Services
The whole backyard, built in order
One drawing, one crew, one order of work: water, base, stone, planting, light. The design fee is credited to the build when you go ahead with us.
A full backyard goes wrong when it is built by four companies who never meet. The patio crew blocks the swale, the planting goes in where the lights were meant to run, and nobody owns the grade. We design and build the whole thing ourselves, and we build it in a fixed order. Drainage and grade first. Then the base, the stone, the walls and steps. Then soil, planting and sod. Then the lights, wired along routes we left open under the stone.
It starts with a measured drawing. Ontario design-build firms quote design as its own fee, and so do we, in writing, before we draw. If you build with us, the whole fee comes off the build. If you do not, the drawing is yours to take to anyone. The drawing shows levels, materials, plant choices and the lighting plan, so the quote can be priced line by line instead of guessed.
Since 2022 we have built a lot of backyards in phases. Rates went from 0.25 percent to 5 percent in sixteen months and budgets changed with them. Phasing works if the order is right: drainage and base first, stone in the same year, planting and lighting later. What does not work is a thinner base to make year one cheaper. We will cut square footage before we cut the base.
How the job goes.
Site visit
Daniel walks the yard with you, measures it, shoots the grade, checks every tree and asks how you actually use the space.
Design
A measured drawing with levels, materials, planting and lighting. One round of changes is part of the fee.
Written contract
Every line priced, the base depth written in, a start week, and the deposit following Ministry guidance of no more than 10 percent.
Locates and permits
Ontario Dig Authority and private locates requested, and any tree, deck or pool enclosure permit sorted before the dig.
The build
Drainage, base, stone, walls, planting, sod and lights, in that order, with Daniel on site every day of it.
Walkthrough
We walk the finished yard with you, test the lights after dark, hand over the watering plan and the warranty in writing.
What is included
- Measured design, with the fee credited to the build
- Grading and drainage worked out first
- Patios, walls, walks and steps on a full base
- Planting beds, sod and trees
- Landscape lighting and a lighting plan
- Walkthrough and a one-year check
What it costs
One Ontario design-build firm publishes 2026 design fees of $2,500 to $4,500 for a full backyard plan and $5,000 to $10,000 or more for a whole property, credited toward construction, with a lighting plan at $300 to $1,000 and pool design at $1,000 to $2,500 as add-ons. GTA cost guides put landscape lighting at $2,500 to $6,000 per project, drainage systems at $2,000 to $8,000 and regrading at $1,500 to $5,000. Full landscaping projects in Toronto run from about $2,000 for small basic work to over $100,000. What moves the number: the area of hardscape, how much soil comes out, walls and steps, access for machines, the size of the trees and how much of the yard is lit.
Straight answers
Can we build it in phases?
Yes, if the order is right. Drainage and base go in first, with the stone the same season. Planting and lights can follow a year later. We will not leave a base uncovered over a winter or build a thinner one to save money now.
What if we want a pool later?
We draw the yard with the pool in it, leave the access route open and keep the stone clear of where the dig will go. We do not build pools. Pool enclosures need their own permit and, in Mississauga, a residential enclosure at least 1.22 m high with self-closing, self-latching gates.
Do we need a permit for a backyard?
Landscaping itself needs no permit in Mississauga. Decks over 0.61 m, sheds over 15 m2 or with plumbing, and pool enclosures do, and protected trees may. The rules differ in Oakville and Milton, and we check each one for your address before we sign.
Is the design fee lost if we do not build with you?
No. You keep the drawing and can take it to any contractor. If you build with us, the whole fee comes off the build.
Send us the yard
Call or write with the street and what you want fixed. We will come and measure, check the grade and the trees, and tell you what the base will take before we talk about stone.
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