About the Studio
We started with one garden, on Main Street North.
LocalRoots was founded in 2011 by Elena Park, a horticulturist who'd spent ten years tending other people's gardens and finally decided to design her own. The first project was the front yard of a century home off Main Street — neighbours started knocking before the second bed was finished.
Thirteen years on, we're still small on purpose. Two designers, four builders, one stonemason who's been with us since the beginning. We turn down more work than we take, because the only way to make a garden that lasts is to give it our full attention.
Everything we plant is hardy to zone 5b. Everything we build is done by the same crew that quoted it. And every property we tend, we still tend — most of our maintenance clients have been with us for over five years.
Years tending Markham
Properties cared for
People on the team
Climate zone we plant for
Our Values
Three things we won't budge on.
Local plants, full stop.
If it doesn't want to live here, we won't sell it to you. Our planting palette is drawn from native and zone-appropriate species — the garden you buy is the garden you keep.
The crew you meet is the crew that builds.
No subcontractors swapped in halfway through. The lead designer walks the site on installation day. The stonemason on your patio is the same one on the next.
A garden is a relationship, not a delivery.
We come back. Most of our work begins with someone we planted for in 2014 calling about a new bed. We'd rather grow with one street than ten.
Markham Roots
"Heritage trees, modern infill, century homes and townhouses — Markham's yards are nothing if not varied. We've spent thirteen years learning what grows where, and we're still learning."
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