Landscaping in Pickering: interlock, lawns and cleanups

Landscaping in Pickering changes a lot between the lake and the Oak Ridges Moraine. The south end, around Frenchman’s Bay, is where the city’s subdivisions started after the Second World War. Around Taunton Road and north toward Highway 7, Seaton is still being built. Further north it turns rural, with hamlets such as Whitevale, Claremont and Brougham.

A post-war house near the lake and a house finished in Seaton last year need very different things. Pickering is also in Durham Region, not York Region like Markham, so the leaf pickup, the watering rules and a few City by-laws are different. We’ve set those out below.

What do older homes in south Pickering need?

Mostly repairs that catch up on age. In the established neighbourhoods in the south of the city, such as Bay Ridges, West Shore, Rougemount, Dunbarton and Liverpool, these come up most:

• Interlock driveways and walkways that have dipped, rocked loose or filled with weeds. Usually that means lifting and relaying the low section and putting in new joint sand, not a new driveway. See interlock repair, polymeric sand and weed removal and our guide on why interlock sinks.
• Grey, splitting wood on older decks and fences. Washing it and putting on a new finish often buys a few more years. See deck staining and sealing and fence painting and staining.
• Big trees and the leaf drop that comes with them. Book a fall cleanup before the ground freezes, or work through our fall cleanup checklist yourself.

What do new builds in Seaton need?

Seaton yards are new, so the work is fixing a rushed builder finish rather than wear:

• Builder sod laid over compacted fill can brown in July or never knit at the seams. Sometimes patching is enough. Other times it’s better to add soil and lay new sod.
• Bare front yards with a few shrubs. A planted and mulched garden bed does a lot for a small lot.
• New interlock is easier to keep clean than to bring back later, so decide early whether you want it cleaned and sealed.

Moving a lot of soil is a different matter. The City says work involving more than 2 dump truck loads (20 cubic metres) of fill or topsoil may need a Fill and Topsoil Disturbance Permit, though minor gardening and landscaping is exempt.

Seaton also has its own parking and driveway rules. Properties in the Seaton Urban Area (zones that start with “S”) follow Section 14 of Pickering’s Zoning By-law 8149/24, not the Section 5 rules used elsewhere in the city. Check that section before widening a driveway there.

Which Pickering and Durham rules affect yard work?

The Region of Durham handles yard waste pickup and lawn watering, and the City of Pickering sets the rules for trees, fences, boulevards and grass height. This is a summary of the City and Region pages listed in the sources, which have the final word.

Scroll sideways to see the whole table.

Yard waste pickup

In Pickering the Region, not the City, collects garbage, green bin and yard waste. Markham’s 2026 season ends on October 30, so Pickering gives you more time to get the last leaves to the curb.

The Region takes only paper yard waste bags or clearly labelled, returnable open-top containers. Brush bundles can also be up to 76 cm wide. Grass clippings aren’t collected.

Trees

Pickering’s tree by-law works differently from Markham’s or Richmond Hill’s, which require a permit for private trees above a set trunk size anywhere in the city. Pickering’s By-law 8073/24 applies only inside mapped tree protection areas, which mostly run through and beside watercourses and green spaces.

Inside those areas you need a permit to remove any tree 2.5 cm or more across (measured 1.5 m above the ground), dead or diseased ones included. The City lists the permit at $155. A homeowner’s first-offence fine is $2,000 per tree or $50,000, whichever is greater.

If your lot backs onto a creek or ravine, check it against the by-law’s Schedule A map before any tree comes down.

Fences

The City’s fence by-law allows up to 2 m (6 ft 6 in) in side and rear yards. In the front yard a solid fence is limited to 1 m, and an open fence you can clearly see through can go to 1.5 m.

Replacing a shared fence and want your neighbour to pay part? Pickering’s fence cost sharing by-law has you serve them notice, with copies of three estimates, at least 14 days before the work starts. Our guide on fence height rules covers Markham and Toronto if you’re comparing.

Watering

Under the Region’s water by-law, odd-numbered houses water on odd dates and even-numbered houses on even dates, from May to September. The Region doesn’t set hours, but it suggests watering early in the morning and about 2.5 cm of water a week, rain included.

The Region’s page doesn’t mention an exemption for new sod. If you’re laying sod in summer, plan the watering around your days or ask the Region first. Our guide on watering new sod explains how much it needs.

Boulevards and grass height

Pickering homeowners look after the City boulevard in front of their house. Plants there have to stay under 1 m tall and at least 0.6 m back from the sidewalk, and rocks, bricks and concrete slabs aren’t allowed.

Any hard surface on the boulevard, such as a wider driveway, needs City approval first. Cutting the curb to widen a driveway needs a permit.

Getting a landscaping quote in Pickering

Text us a few photos with your street or postal code at (437) 684-2535, or use the form below, and we’ll book a free visit to see the job.

In Seaton, mention it when you write, because driveway and parking questions there run under Section 14 of the zoning by-law rather than the rules for the rest of the city. If you’d like a feel for typical Ontario rates first, our guide on what landscapers charge per hour has the published ranges.

Across the Rouge River we also work in Scarborough, and to the west in Markham and the rest of the areas we cover.