Most kids grow out of pushing a lawnmower around the yard. Matthew never did. He turned a two-year-old's obsession into a real business — one that runs on the same discipline that keeps pucks out of his net.
Started before he could see over the mower
Matthew Hutchison was two years old when he first pushed a gas-powered lawnmower across the family's Nanaimo lawn. Supervised, of course — but determined. The mower was about as tall as he was. It didn't matter. He wanted to cut grass.
That wasn't a phase. It became the thing he did every weekend, every summer, every year. Through grade school he was the kid neighbours hired to cut their lawn. By the time most teenagers were getting their first part-time jobs, Matthew had already been running his own little lawn-care operation for a decade.
West Coast Landscaping is the grown-up version of that — properly equipped, professionally insured, with commercial-grade gear and a real crew. But the core of it is unchanged. Matthew still shows up. Matthew still does the work.
Goaltender by winter, landscaper by summer
When he's not behind a mower, Matthew is in the crease. He plays goaltender for the Nanaimo Clippers, the city's Junior A team in the BCHL.
Hockey discipline translates directly to how he runs the business. Show up on time. Communicate clearly. Follow through. These aren't slogans on a website — they're how the team operates because they're how Matthew operates. Goalies who don't have those habits don't last in Junior A. Neither do landscapers.
On the ice, nothing gets past him. On your lawn, nothing gets overlooked.
Hockey isn't the only thing. Golf is the other passion — same precision, same focus, different season. It's why Matthew measures distance in irons rather than minutes ("Lantzville's a 9-iron away" is genuinely how he describes the commute from his place down Groveland near Dickinson, in the north end of Nanaimo). Two sports that both reward showing up, paying attention, and doing the same thing right a thousand times. Same skill set, different equipment.
Born and raised on Vancouver Island
Nanaimo is home. It's where Matthew grew up, where he plays his hockey, and where the family lawn — the original mowing classroom — still gets cut every week. The whole service area (Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Ladysmith) is within an easy drive.
That matters more than people realize. Vancouver Island has its own climate, its own soil, its own seasonal rhythms. The wet coast brings moss and disease pressure that mainland landscapers don't see. Coastal soil ranges from sandy on one block to heavy clay on the next. Cedar hedges dominate property lines because they thrive here — and they kill where they're cut wrong. None of this is in a textbook. You learn it by working here, year after year.
Matthew has been working here his whole life.
The full crew, when the job needs it
Some jobs are one person and a truck. A lot of them aren't. Half-acre Lantzville lots, multi-property estate clean-ups, hedge trims that produce 250 kilograms of trimmings — those need a crew.
When West Coast Landscaping brings a crew, it's mostly Matthew's Nanaimo Clippers teammates. The senior crew member is Joey — Matthew's longtime friend and a fellow goaltender, currently playing for the University of Alberta. Two goalies, one driveway. They show up in matching WCL uniforms. Trucks are clean. Equipment is organized. Nobody's on a phone. The crew works the way the team works: efficient, organized, no shortcuts. People notice the difference. We hear it from clients all the time.
What we won't pretend to be
One thing about hockey: you can't fake it. Either you stop the puck or you don't. Matthew runs the business the same way.
We're a walk-behind mower operation — no ride-ons. We do extended-reach hedge trimming from the ground — no scaffolding or elevated platforms. We don't apply chemical sprays (no iron sulphate, no herbicides, no pesticides). For moss and weed control, the spray step is the homeowner's; we handle the dethatching, the raking, the haul-away, the lime application, the overseeding. Granular fertilization is offered.
If a job needs equipment we don't have, we'll tell you. And we'll point you to someone who does. We'd rather lose the job than do it badly.
What we cover
Seven services across five communities on central Vancouver Island:
Lawn mowing & maintenance · Hedge & shrub trimming · Power washing · Aeration & dethatching · Fertilization · Spring & fall cleanups · Garden bed care
Serving Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, and Ladysmith.
For real estate agents preparing listings: see our flat-rate listing prep package and tier pricing — locked-in quote within 24 hours of an address submission.
Licensed and on the books
West Coast Landscaping is a licensed, inter-municipal business registered with the City of Nanaimo (License #137788) and authorized to operate across Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, and Ladysmith. If you ever want to verify the business behind the truck in your driveway, that link is the public record.
