Landscape construction, not landscaping

What the name means

Landscaping usually means planting and upkeep. Landscape construction is the part that gets built: excavation, grading, drainage, stonework, walls, steps and fencing. It sits closer to civil work than to gardening, and it is all we do.

The difference matters when you hire. Plenty of firms can lay pavers. Fewer will size the excavation to the load, compact in lifts, lay fabric on clay, set the fall and restrain every edge. Those steps decide whether the surface stays flat.

How we work

Ground before stone. Excavation, sub-grade, drainage and base make up most of the work, and they are why a surface lasts. We would rather lose a quote than win it by cutting that work and calling it a saving.

A written specification. Dimensions, materials, base build-up, drainage and exclusions, on paper. A designer can hold a subtrade to it, and it exposes what a thinner scope omits.

One scope, one sequence. Grading, stone, walls and fencing run as one job, in order. Split across trades, the fence blocks the machine route and the wall goes in after the paving it should have preceded. Our process page walks through the order.

Where we work

We are based at 4 Cedar Ave in Thornhill and build in Thornhill, Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaughan and North York. Four sit in York Region. North York is part of the City of Toronto, so its approvals run through different offices. That list is complete; each municipality has its own page.

What we will tell you up front

• When a repair will do, and a rebuild would be selling you more than you need.
• When a rebuild is due, and a repair would mean paying twice.
• When a wall or fence height triggers a permit or an engineer, while it is still on paper.
• When a request will not fit, will not drain, or will not do the job you want.
• What the scope excludes, in writing, so it can be checked against the drawings.