Landscaping in Toronto

Toronto starts at our doorstep. Etobicoke has its own page, and east of the Humber River we take on driveway, wall, sod, garden and fencing work in High Park, Swansea and Bloor West Village, a short drive along Bloor Street from our base on the Mississauga–Etobicoke border. We don't have separate neighbourhood pages for these areas yet, so this page covers what we build in Toronto and the City rules that shape every project here.

Toronto's west end was built much earlier than most of Mississauga, and it shows in the lots. Bloor West Village is largely early twentieth-century detached and semi-detached houses on narrow lots, many sharing a mutual driveway with the house next door. Around High Park the homes are larger and older, under big trees, with front steps and walks that have been patched for decades. Swansea sits between High Park and the Humber, on hilly streets where many rear yards drop toward the river valley or Grenadier Pond. Narrow side yards, mature trees and changes in grade are the normal conditions, not the exceptions.

Working on older Toronto lots changes how a job is planned more than what gets built. On a mutual driveway, both owners need to agree before anything is lifted, and the joint line and slope have to drain without sending water toward either house. Narrow side yards mean our Bobcat mini track loader and smaller tools do work that a larger machine can't reach, which we build into the schedule. Front walks and steps under mature trees need excavation planned around roots and, where the tree is protected, around the City's permit. Sloped rear yards in Swansea often suit low, terraced walls with drainage rather than one tall wall. Our published prices are typical GTA ranges, and Toronto jobs are quoted the same way: a free visit, then a written, itemized quote.

The City of Toronto has its own rules, and they differ from Mississauga's. Work in the City-owned boulevard, including a new or wider curb cut, needs a Transportation Services permit, and front-yard parking is regulated under Municipal Code Chapter 918. Zoning By-law 569-2013 also requires part of the front yard to stay soft landscaping, which limits how much can be paved. Private trees with a trunk diameter of 30 cm or more, measured 1.4 m above the ground, are protected under the tree by-law, so digging within their root zone can need a permit. Lots near the Humber and its ravines can fall under the Ravine and Natural Feature Protection by-law and TRCA regulation. Downspouts connected to the sewer must be disconnected under Chapter 681 unless exempt. Retaining walls over 1 m of exposed height next to public property or a building access are designated structures under the Ontario Building Code and need a permit and an engineer's design.