Tips For Maintaining Mature Gardens

When some people think of a landscaping project, they may imagine some precise, manual work required to lay new flowerbeds, re-sod lawn or add finishing touches here and there. Yet, you may have much grander plans as you have a very large and undulating plot of land available. With such a blank canvas, you can afford to think big, but if you do have grand plans, you may have to bring in some heavy-duty machinery to help you prepare. Why should you think about using an excavation contractor before your landscaping work really gets underway?

Assessing the Task

As you have an undulating landscape and want to make the most of its appeal, you may have to tackle some sizeable tasks to make sure it can cope with your plans. In particular, you need to deal with soil stability and movement, especially when it relates to stormwater. For this, you may need to install strong retaining walls and other solutions to help keep the soil in its place and create the foundation for terraced flowerbeds, pathways and other features.

Retaining Walls and Soil Retention

Your retaining walls will come under tremendous pressure from soil, which naturally tends to push down, especially when wet. The walls will need a very solid foundation, and you may need to carry out modifications to the sloped area behind each wall once you have specific calculations from an engineer. Either way, you'll need to excavate the area and move a lot of soil initially, so you will require proper machinery.

Drainage Management

You may also have to grade other areas or excavate in order to introduce special landscape features designed to deliver stormwater to where you want it to go. Fundamentally, you must ensure that all stormwater will flow away from your structures when your landscape job is complete, towards natural or man-made retention areas and public sewers.

Water Features

Talking about retention areas, you might want to introduce a large pond that can serve as a catchment point and a key aesthetic feature. The pond will require its own superstructure, and you will need to excavate a much larger space than you might originally imagine.

Finding Solutions

These are just some of the jobs that may require the input of a skilled excavator. Talk with your landscaping contractor, and they will recommend the best operator and machinery for these tasks. Remember, grand ideas require proper attention, and you will need the right contractors for the job.

For more information, contact an excavating contractor near you.