Scarborough Landscaping Contractor · Reformity Inc.Landscaping & Grading in Scarborough
Plenty of Scarborough backyards end at a slope: Highland Creek's ravines behind West Hill and Morningside, the Rouge valley at West Rouge, and the Bluffs behind Cliffcrest, Scarborough Village and Guildwood. If part of your lot is in the City's mapped ravine protection area, adding fill or changing the grade needs a permit, from TRCA where it regulates the land; placing under 5 m³ of soil to maintain an existing lawn is exempt. TRCA warns that runoff and downspouts aimed at a slope drive erosion, so our grading sends water away from the edge.
Landscaping · real projects
Recent landscaping jobs across the GTA.
Real Reformity jobs from our project files. Customer addresses are never published.
Landscape & grading plan — Grading, drainage swale, tree protection and planting. Click to enlarge.
Retaining wall details
Drawn before we build
Drawn before we build in Scarborough.
A grading and landscape plan: slopes away from the house, swales, downspout outlets, protected-tree zones, walls and planting. It's what site-alteration and tree permits ask for, and it keeps water off your foundation and your neighbour's.
Landscaping permits in Scarborough
Regrading or adding fill in the City's ravine protection area needs a City permit with grading and drainage plans and a geotechnical report; where TRCA regulates the land, the permit comes from TRCA, which asks for a site grading and landscaping plan with geodetic elevations and cross-sections. Reformity prepares the plans and handles the applications.
- Dimensions to your lot lines
- Materials, sizes and spacing
- Footing and base sections
- Code notes for the inspector
City of Toronto rules
Landscaping rules in Scarborough.
Checked against official municipal and provincial sources. Lots differ, so we confirm the rules for your address at the quote visit.
Conservation areas
TRCA regulates development in or near Highland Creek, the Rouge River and other valleys and streams, and along the Lake Ontario shoreline, including the Scarborough Bluffs. Building a deck, regrading, or placing or removing fill in its regulated area needs a TRCA permit unless one of the regulation's exceptions applies.
TRCA: projects that need a permitRavine-backing lots
If part of your lot is in the City's ravine and natural feature protection area (ravines, forests and other natural features mapped under Chapter 658), harming or removing any tree there, of any size, needs a City permit, and the City's list of activities that need one there also includes building or replacing structures and retaining walls. On the City's online by-law map, these areas show as a striped layer.
City of Toronto: tree & ravine permitsSite alteration & grading
In the City's mapped ravine protection area, placing fill or changing the grade needs a City permit, applied for with a grading plan, a drainage plan and a geotechnical report. Placing under 5 m³ of soil to maintain an existing lawn or garden is exempt. Where TRCA regulates the land, grade changes need a TRCA permit instead, and the City asks for proof of it.
Toronto Municipal Code Ch. 658Front-yard paving
Under Zoning By-law 569-2013, a lot 6 to under 15 m wide must keep at least 50% of its front yard as landscaping (60% at 15 m or wider), and 75% of that must be soft landscaping such as grass and planting; driveways don't count. A parking space generally can't be in the front yard, though you can park on the driveway leading to one.
Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013, Ch. 10.5Front-yard parking
Toronto's front-yard parking licences under Chapter 918 only cover private front yards in the former City of Toronto, so they don't apply in Scarborough. Here, a new parking space in the front yard needs zoning approval, such as a minor variance from the Committee of Adjustment.
Toronto Municipal Code Ch. 918Retaining walls over 1 m
Under Ontario's Building Code, a retaining wall needs a building permit when its exposed height is over 1 m (3'3") and it's next to public property, access to a building, or private property open to the public. Those walls must be designed to the Code's structural (Part 4) rules.
Ontario Building Code, Div. A 1.3.3.5
What we build in Scarborough
Full-service landscaping.
- Sod Installation
- Garden Beds & Plantings
- Retaining Walls
- Drainage & Grading
Neighbourhoods
Landscaping across Scarborough.
- Agincourt
- Malvern
- L'Amoreaux
- Wexford
- Bendale
- Birch Cliff
- Cliffcrest
- Scarborough Village
- Guildwood
- West Hill
- Highland Creek
- West Rouge
Scarborough Landscaping FAQ
Quick answers.
On lots wider than 6 m, Toronto's Zoning By-law 569-2013 requires at least 50% of the rear yard to be soft landscaping such as lawn, planting beds and trees, and hard surfaces like interlock patios and walkways don't count toward it. An outdoor pool's water surface does count as soft landscaping for that calculation.
In the City's mapped ravine protection area, placing fill or changing the grade needs a City permit, applied for with a grading plan, a drainage plan and a geotechnical report. Placing under 5 m³ of soil to maintain an existing lawn or garden is exempt. Where TRCA regulates the land, grade changes need a TRCA permit instead, and the City asks for proof of it.
If part of your lot is in the City's ravine and natural feature protection area (ravines, forests and other natural features mapped under Chapter 658), harming or removing any tree there, of any size, needs a City permit, and the City's list of activities that need one there also includes building or replacing structures and retaining walls. On the City's online by-law map, these areas show as a striped layer.
Send the form on this page or call 437-241-6287. We reply within one business day, visit your Scarborough property to measure and check the City of Toronto rules for your lot, and give you a fixed written price.
Free on-site quote
Planning landscaping in Scarborough?
We'll measure, check the City of Toronto rules for your lot, draw it up and give you a fixed written price. One business-day reply.