Plant a boulevard garden

You do not need a permit to plant a garden on the section of land between your property line and the road or the sidewalk.

Boulevard garden conditions

To maintain safety and accessibility, boulevard gardens must comply with all applicable City by-laws, including the Encroachment By-law.

A boulevard garden should:

Keep plants under 1 metre in height
Not be planted within a 1-metre radius of utility infrastructure
Set back plants at least 0.3 metres from the sidewalk or path
Keep any plants that are within a 1.5 metre radius of a fire hydrant under 15 centimetres in height
Limit hardscaping to boulevard landscape features only
Not obstruct any sightlines

For a full list of boulevard garden conditions, refer to the Encroachment By-law.

These plants are not allowed in the boulevard garden:

Pollen and nectar-rich plants are recommended to benefit pollinators.

You can place rocks, wood or interlock to form a border around a tree in your boulevard as long as it is temporary and meets certain conditions.

The boulevard landscape feature should:

Not exceed 10 centimetres above ground level
Have a minimum radius of 60 centimetres from the base of the tree
Be set back 50 centimetres from the sidewalk, curb, road, driveway or infrastructure
Be set back at least 1.5 metres from fire hydrants
Be easily moved by hand
Have a continuous border

For a full list of conditions, refer to the Encroachment By-law.

These items are not allowed in any boulevard gardens:

Raised planters or above-ground planting structures
Garden or outdoor furniture
Railings, hoarding or fencing
Permanent fixtures, chattels, equipment or any non-plant installations, including but not limited to below surface irrigation

You are responsible for locating all utilities such as gas, hydro and cable before starting work on the boulevard. For help, contact ON1Call.

Utility providers have rights and agreements to access the lands at any time and are only required to restore the area to meet City standards.

You must maintain boulevard gardens in accordance with the Turfgrass and Prohibited Plant Species By-law.

If you need more information, contact us at 905-615-4950 (Monday to Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) or tw.pas@mississauga.ca.