• Locally Sourced Stone

  • Unique Custom Projects

  • Jumbo Flagstone Installations

  • Firepit Areas

  • Stone Slab Steps

  • Productive Urban Farm

  • Outdoor Living Space

  • Gourmet Food Production

  • Solar Installations

  • Rock Gardens

  • Flagstone Walkways

  • Decks and Stone Landings

  • Water Views

  • Durable Raised Beds

  • Pollinator Gardens

  • Garden Stepping Stones

  • Jumbo Landings

  • Jumbo Flagstone Walkways

  • Square Cut Flagstone

  • Gardens and Stone

  • Zen Rock Gardens

  • Boulders and Slabs

  • Reclaimed Barn Beams

  • Big Slab Steps

  • Ceremonial Fire Pit

  • Backyard Privacy

  • Flagstone Patios

  • Garden and Tree Installations

  • Precision Cuts

  • Backyard Oasis

  • Dry River Rock Beds

  • Ponds and Water Features

  • Unique Stones and Walkways

  • Decks and Railings

  • Custom Benches

  • Pavers and Steps

  • Cedar Bridge over Rock River Bed

  • Public Community Gardens

  • Custom Built Saunas

With an eye for detail and a commitment to reliable and personal care,

Sound Outdoors will help you feel at home outside.

We are landscape construction and garden care professionals located in Owen Sound and proudly serving the surrounding areas of Bruce Peninsula, Georgian Bluffs, Southampton, Port Elgin, Meaford, Collingwood and beyond.

  • Personal Garden Care

    To help people who take pride in their outdoor home space and want it looking its best.

  • Custom Designed Landscape Construction

    Working with your ideas and considering what nature dictates to design and create an outdoor living space that fits your needs and works within the surroundings.

  • Community Gardening

    Alongside our neighbours learning together skills that can help build a connection to the land and to each other.

- Who We Are -

Hi, I’m Mike.

I founded Sound Outdoors wanting to offer personal, reliable and professional landscape construction and maintenance services to our local community.

I come from a long line of Owen Sounders going back to the turn of the century when my family farmed a market garden supplying their downtown grocery store and delivering food orders up and down the Bruce Peninsula.

I have experience working for high end landscaping companies around our local area as well as farm work in communities all over the world.

I am one of the few Red Seal Certified Horticulture and Landscape Construction Technicians in this area and hold Permaculture Design Certifications.

We are fully insured, reliable professionals.

Bruce Peninsula’s Cape Chin House needed a complete custom landscape design.

This beautiful newly built home had some unique challenges. We exposed the bedrock in front of the main entrance turning a problem into a stunning feature. Timeless square cut flagstone walkways take us around unique boulders all surrounded by newly planted pollinator gardens .

The House on Periwinkle Lane had an old patio that was falling apart. We took up each stone by hand, installed a packed gravel base then re-layed the patio mixing the old stone in with new pieces. Each stone was cut to fit perfectly with no more than 3 corners touching and levelling was checked over and over to ensure proper runoff and a smooth finish.

Zen Rock Garden at Grey Gallery

This was a very special public project that anyone can visit at Grey Gallery in downtown Owen Sound.

The row of limestone boulders represents the Niagara Escarpment running north south with a stunning green tinted granite ‘glacial erratic’ boulder in centre all surrounded by chip stone that can be raked into flowing patters.

Peace and Privacy in Wiarton

This customer wanted a bit of privacy and a place to spend time outdoors in the shade with her dog. We installed a new fence and a raised flagstone patio surrounded by locally sourced boulders and shade loving plants.

Dry River Rock Bed with Cedar Bridge

This was an area where sub pump water drained from the house and created a streak of dead grass across the yard. We installed a rock feature combining limestone boulders, flagstones, river rock and pea gravel and built a cedar bridge to tie it all together.

Downtown Backyard Oasis

This beautiful area of the property longed for a usable space that felt natural yet orderly. We installed shade gardens, a jumbo flagstone patio, plus turned a mucky water run off area into a snaking rock river bed with metal fish dancing over the rocks.

Custom Built Finish Style Sauna

We went down the rabbit hole of proper sauna building seeking to create an experience that would meet strict Finish sauna standards. High benches, ample air circulations, tiled floor with a drain, stock tank cold plunge and a stove with lots of rocks to get that therapeutic wave of steam the Finish people call ‘loyly’.

- Have Us Take A Look -

Want to discuss landscape construction projects and productive outdoor systems? We listen to your ideas, give input and help design the outdoor living space of your dreams.

Looking for help taking care of your gardens? We offer garden maintenance contracts which include a spring opening, visits every 5 weeks and a fall closing.

Want to know where you can help? We are contracted to manage a community garden here in Owen Sound. Ask how you could help or visit Fresh Roots Cafe to taste what we grow.

What do other professionals say?

“Over the past several years I have had the pleasure of working with Mike in a number of capacities. I am ever impressed by his keen attention to detail and high levels of proficiency in his field.

Prioritizing and understanding client needs, developing creative & ecologically mindful solutions, thorough planning and project execution to the highest industry standards …this is just the beginning with Mike and Sound Outdoors, and I highly recommend his services.” 

- Myles Armstrong, Owner of Boreal Wildcraft and

Red Seal Certified Horticulture Technician

“I have worked with Mike on a few different occasions at the CMHA food forest in Owen Sound, and he is a very caring, knowledgable, hardworking and reliable person. He goes out of his way to help others. He is passionate about permaculture and it is demonstrated through how he gardens and lives his life. His communication skills are valuable, he is very down to earth, and he is a great guy to work with.”

- Julie Lamberts, Owner of Rooted by the Bluffs Nursery

Native Plant Expert and Permaculture Instructor

What do our customers say?

“My husband and I unexpectedly met Mike at a nursery while looking for trees. After a quick introduction we hired him to help us plan our landscaping. Mike was very helpful, pleasant and extremely knowledgeable about plants, trees and landscaping. He asked lots of questions, actively listened and offered wise suggestions. I would highly recommend Mike to anyone who is in the planning stages of their landscaping.”

Jeannine - 5 star review

“Mike prepped an area for spring planting of cedar trees at our cottage. He trenched the area and filled it with topsoil and mulch and left the area very tidy and ready for the next step. He provided excellent design advice, gave us a detailed and accurate quote and carried out the work on time and budget. He is an excellent communicator who regularly stayed in touch with updates on the timing of the work. We highly recommend Sound Outdoors!”

Will - 5 star review

"Mike Vair-Haley of Sound Outdoors has been providing home gardening services for me for 2 seasons. He is dependable, professional and organized. I am very pleased with my garden and how it looks. At the end of the 2022 season he developed a pollinator garden for me sourcing native plants.

As a volunteer with the Tom Thomson Trail Group, I hired Mike to provide gardening and upkeep of the Trailhead Kiosk in Owen Sound. The area looked the best it has in years.

I would highly recommend Mike and Sound Outdoors.”

Ruth-Ann - 5 star review

“The Sound Outdoors team is prompt, professional and priced right! The communication from the team is great. The work product is fabulous. The Team even helped me figure out some of my yard challenges in areas they don't normally work on. Talk about going the extra bit for a customer! Highly recommend.”

Andrea - 5 star review

Reach Out Today

Contact us Anytime

mike@soundoutdoors.ca

We will reply within 48 hours