Landscaping and lawn care in North York

Most lawn care and landscaping in North York comes down to the age of the place. North York was its own municipality until 1998, when it became part of the City of Toronto, and most of it filled in during the housing boom after the Second World War. Many lots are now 60 or 70 years old, with trees to match. The east and west branches of the Don River cut ravines through the middle of the district. And plenty of the original houses have been torn down and rebuilt, which leaves its own kind of yard behind.

What does landscaping in North York usually involve?

It depends mostly on the kind of lot you have, and North York has three common ones.

Lawn care under big, old trees

Postwar subdivisions such as Bayview Village, Don Mills and Bathurst Manor have had 60-odd years for their trees to grow. That’s lovely in July and a lot of work in October.

• A thick layer of leaves left on the lawn all winter can smother the grass and lead to snow mould (University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension). A fall cleanup done before the last yard waste pickup in November takes care of it, and our fall cleanup checklist covers what you can do yourself.
• Grass struggles in deep shade and around surface roots. Sometimes patching with sod is worth it. Under a big maple, a mulched garden bed is often the better answer.
• Roots lift walkways and patios over the years. A dipped section of pavers can usually be lifted, re-based and relaid without redoing the whole path. See interlock repair and our guide on why interlock sinks.

Before digging close to a large tree, remember that Toronto’s permit rule covers injuring a protected tree, not only cutting it down. More on that below.

What can you do on a North York ravine lot without a permit?

Routine upkeep, mostly: mowing, planting, cleanups, proper pruning and working the garden beds you already have. Plenty of North York back yards end at a slope, such as the East Don behind Bayview Village, the West Don beside Bathurst Manor and through Hoggs Hollow, and the valley lands around Don Mills.

Inside a ravine and natural feature protection area, the City needs a permit to harm or remove any tree (whatever its size), to dump fill such as soil or gravel, and to change the grade by digging or adding material on a slope. The ravine by-law allows pruning in line with good arboricultural practice, working existing garden beds as long as you don’t create slopes steeper than 10%, and placing less than 5 cubic metres of soil to keep up an existing lawn or bed.

Levelling a sloped corner for a patio, building a retaining wall or tipping old soil over the edge are things to check with the City first.

What does a yard need after a teardown and rebuild?

Usually new soil prep, new sod and planted beds. Willowdale is the clearest example: many of its postwar houses have been replaced with much larger homes since the 1990s. Newtonbrook has seen the same with custom homes and townhouses.

After a rebuild, the yard is often whatever the construction left. That means compacted subsoil, a lawn rutted by machines, a strip of builder sod that never took, and bare beds along the new foundation.

The fix is to loosen and top up the soil, then lay new sod. Our guide on preparing a yard for sod explains why the prep matters more than the sod itself. Then plant the beds and keep the new lawn going with regular lawn care through its first season.

Which Toronto rules apply to yard work in North York?

The City of Toronto’s tree, yard waste and fence by-laws, the same as anywhere else in Toronto. This table sums up the numbers. The City’s own pages are the final word.

Trees

Toronto’s Tree Protection By-law requires a permit before injuring or removing a private tree with a trunk 30 cm or more in diameter, measured 1.4 m above the ground. The City lists digging, changing the ground level and placing large stones or raised gardens near a tree as things that can injure it.

Leaf and yard waste pickup

Toronto picks up yard waste every other week on your garbage day until about mid-November, in kraft paper bags or open rigid containers, never plastic. Under big postwar trees that’s a lot of bags, so plan the cleanup around your last two pickup days rather than the very last one. Grass clippings aren’t collected.

Fences and hedges

Under Toronto’s fence by-law, an ordinary fence that meets the height rules doesn’t need a permit. Pool enclosures are the exception. The detail people miss is that a hedge or row of shrubs acting as a fence falls under the same height table. So a front cedar row within 2.4 m of the street is held to 1.2 m too.

That’s worth knowing before you book hedge trimming for a tall front hedge. Our guide on fence rules in Markham and Toronto has the rest, including pool enclosures and shared fences between neighbours.

How to get a quote in North York

We’re based in Markham, just across Steeles. Text your street or postal code with a few photos to (437) 684-2535, or use the form below, and we’ll arrange a free visit.

After a teardown and rebuild, send a wide shot of the whole front and back rather than a close-up. What the construction crew left behind (compacted soil, ruts, leftover gravel) decides most of the quote for new sod and beds. East of Victoria Park Ave, see our Scarborough page. North of Steeles, see Thornhill.

Sources

1. City of Toronto: When to apply for a tree or ravine permit
2. City of Toronto: Municipal Code Chapter 658, Ravine and Natural Feature Protection
3. City of Toronto: Yard waste
4. City of Toronto: Municipal Code Chapter 447, Fences
5. City of Toronto: Fences
6. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Managing leaves in your lawn
7. Wikipedia: North York
8. Wikipedia: Don Mills
9. Wikipedia: Willowdale, Toronto
10. Wikipedia: Bayview Village
11. Wikipedia: York Mills
12. Wikipedia: Hoggs Hollow
13. Wikipedia: Bathurst Manor
14. Wikipedia: Newtonbrook
15. Wikipedia: List of postal codes of Canada: L
16. Wikipedia: List of postal codes of Canada: M
17. Canada Post: Find a postal code