Ottawa Residential Landscaping — Your Yard, Properly Done
Most of the calls we get start the same way: someone has lived in their house for a few years, the yard has never quite been dealt with, and they’re finally ready to actually fix it. Maybe the interlock driveway has been heaving every spring for three years. Maybe the backyard is a flat, soggy lawn, and there’s no real outdoor living space. Maybe the front garden beds have turned into a wild mix of whatever the previous owner planted and whatever grew back without help.
We work on all of it. Bennett Lawn & Landscape handles residential landscaping in Ottawa and the surrounding area, full builds, partial projects, and repairs. Isaac Bennett leads every job, and the crew that shows up is the same crew that shows up to finish.
What Residential Landscaping Actually Covers
People use ‘residential landscaping’ to mean a lot of different things. Here’s how we break it down:
Backyard landscaping
This is usually the biggest scope of work — patios, garden areas, lawn re-grading, maybe a retaining wall if there’s a slope, and some kind of defined planting around the perimeter. A good backyard build accounts for drainage first, then hardscape structure, then softscape and planting. If you do it in that order, you’re not undoing work later because water is ending up in the wrong place.
Front yard landscaping
Front yards in Ottawa’s residential neighbourhoods tend to be smaller and more visible. A front yard project often combines a new walkway, replanted garden beds, and sometimes low retaining or edging elements to define the space. Curb appeal is real — a properly done front yard changes how the whole property reads from the street.
Interlock work — new installation and repair
Patios, driveways, walkways, steps, and landing pads. We install new interlock and repair existing interlock that’s settled or heaved. Ottawa’s freeze-thaw cycle is hard on poorly installed interlock, so a lot of our repair work is redoing jobs that weren’t prepped correctly the first time.
Lawn grading and drainage
A properly graded yard drains away from the house and doesn’t collect water in low spots. If you’ve got a soggy corner or a basement that gets wet after heavy rain, re-grading is often part of the solution. We bring in clean topsoil, grade to proper slope, and overseed — not just push around the existing dirt.
Garden bed design and planting
Garden beds need three things to look good after year one: the right plants for the soil and light, a proper edge to contain them, and mulch to control weeds and retain moisture. We install garden beds from scratch and replant overgrown existing beds. For Ottawa properties, we lean toward plants rated zone 4 or 5 — not things that are technically zone 6 and die back hard every March.
What Sets Residential Work Apart
Commercial and municipal landscaping has its own considerations, but residential work comes down to something simpler: your home, your yard, your daily life. A few things we keep in mind on residential jobs:
We communicate directly with you — not through a project manager you’ve never met. If something comes up or changes, you hear about it before the day is done.
We treat the house with respect. If we’re working in a backyard that requires access through a gate or side yard, we ask before doing anything that affects the main property
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Serving Ottawa Homeowners
We work throughout Ottawa’s residential neighbourhoods with a focus on the west end: Kanata, Barrhaven, Nepean, Stittsville, and Manotick. We also serve Carleton Place, Almonte, Richmond, Greely, and surrounding communities. If you’re in a part of the city not listed here, call us — we’re often willing to travel for the right project.
Call or text Isaac: 613-795-2017
Free estimates. Same-day response in most cases. No obligation to move forward with a quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you work with an existing interlock patio, or do you have to start fresh?
In most cases, if the existing stone is in good shape, we can work with it. Whether we’re extending a patio, re-levelling settled sections, or adding a new element alongside existing interlock, we try to match materials wherever possible. If the existing base is the problem, that section needs to come up — but we assess that on a case-by-case basis, not as a default.
My backyard has a significant slope. Is a retaining wall always necessary?
Not always. It depends on how steep the grade is and what you want the space to do. A modest slope can often be managed with planted beds and a stone step or two. For steeper grades — anything you’d describe as hard to mow — a retaining wall or a series of terraced walls usually makes more sense. We’ll tell you honestly what’s needed when we see the property.
What's the best time of year to do landscaping work in Ottawa?
Late April through October is the main window, with spring and early summer being the busiest. If you’re planning a project for next spring, getting a quote in late winter means you have scheduling options. Some work — interlock repair, for instance — can be done in fall right through to freeze-up.
Do I need a permit for a new patio or retaining wall?
For most residential patios and walkways, no permit is required. Retaining walls over a certain height may require a permit depending on Ottawa’s guidelines, and any work within the city right-of-way typically requires notification. We’ll flag anything that needs attention during the quote visit.
