Toronto Star

WeedyWW flower beds a perennial pet peeve

- JACK LAKEY SPECIAL TO THE STAR

What’s WW the point of putting in f flower beds when they sprout weeds ww instead of beautiful blos- soms?

That question comes to mind outside East York Collegiate Institute, where expansive flower ff beds that were put in a few ff years ago are perenniall­y f filled with weeds, instead of pe- rennials.

Last week, I wrote about towering weeds lining the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard — some nearly touch the underside of the Gardiner Expressway — which captured the imaginatio­n of readers.

The weed column caught the eye eea note of Isabel about Ward, “something who sent that’s me been bugging me for years”: the flower beds on the east side of Coxwell Avenue, north of Cosburn Avenue.

I went there and found slightly raised flower beds running the entire length of the school grounds, between the sidewalk and aa a fence on the west side of t the school.

They were choked with goldenrod and other weeds that thrive in autumn. The only sign of flowers were the yellowing husks hh of hostas that are able to survive just about anything except nuclear war.

Status: The beds are part of the road allowance, which means they’re on city property. But the task of planting and maintainin­g them may have fallen to the school, at least when ww they were first created. I emailed the city and the Toronto District School Board to ask why ww they’ve been abandoned — not that there’s anything to be done about it until next spring. They’re still trying to figure out who ww is responsibl­e, which ex- plains the current state of affairs.

What’s broken in your neighbourh­ood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Email jlakey@ thestar. ca or follow @ TOStarFixe­r on Twitter

 ??  ?? For years, flower beds that run between the sidewalk and a fence on the west side of East York YY Collegiate Institute have been choked with weeds.
For years, flower beds that run between the sidewalk and a fence on the west side of East York YY Collegiate Institute have been choked with weeds.

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