Landscape design & build · Hamilton and the escarpment
Stonewren designs and builds patios, retaining walls and planting schemes across Hamilton, Ancaster and Dundas. Drawn to scale, built once, planted to come back stronger every spring.
HamiltonAncasterDundasFlamboroughBurlington
Most yards aren't designed. They accumulate: a patio one year, a shed the next, a hedge nobody chose. We start over, on paper. One plan for the whole property, so the stone, the grades and the planting agree with each other, and with the house.
What we do
Design through build through first-season care, handled by the same people who drew the plan. Nothing gets handed off to a subcontractor you've never met.
Site plans · planting plans · phased budgets
A measured site plan drawn to scale: grades, sightlines from the kitchen window, where the snow gets piled, where the sun actually lands in July. You get a drawing you can build from, with us or without us.
Patios · retaining walls · steps & paths
Dry-laid flagstone and interlock patios, armour stone and segmental retaining walls, steps and walkways. Excavated to proper depth and compacted in lifts, so it doesn't heave the first winter.
Native planting · pollinator beds · soil & mulch
Beds built from the soil up: real topsoil depth, then layered planting that peaks in waves. Bulbs, perennials, grasses and native shrubs chosen for escarpment clay and the deer that come with it.
Spring & fall · pruning · garden check-ins
Spring openings, structural pruning, bed edging and mulch top-ups, fall cleanups and bulb planting. A garden we built, kept looking the way it did in the drawing, year after year.
Selected work
Recent projects from Ancaster to Burlington. Each one started as a scaled drawing and ended as a place the owners actually use.
One season's work
A typical scope: tired lawn and a bare fence line becomes a flagstone terrace, layered beds and a path. Drag the handle to compare.
How it works
Rather than a diagram, here's how a recent build on an escarpment lot in Dundas actually ran, first call to first bloom.
March 14
We walk the property together: drainage, grades, sun, how the yard actually gets used. We talk budget honestly before anyone draws a line.
April 2
A scaled drawing, a plant list and a fixed quote. The budget needed phasing here, so phase one was drawn to stand on its own.
May 11 to 22
Our own crew, start to finish. Proper excavation, base compacted in lifts, clean edges, and a site tidied every single evening.
June 26
Included with every build. We walk the garden with the owners, replace anything that didn't take, and adjust as it fills in.
Next spring
The bulbs come up first, then the perennials fill behind them. That part is the point.
Timelines vary with scope and season. Most full builds run two to four weeks on site.
April to October
Patios, walls and full garden builds run spring through fall, and the calendar typically fills by late winter. If you're planning a summer project, the best time to talk is now.
October to November
Cleanups, structural pruning, bed prep and bulb planting. The quiet work that makes next spring look effortless. Fall visits book from early September.
They treated our small backyard like a courtyard out of a magazine. Three summers on, the garden looks better than the day they packed up. Exactly like the drawing said it would.Marta & Devin R. · Ancaster
Book a consultation
Tell us a little about the project and we'll call within one business day to set up a visit. Consultations are free within our service area.
No obligation. We'll talk scope, timing and a realistic budget range.
Thanks. We'll call you within one business day to set up a visit.
