Landscaping in Gravenhurst and Bracebridge

Within the regulated areas, permits are generally issued only for regulated trees under 38 centimetres in diameter. Larger trees are at the Director's discretion, and never in wetlands, on slopes over 20 per cent, or in a required shoreline buffer.

If the work dredges or fills shore lands, or places structures touching more than 15 square metres of shore land, yes, a work permit comes first. Gravenhurst names the Ministry as the first point of contact.

Under the residential site plan agreement, at least 75 per cent of the 20 metre strip along the water stays as shoreline buffer. The rest is where the path, steps and a small seating area go.

Patios and walkways in natural stone, flagstone and interlock, armour stone and block retaining walls, stone steps, pool surrounds, fire pits, pergolas and privacy screens, outdoor kitchens, decks and fences, plus the grading and sod that finish it.

The first visit gives you rough numbers. After the design meeting you get a detailed quote, a 10% deposit locks the scope and materials, and the final quote is the exact price for the job.

Most builds start around $20,000, from a patio and wall up to a full backyard at $150,000 and more.

One crew builds a limited number of yards each season. Designs signed over the winter are scheduled first for spring.

Most patios and garden walls do not. A retaining wall over 1 metre of exposed height next to public property, access to a building, or private property the public is admitted to is a designated structure under the Ontario Building Code: it is designed to the Code's structural rules and takes a building permit, and we arrange the engineering. Anything close to the water needs the conservation authority's permit first. We check at the first visit.

One or both of the owners, every day of the build, managing the job and keeping you and your neighbours in the loop.