Kanata · Ottawa · The Valley
Now scheduling new installations for Summer 2026
Est. 1999
Vol. XXVI · Spring 2026

Gardens designed for the way you live outdoors.

For twenty-six seasons I've been designing and planting the gardens of Ottawa's most thoughtful homes — one at a time, by hand, in conversation with the people who'll live in them. A small practice, on purpose. — Donna

Begin a Conversation See recent gardens →
26 Seasons in Ottawa
12–16 Clients per year, by design
BBB A+ Accredited · Ottawa & Valley
A note from Donna

"I just love to garden."

I came to this work the long way around. My first career was at Carleton University — a steady job, good people, but not the one I was meant to be doing. So in my thirties I went back to school, studied horticulture at Algonquin College, and started The Avant Gardeners in 1999.

Twenty-six seasons later, I'm still on every site, still drawing every plan, still talking to every client myself. The practice is small on purpose. It's the only way I know to do work I'm proud of.

Donna Warwick Founder · The Avant Gardeners
What We Offer

Three ways we work together.

Every project begins with a walk through your garden. What happens next depends on what we find there.

Modern stone home with new landscape installation
§ 01

New Installations

From bare ground to garden — full-site design, planting, and finishing, done quietly. No heavy machinery, your lawn will still be there when we leave, and your neighbours barely notice we're working.

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Express Design overlay sample showing labelled plant placements on a client's property
§ 02

Express Designs

Send us photos of your property. We send back a custom planting plan rendered in place — every plant labelled by name, ready to install yourself or to commission us for. A swift, certain refresh for one focused area.

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Front yard rejuvenation showing fresh plantings, mulch, and defined edges
§ 03

Rejuvenation

Bringing an overgrown garden back. We edit what's there, add what's missing, and finish with new plantings, fresh mulch, and defined edges — handing you a garden that feels considered again.

Explore →
Request a quote
Chapter Two

How a garden comes together.

From the first walk-through to the last mulch of the season, the path is always the same. The garden is what changes.

I

The Walk

A conversation in the garden.

I come to you. We walk the property, I take notes and assess current soil conditions, and we talk — about what you love, what you avoid, how you actually use the space.

Often we'll start with a tour of my own gardens first.

≈ 90 minutes · No charge
II

The Drawing

Concept, planting plan, palette.

Two to three weeks later, you'll receive my initial design ideas: a planting plan, material and plant palette with photographs, and a fixed-scope estimate.

Week 2–4 · Deposit to proceed
III

The Planting

Install, by hand, in season.

We arrive with the crew and the plants. No heavy machinery, no turf destroyed. I'm on site every day we're working — the first day and the last.

Week 5–12 · Scope-dependent
IV

The Settling-In

Aftercare, for as long as you'd like.

A written aftercare protocol and an optional seasonal maintenance programme to keep the garden true. I am always available to answer questions.

Year 1 · Year-round option
Chapter Three

A few recent gardens.

Selected work, 2023 – 2026. Each photographed at least one full season after installation — the moment a garden starts telling its own story.

Front walk replanting before and after — overgrown to refined
Plate I The Red-Door House, Reclaimed Dunrobin · 2024 Rejuvenation
Stone block house before and after with shaped hedge installation
Plate II Stone, Spruce & Feather Grass Kanata · 2025 Installation
Winter urn arrangement against black barn doors
Plate III Winter Urn at the Barn Doors Kanata · December Seasonal
Front bed before and after — bearded iris monoculture replaced with mixed shrubs, layered perennials, and a clean curved river-rock edge
Plate IV From Iris Patch to Layered Garden 2025 Rejuvenation
Backyard before and after — lawn transformed into a meditation garden with flagstone path, pea gravel, river-rock planting circle, weeping cedar, and Buddha statue
Plate V From Lawn to Meditation Garden West End · 2025 Installation
Backyard retreat with stone path, hostas, and gazebo
Plate VI A Shaded Retreat in Late June Kanata · 2023 Installation
Autumn container arrangement on stone steps
Plate VII Autumn Containers at the Steps Manotick · 2024 Seasonal

Most of our best work lives in gardens we've agreed not to publish. Request the full portfolio →

Chapter Four · The Gardener
Donna Warwick, Founder of The Avant Gardeners, in her own garden
a.k.a. The Dirt Boss
Donna Warwick
Founder & Head Gardener

The Avant Gardeners is Donna — landscape designer, horticulturist, and the woman who has spent twenty-six seasons transforming Ottawa's finest outdoor spaces. She leads every project personally: on site the first day and the last, with the crew in between.

"Being an avid gardener myself helps. I know from trial and error in my own garden what grows well here — and what looks good together in Ottawa light."

Her own garden, tended for decades, is where new combinations get tested before they ever reach a client's property. Off-hours she tends to her beloved horses and keeps a devoted court of dachshunds. It's the same attention to detail either way — hands in the work, eye on the whole.

Practicing since 1999 · 26 seasons
Studied at Algonquin College, Horticulture
Accredited BBB A+ · Ottawa & Valley
What Clients Say
"
Donna has an extraordinary eye. She listened, understood our home, and gave us a garden that feels completely ours — not a catalogue. Four years on, neighbours still stop and ask.
Margaret & Peter H. · Private residence, Rockcliffe Park
"
A very talented and professional lady. Prompt, excellent work — and very respectful of us, our neighbours, and our property.
Myrna Law-West · Multi-year seasonal client
"
What began with their seasonal log planters grew into a full front garden redesign. The whole space now looks thoughtfully designed, welcoming, and full of colour.
Marisia Campbell · Front garden redesign
"
Donna has transformed both our front and backyards, and returned the curb appeal to our home which had previously been lacking. We regularly get compliments on our landscaping now.
Geoff Hyde · Five-year client
Chapter Five · Where We Work

A short drive is part of the promise.

We keep the practice local on purpose — Donna wants to be able to drop by a client's garden on the way home, without it being a project.

Outside this range? Write anyway — Donna makes exceptions for projects she can't stop thinking about.

Rockcliffe Park 6 km
Kanata Lakes 2 km
The Glebe 14 km
Stittsville · Carp 8 km
Westboro 10 km
Manotick 22 km
Old Ottawa South 15 km
Barrhaven 20 km
Chapter Six · Begin

If something here caught your eye — write me.

"I answer every enquiry myself, usually inside two working days. No form-routing, no assistant — just a note from me."

Tell me a little about your property, what you're imagining, and how you'd like the garden to feel. I'll get back to you with thoughts, available windows, and what a first walk through your space would look like.

Currently scheduling new installations for Summer 2026. Spring clean-ups are fully reserved.

Donna Warwick
Founder · The Avant Gardeners
Enquiries · To the Studio

Donna answers every enquiry herself, usually inside two working days.

From the Studio

What's blooming, building, and being planted.

@avantgardenersottawa