environmental Impact of Conventional Lawns
Water and fertilizer use: Maintaining turfgrass requires watering and fertilizer use, leading to water wastage and runoff that pollutes Toronto’s waterways and harms aquatic life.
Biodiversity loss: Turfgrass lawns do not provide food or shelter for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. Additionally, frequent mowing, trimming and leaf blowing disrupts insect populations.
Noise and air pollution: Gas-powered mowers and leaf blowers emit harmful pollutants and are a source of urban noise pollution, affecting both human health and wildlife.
Benefits of Sustainable Lawn Alternatives
Less maintenance: Reducing mowing frequency and eliminating the need for leaf blowing saves time and helps protect insects, birds and other wildlife.
Lower costs: Using less water, fertilizer and pesticides reduces maintenance expenses—and can lower your water bills over time.
Lower water use: You can save water and build a healthy, vibrant green space by rethinking your lawn and following these water efficient landscaping（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/how-to-use-less-water/water-efficient-landscaping/） practices to save water, promote growth and control weeds.
Healthier urban ecosystems: Native plants and other lawn alternatives provide critical habitat for pollinators, birds and other wildlife, supporting greater biodiversity. Converting just a small strip of turfgrass lawn into a native plant garden will protect declining wild bees and butterfly populations. For more information on the importance of pollinators, see How to Help Wild Bees and Other Native Pollinators（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/live-green-toronto/help-native-bees-pollinators/）.
Cleaner air: Transitioning away from gas-powered landscaping equipment cuts harmful emissions, including greenhouse gases and air pollutants such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
Better stormwater management: Deep-rooted native plants and groundcovers improve soil health and help absorb rainwater, reducing runoff, filtering water naturally before it reaches our waterways, and easing pressure on stormwater infrastructure.
Quieter neighbourhoods: Replacing turfgrass with native ground covers, meadows or low-maintenance gardens minimizes the use of noisy, gas-powered equipment, creating a more peaceful environment for everyone.
By transforming lawns into thriving ecosystems, we can create healthier, quieter, and more sustainable urban spaces that benefit both people and wildlife.
Sustainable Lawn Options
The following is a list of sustainable lawn options well-suited to Toronto’s climate.
Pollinator Gardens
Incorporating native perennials and shrubs into your landscape supports local wildlife, including pollinators and birds, while reducing the need for watering and chemical treatments. Native plants are adapted to the local climate and soil, making them resilient and low maintenance.
Rain Gardens
Designed to absorb and filter stormwater, rain gardens use deep-rooted native plants to prevent runoff, reduce flooding and improve water quality. They are an effective way to manage heavy rains in Toronto while creating habitat for pollinators and birds.
Groundcover Plants
Low-growing groundcovers like wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) and wild ginger (Asarum canadense) create dense mats that suppress weeds, require little mowing and offer visual interest. Wild ginger, for example, is effective in shaded areas and wild strawberry thrives in full sun, produces very little fruit and is extremely trample-resistant.
Ornamental Native Grasses
Native low-growing perennial grasses such as Pennsylvania sedge ( Carex pensylvanica ) add aesthetic appeal with minimal upkeep. They are drought-tolerant and thrive in various soil types, making them suitable for Toronto’s diverse conditions.
Meadow Lawns
Transforming part of a yard into a native meadow with wildflowers and grasses increases biodiversity, supports pollinators and reduces maintenance. This approach creates a vibrant, ever-changing landscape that reflects the natural beauty of Toronto’s native plant species.
Tapestry Lawns
Combining a variety of low-growing plants, such as mosses, sedums, and herbs, tapestry lawns create a colourful, textured groundcover that supports biodiversity and requires less maintenance than traditional lawns. They are particularly effective in areas with moderate foot traffic.
Clover Lawns
White clover ( Trifolium repens ) is a hardy ground cover that enriches soil by fixing nitrogen, reducing the need for fertilizers. It requires less water than traditional grass and provides nectar for pollinators. However, white clover is non-native, less tolerant of heavy foot traffic and may require reseeding every few years.
Xeriscaping
This landscaping method uses drought-resistant plants to create visually appealing gardens that require minimal watering. By selecting plants suited to dry conditions, xeriscaping conserves water and is ideal for dry areas where watering is difficult. For more information,check out the City’s drought tolerant plan guide, Drought Tolerant Landscaping（https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/979b-city-planning-drought-tolerant-landscaping.pdf）.
Impacts of Leaf Blowers on Ecological Health
Impacts of Leaf Blowers
Leaf blowers and vacuums do more than just clear debris. They disrupt ecosystems. They strip away leaves, mulch and organic matter, remove essential nutrients from the soil, exposing plants to disease and potentially increasing reliance on chemical fertilizers and fungicides. The powerful gusts also displace beneficial insects and small creatures crucial to maintaining biodiversity¹. Birds, for example, rely on insects in leaf litter to feed their young, and when that food source is removed, it can have ripple effects across the entire food chain².
To view source for reference 1, see: Evidence of the Impact of Noise Pollution on Biodiversity: A Systematic Map（https://environmentalevidencejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13750-020-00202-y）
To view the source for reference 2, see Urbanisation Drivers and Underlying Mechanisms of Terrestrial Insect Diversity Loss in Cities（https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/een.13041）.
Leave the Leaves
You may have seen “leave the leaves”（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/live-green-toronto/help-native-bees-pollinators/） campaigns before , encouraging you to ditch the f all and spring garden clean-up.
Fall Leaves
Leaving the leaves in the fall turns your garden into winter habitat for pollinating insects, who do not emerge until about mid-May, when temperatures are above 10 degrees Celsius. Native pollinator species in Toronto need plant litter such as fallen leaves, dead hollow stems and logs to nest and survive the cold. Leaf litter is where many species of butterflies and moths overwinter as pupae or adults. Queen bumblebees overwinter by digging a small hole in the ground beneath leaf litter. Removing leaves removes important wintering habitats for native wildlife.
Spring Leaves
Cleaning up your garden too early in the spring will harm nesting pollinators. It is best to not partake in any garden clean-up for as long as possible in the spring. The earliest to start tidying up is once the weather has been consistently above 10 degrees Celsius (overnight too) for at least a week. This is because in early spring, insects are still hibernating. The insects will not be moving and need to be left alone until it is warm enough to emerge on their own.
What You Can Do To Help
Compost your leaves whenever possible; they are great sources of nutrients for lawns and gardens. Leaves protect and feed the soil naturally. Here are two ways to use leaves to feed your yard:
Use your lawn mower to mulch leaves on the lawn; this will improve your lawn health by suppressing weeds and fertilizing the soil.
Rake leaves directly into your garden beds; they will protect your plants and soil over winter, serving as a layer of insulation for your garden. As the leaves decompose, they will add nutrients and promote microorganism health.
Can’t leave the leaves where they fall? Here are some other tips to collect leaves:
Rake leaves and use a tarp to collect leaves.
Add leaves to your backyard composter.
Make leaf mold; the easiest way to make leaf mold is to just rake your leaves into a big pile and let the pile sit there to decompose for a few seasons. Leaf mold can be added to your garden beds.
Remember to:
Rake leaves out of sewers and drainage pathways.
Use natural landscaping and lawn alternatives to limit area that needs to be manicured but keep gardens free of prohibited plants（https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/public-notices-bylaws/bylaw-enforcement/turfgrass-prohibited-plants/） that can pose a threat to human health or natural areas.
Want to learn more about protecting pollinators?
The City’s Pollinator Protection Strategy（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmentally-friendly-city-initiatives/reports-plans-policies-research/draft-pollinator-strategy/） aims to enhance and protect habitat in natural and urbanized areas.
Get a grant for your pollinator garden from PollinateTO（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmental-grants-incentives/pollinateto-community-grants/） and check out our additional tips for creating a pollinator-friendly garden.（https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/live-green-toronto/help-native-bees-pollinators/?