Landscaping & drainage

Most of the landscaping we are called about starts as a water problem. A soggy corner, a washed-out bed, a basement that takes on water every spring.

So we survey where the water is actually coming from before we plant anything. Then we build the route it should be taking, and the planting goes in around that. Done in the right order, the drainage becomes the best-looking part of the yard instead of a trench you can see from the kitchen window.

Dry creek beds

Limestone and cobblestone creek beds, edged with boulders and river rock, sized to carry a real downpour. For the rest of the year they read as a feature rather than infrastructure, which is the point.

French drains and culverts

Where the water has to go underground it goes underground: French drains through the wet ground, culverts under the drive and paths, and downspout runs taken well clear of the foundation rather than dumped at the corner of the house.

Planting and beds

Native and ornamental planting chosen for a Kansas City summer, in beds shaped to the house and graded to fall away from it. Boulders, cobblestone and river rock used at full size as part of the composition.