Toronto has so much to offer those of us who live here. There's Harbourfront, The CN Tower, fantastic professional sports, the award winning Toronto Zoo and of course the most successful shopping venue in North America, Toronto's Eaton Centre. But as much as the city has to offer, your most important piece of this Canadian paradise is your home and if you want to dress it up a little...or a lot...you'll want to use a professional landscaping contractor.

Landscaping is more than just making your home more comfortable and attractive; it has the same potential to add value to your house as an addition or a renovation. When your entire home is landscaped you can tack on another 10 - 20 percent to the overall value of your home.

If you're ready to tackle that lawn of yours the best place to start is right here in the Toronto landscaping contractors directory. Each listing in our directory is designed to give you a quick overview of services provided, service area, contact information including links to websites and for many, ratings and reviews from former customers who found the contractor on Handy Canadian.

If you're looking for a simple patio project or need new sodding or have a complex plan designed by a landscape architect you'll find several landscaping contractors in our directory that you can add to your short list.

But before you stick a spade in the ground you want to follow these helpful tips in selecting a professional landscaping company. Getting the results you want and meeting your expectations all depend on making an informed selection of the contractor.

There's more to being a landscaping contractor than owning a shovel a wheelbarrow and a pickup truck.

• For starters every business in the city of Toronto is required to have a business license. This is the first document you want to see. Call the licensing department that issued it to make sure that it's valid and no complaints have been filed.
• If the landscaping plan involves digging, or running electrical lines or plumbing, you most likely will need permits from the city. In order for a contractor to obtain those permits he or she will have to hold the appropriate Certificate of Qualification for the trade involved. For example the installation of in ground lighting will require an electrical permit which means your contractor needs to hold a C of Q in electrical work.
• Landscaping can become labor intensive particularly if a number of trades are involved. Make sure the general landscaping contractor has insurance that covers not only damage to your property but his employees and subs should they injure themselves on the job. Ask to see a certificate of insurance and then call the insurance company and make sure it's valid.
• For larger projects you obviously want the landscaper to provide you with renderings of how the job will look when completed. Make sure you go over the contract carefully and look for the little details like will the work area be tidied up each day at the end of work or not. Understanding exactly what you are buying will help ensure your expectations are met.
• Lastly check out the reputation of your landscaping company. Check with the Toronto Better Business Bureau for complaints, Google the company's name, and ask for referrals, preferably ones that you can drive by and see the work. Past performance is the most accurate predictor of future performance.

Once you made a selection try to ignore the noise and the mess while the project is underway because when it's done you're going to marvel at the transformation. Thanks to your Toronto landscaper you will be living in your own little piece of Canadian paradise.

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