Boulevard beautification

Costs will vary significantly depending on the size of the boulevard and your idea for the project. It could range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. 

If you and your neighbours are interested in completing a street boulevard beautification project, funding may be available through the LoveMyHood Matching Grant, or a number of other sources. You can also seek donations from partners or businesses. Just ask city staff to help you explore your options.

Overall, the entire project could take several weeks or months to complete depending the size of the design. The most time-consuming part of the boulevard beautification project may be working with your neighbours to design and plan a larger-scale project. 

Consult with city staff to determine what permits and approvals may be required. This will vary depending on your project. In all cases, please be mindful of the requirements when digging and when working around street trees. 

If your house is 10 years old or less, the boulevard may not have been assumed by the city yet, in which case, changes to the boulevards will not be allowed. Please contact the Engineering Division at 519-741-2406 to determine the status of the boulevard.

• Talk to your neighbours
  • Discuss your ideas with neighbours to see if they would be interested in a street boulevard project. Involve as many people as you can, as you’ll need their support in designing and installing the project!

• Determine your location and focus
  • Identify the specific boulevard locations included in your project and determine your group’s goal. Are you hoping to make it prettier, lower maintenance, or more sustainable?

• Meet with city staff
  • Meeting with you in your neighbourhood, we’ll discuss how city staff can make it easy for you to bring your idea to life, as well as:
    • Your goals for this project
    • Your current idea and location
    • Guidelines and road legislation that might impact your project
    • Costs and funding opportunities 

• Build partnerships and support
  • You may be able to get help with recruiting volunteers, getting neighbourhood support and more by sharing your vision with your ward councillor, neighbourhood associations, schools, faith communities, businesses, or other organizations. 

• Create a layout
  • When creating a layout for your plantings, be mindful of some requirements that are in place to ensure safety and accessibility:
    • An area within 45cm (17.72”) of the sidewalk must remain level with the sidewalk and not create a trip hazard.
    • The area of the boulevard beside the street must be kept clear in order to avoid damaging street equipment, and should not interfere with the opening and closing of vehicle doors, if street parking is permitted.
  • Keep in mind the underground and aboveground utilities that might be present on your property and the clearance required. These could include:
    • Telecom service wires underground, which are generally only 150 – 300mm deep
    • Hydro poles, light standards and pole support wires
    • Gas vent pipes
    • Fire hydrants, which must have a 1.5 metre clearance
    • Hydro pull box vault, which could be just below the topsoil, and telecom pull box vault
  • Before beginning your project, we require that you contact Ontario One Call to find out where underground servicing might be located. Your design must not obstruct access to any utilities. 

• Select your plants and materials
  • This is the fun part – choosing plants to include in your design! When selecting plants and materials, keep in mind they should meet the following criteria:
    • Salt-tolerant
    • Drought-tolerant
    • Plants that do not spread horizontally (creeping plants)
    • Maximum height of 76.20cm (30”) for herbaceous plants, such as annuals and perennials
    • Decorative stone that is no smaller than 5.08cm (2”)  and no larger than 10.00cm (4”) in diameter
    • Hard surfaces, like stones, must be permeable
  • Be aware of what is not permitted, including:
    • Noxious weeds or invasive species (Lists provided by Grand River Conservation Authority and Credit Valley Conservation)
    • Vegetable/herb gardens
    • Sprinkler systems or another apparatus
    • Any objects that are sharp, protruding or dangerous
  • Other considerations:
    • Trees cannot be planted on city property, unless planted by the City or Region.
    • Only tree mulch, grass, or rocks are permitted within 1 meter of the tree trunk (and must not be dug into the ground!).
    • A tree border is permitted but must be set on top of the soil.
    • Grass and weeds on the boulevard must be maintained below 20.00cm (8”).
    • Sightlines to intersections, driveways, sidewalks cannot be restricted.
    • Mulch is permitted, but must be maintained and cannot spill onto sidewalk or road. 
  • We have plant list resources available here, but we’re always open to suggestions! Contact city staff if you’re unsure if a specific plant or material is approved or well-suited. 

• Get supplies ready
  • Create a list of things that need to be done leading up to installation day, such as purchasing materials or recruiting volunteers. City staff can help with this! 
• Plan  your installation
  • Sketch out a written and visual description of what will happen on your street on the day of your installation and provide it to staff, so they can make sure all approvals are in place. 
• Prepare the boulevard for planting
  • Follow requirements when digging and planting, as well as when working around street trees. 
• Install and celebrate
  • In advance, send everyone involved an update on how things will proceed on installation day. Then make it happen! This is an exciting day. Celebrate with food or music and invite the whole neighbourhood. Check out our street parties guide for more information, and have fun! 

Are you looking to make the boulevard more appealing, or use materials and plants that are easier to maintain? Either way, our plant list provides plenty of recommendations for these categories! 

Naturalization and pollinator gardens are in keeping with the City of Kitchener’s recognition as a “Bee City.” They are a great low-maintenance way to provide wildlife habitats and create a positive impact for pollinators in the city. A pollinator garden (for native pollinators and not honeybees) or more naturalized plants could be installed on a boulevard. Work closely with city staff to make it happen!  

The City of Kitchener is a leader in the field of stormwater management. We use Low Impact Development stormwater strategies to complete routine municipal work such as road reconstruction projects. Your project can help with our efforts! Bioretention cells or “rain gardens” are areas that temporarily store and treat stormwater runoff, and are well-suited to boulevards. Once installed, residents may mulch, grow new plants and help maintain these boulevard rain gardens. This type of project would require considerable consultation with city staff and would likely be combined with road reconstruction.

Traffic calming projects temporarily or permanently change a residential streetscape in order to improve safety, slow traffic, and add beauty. Your boulevard beautification project could focus on reducing traffic through plantings!