The bold, blood-red tulips clustered on the corner of the boulevard near Greg Winkworth’s historic Winnipeg home were, until recently, illegal.

On a street lined with majestic 100-year-old elm trees, grass has a hard time growing. Tired of seeding the patch of property between the sidewalk and the road, Winkworth ripped out the city’s thick, healthy turf about seven years ago and replaced it with hearty perennials and shade-loving plants.

Winkworth admits he knew his boulevard garden broke a city bylaw, but he figured it was a fair trade. Like many Canadian cities – including Regina, Edmonton and Mississauga – Winnipeg requires homeowners to maintain the city-owned boulevards.

“They say the boulevard is our responsibility – (the city) likes to have it both ways. I just decided enough’s enough,” says Winkworth, a teacher whose colourful collection of flowers has earned him the title “Godfather of Gardening.”

“It’s one of those things like not spitting on the sidewalk. No one enforces it.”

Winnipeg’s city councillors voted last week to turf the old bylaw and allow homeowners for the first time to plant flowers and spread rocks on the boulevards in front of their homes.

For years, the bylaw prevented people from planting anything on municipal boulevards without permission, says Don Budinsky, the city’s manager of parks and open spaces.

It didn’t bother anyone until the city adopted a universal policy that required homeowners to maintain the boulevards. That’s when the flowers and plants started popping up.

Some gardeners sought permission, but not everyone, says Budinsky.

Getting permission meant filling out an application, paying a $200 fee and getting a city official to visit the property. It’s one of the reasons council opted to change the bylaw.

source : www.edmontonsun.com