Landscape Design and Build in Bella Vista, Vernon, BC

You’re Not Alone If…

Get a Rough Estimate for Your Bella Vista Project

Every Kalagan service has its own cost calculator — pick yours, enter a few details, and get a rough project range in seconds.

Bella Vista is one of Vernon’s most distinctive neighbourhoods, climbing the benches above Kalamalka Lake through what was, for decades, working orchard land. Kalamalka Lake carries the nickname “the Lake of Many Colours,” a nod to the mineral deposits that shift its water through shades of turquoise and deep blue depending on the light, and it is exactly that view that lake-facing Bella Vista properties are positioned to capture. Many lots here still sit on the terraced ground that fruit growers shaped generations ago, back when the benches above the lake were planted in apple and cherry orchards rather than homes, and that legacy shows up in the terrain every design has to work with: sloped lots, retained benches, and soil that shifts from sandy loam to compacted clay depending on where an orchard block once stood. Add in the lake-view premium that draws homeowners to Bella Vista in the first place, and you get a neighbourhood where outdoor space is expected to do two things at once, hold its ground on a grade and frame the view instead of blocking it. Properties along the benches above the lake often deal with meaningful elevation change from front door to back fence, which means a patio, pool, or outdoor kitchen has to be engineered into the slope rather than simply placed on top of it. That combination of heritage terrain and panoramic sightlines is what makes a Bella Vista landscape project different from a flat-lot build elsewhere in Vernon, and it is exactly the kind of site-specific design challenge our team is built to solve. The neighbourhood also sits within easy reach of Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park and the Cosens Bay trail network, and many of the homeowners we work with here want an outdoor space that echoes that same setting: natural stone, drought-tolerant plantings, and clean sightlines down toward the water rather than a design that competes with it.

We’re proud to bring the same design-and-build standard to homes throughout Bella Vista and the surrounding Vernon area, from lake-view lots along the upper benches to properties closer to the orchard flats below. Explore completed projects from across the Okanagan in our project gallery to see the craftsmanship, materials, and attention to grade and drainage you can expect on your own property, whether that means a full backyard rebuild or a single retaining wall that finally makes a sloped lot usable.

More Real Kalagan Projects

Full Backyard Transformation

A paver patio, planting & lighting build — Kelowna, BC

Peachland Hillside Terracing

A multi-tier retaining wall build — Peachland, BC

Designing and Building for Bella Vista’s Climate and Terrain

Bella Vista’s benchland slopes mean grading and drainage come first on almost every project we take on here, well-built retaining walls are what keep a terraced backyard usable and safe rather than just decorative, and they are often the first design decision everything else follows from. The same southern and western exposure that makes this neighbourhood’s lake views so sought-after also means many yards here dry out fast through the Okanagan’s hot, low-rainfall summers, which is why we lean on xeriscaping and drought-tolerant planting design for beds that hold up without excess watering once the heat of July and August settles in. Properties closer to the lakeshore or backing onto the dry grassland slopes above Kalamalka Lake benefit from a FireSmart landscaping review as part of the design process, since defensible space and plant selection matter as much as curb appeal in a neighbourhood where grass cures quickly each summer. Elevation changes across a single Bella Vista lot can also affect how water moves through a yard after spring runoff, so drainage planning is built into our retaining wall and hardscape designs from the start rather than treated as an afterthought. Whatever grade or aspect your lot has, our design process starts with the ground itself, not a template, because in Bella Vista the terrain is the starting point for everything we build. We also account for the neighbourhood’s mix of established, mature landscaping and newer builds on subdivided orchard parcels, since a retaining wall or planting plan on a decades-old lot has to work with existing mature trees, established grade lines, and soil conditions in a way a brand-new build does not.