Landscape Tips
Help keep Regina beautiful by landscaping your front and side yard.
As of January 2019, owners of new homes are required to landscape front and side yards within the first two years.
For information on Landscape Regulations, reference the Zoning Bylaw or call 306-777-7000.
Landscaping includes a variety of options like plants, trees, grass or rocks available at your local home and garden center. Your chosen material must allow water to easily flow through. Using concrete to make your driveway larger is not allowed.
Dryland Turf
Dryland grass mix can keep Regina yards green with less water and can handle our dry summers. Try it!
Perennial Gardens
Not a fan of mowing grass? Plant perennials that come back year after year. There are colourful flowering groundcovers, ornamental grasses and fruit-baring shrubs. Once established, perennial plants knit closely together and help prevent weed growth. Good options include: Day Lilies, Haskap, Spirea, Chives/Onions, Bearberry, Iris, Peony.
Xeriscaping
A xeriscape garden needs little water and often includes native plants. Decorative boulders and rock mulch can be used to create a unique landscape. Good options include: Karl Foerster Grass, Blue Oat Grass, Yarrow, Sedums, Junipers, Dogwood, Sea Buckthorn.
Trees
When choosing a tree, think about the size of your yard, amount of sun and water. Small yard? Try a small tree such as: Romance Cherries, Crab Apples, True North Linden, Amur Maple, Upright Colorado Spruce, Top Gun Bur Oak, Showy Mountain Ash. Please note, new Ash Trees are not allowed in Saskatchewan due to concern for the invasive species of Emerald Ash Borer.
Plants need water, but not all need a lot.
Plants grown in our city are used to a small amount of rain. When planning your yard, think about how much water it will need. Turf, for example, needs a lot of water to stay bright green. Take time to think about the value of water and how you can make small changes to use less for your yard.
Downspouts and Sump Pumps
Sometimes drainage from downspouts and sump pumps can cause unwanted pooling in your yard. A landscape solution for this is to create a rain garden - an area where extra water is captured and can slowly seep into the ground. Rock mulch and drought/water tolerant plants are used to accommodate changing moisture conditions. Rain gardens can be a beautiful addition to your yard (and don’t require mowing!). Please note, homeowners are not permitted to direct their pipes and downspouts onto adjacent properties.
Easements
When planning to landscape, ensure you don’t run into a pipeline, easement or any other underground infrastructure. Contact Sask 1st before you dig a spot for your new apple tree.
Along residential streets, homeowners are responsible for maintaining the boulevards as part of their yard.
Some properties in Regina have a separated boulevard. The boulevard is an area within the road right-of-way. All residential properties have a portion of road right-of-way. Sometimes all of the space is in what would typically be considered the front yard, and sometimes it is separated into two portions by the sidewalk, so that part of the space is in the front yard and part is the boulevard on the other side of the sidewalk.
During the development of a neighbourhood or subdivision, the Developer maintains the boulevards and other open spaces until they are complete. Then homeowner would maintain the boulevards as part of their yard. Homeowners may choose to change the landscape treatment to a low maintenance product, or to one that matches the rest of their landscaping.
Lawn Care
A healthy lawn will help prevent weed establishment and growth. Lawns require regular mowing, watering and fertilizing. To help water reach your grass roots, you should aerate your lawn and remove thatch.
Aerating benefits your lawn by allowing water, oxygen, and nutrients to reach your lawn's root system. It is best to aerate your lawn in the spring or fall if your lawn seems compacted, or before fertilizing to help nutrients seep into the soil. One of the best ways to fertilize your lawn and help the environment is to leave your grass clippings on your lawn.
Provide two to three cm of water every seven to ten days to grow healthy lawns with deep roots. Water in the morning or evening when there is less wind and heat. Set your lawn mower wheel height at 7.5 cm. Mowing at a higher height promotes vigorous grass growth with deep root systems, which in turn, discourages weeds and insects.
Weeds on Private Property
Saskatchewan's Weed Control Act mandates property owners and occupants to prevent the growth, ripening and spread of weeds and weed seeds. Noxious weeds are considered to be a threat to agriculture, human health, or the environment due to their invasive nature or toxic properties. Dandelions are considered a nuisance weed under the Act and need to be controlled.
Community Standards Bylaw regulates maintenance of properties and structures in Regina. Property owners must not allow their property to become overgrown with grass or vegetation. Failure to do so may result in a minimum fine of $100 and City crews or contractors hired to cut or remove the weeds at your expense.
Weed Control Act Enforcement
The Act empowers municipalities to enforce control of prohibited, noxious, and nuisance weeds by land owners within the boundaries of the municipality.
Overgrown Grass & Weed Complaints
Before you make a weed complaint, consider if the weeds are over 15 centimetres (six inches) high.
If you believe there is a weed control problem at a property, call Service Regina at 306-777-7000 or submit a service request online. The complaint will be forwarded to Bylaw Enforcement and assigned to a weed inspector for investigation.
If a weed inspector determines that a property owner is in violation of the Community Standards Bylaw, the owner will be issued a notice requesting that the grass and/or weeds are cut or removed. Failure to comply with the notice may result in a minimum fine of $100 and City crews or contractors being hired to cut the weeds at the property owner’s expense.
