From lawn to a lush native wonderland in 5 years of native plant gardening

Story and photos by Heather Raithby Doyle, with photo captions by Murray Moore

Five years ago, Murray and Mary Ellen Moore got rid of their traditional backyard in the heart of suburban Mississauga and built one filled with native plants, a pond and a bog. 

How has the garden grown? We decided to go back and re-create the photos taken when the garden was a year old. 

Read their 2022 story here.

Welcome to our garden! Murray and Mary Ellen say hello at the garden's entrance, North America’s sole clematis, Virgin’s Bower, covers the cedar arch and climbs the adjacent cedar tree.

What a transformation! Matching views of the 5 year-old pond and bog garden now Top: Now - Bog and pond, fifth summer, 2025. Murray says: "Flowering, bottom left, is Hoary Vervain, and Fireweed. Behind us is our bog. In the pond are three native water lilies (Nymphaea odorata), Arrowhead, and a Pickerel rush, also, re-introduced Duckweed. We speak from experience: in a pond, one fish is good, two fish are bad. Several years ago the two fish we added to our pond reproduced such that they and their offspring ate the Duckweed. Also, because too many fish for the volume of water, String Algae appeared, and grew, and grew. The fish are gone, now, but the algae remains. On the opposite end of the bridge from us is a Pawpaw tree. Invisible in the water is a long tree branch. I read that female dragonflies lay their eggs on wood that is underwater. Waiting...

Bottom: Then - Bog and pond, second summer, 2022.

Murray describes gardening as mathematics: " Our back yard, after four years, is a native plant and bush and tree jungle. We add species each year. The plants multiply. Too many plants of a species, I subtract some of them. We have three lillies in our pond now because this past spring we divided our lily into thirds."

He goes on to say, "The bog in 2025...Right side of the bridge is our bog. The orange-flower plants near the pawpaws at the far end of the bog is Michigan lily. Below the Pawpaw are later-in-the year flowering swamp rose mallow, a hibiscus. Front of the photo you see the seed pods of blue flag iris."

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Adventures in Pawpaw Growing or, A Very Hungry Bunny...

Murray planted two pawpaw saplings in October 2021. Since then, there have been ups and downs with those babies. "The taller pawpaw (North America’s only native fruit tree), at the end of the bridge, two years now, in spring, has produced flowers. But our second pawpaw has to catch up. I did not know, planting the two pawpaws, I should protect them from rabbits, hungry in winter."

"The following January or February, I looked through a window to see the further distant pawpaw was horizontal. Its skinny trunk was chewed through six inches above the ground; its bark was gone, down to the ground. The following June, I cut all but the tallest of the attacked tree’s suckers."

Then with a smile he adds, "Maybe next year we will have pawpaw fruit."

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The property's extensive native landscaping actually starts along their hot sunny front yard driveway. To thrive in those conditions, native species tolerant of drought and poor soil were selected. Check out Murray's comments on this happy prickly pear patch's growth over a five year period!

Now (left): Driveway area, summer 2025. "Our cactus patch continues to produce pads. Behind the cactus is butterfly milkweed."

Then (right): Driveway area, summer 2021. "Eastern prickly pear, a cactus native to the north shore of Lake Erie, is growing over our driveway, attracted by the extra heat in the sun-warmed asphalt."

More "Now" (or is it "wow"?) photos of the garden this summer, with Murray's descriptions. Enjoy!

Left: Ostrich Ferns and Pagoda Dogwood. As of July 25, a chipmunk is visiting the Dogwood, taking its berries.

Middle: False Sunflower, Blue Vervain, a single Japanese-Beetle-magnet Evening Primrose, in front of our pond.

Right: Pale Purple Coneflower, west side of our driveway. We also have the less locally-native Purple Coneflower.:

Any one else feeling inspired?