Spring is here, and normally you would see many ongoing landscaping projects as you drive through your neighborhood. However, landscapers are dealing with severe restrictions that prevent new work except in certain cases such as existing maintenance. If there is work you need done on your property, now is a good time to plan ahead for essential services that involve excavation in Peterborough, NH.
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Demolition and Stump Removal
If anything is standing in the way of a new patio, pool, retaining wall or pavilion, it needs to be removed. Existing structures, patios, trees, rocks, ponds, pools, and debris may need to be taken down and removed; and this must be done skillfully to avoid damaging the landscape, your home, or interfering with power lines or buried utilities. Stumps can be particularly tricky to remove (especially in rocky soil), but excavators do the job cleanly.
Getting Land Ready for Hardscapes and Softscapes
Excavators can transform your landscape from bumpy, steep and unusable into a space that’s perfect for hardscapes and for landscape renovations. Getting the land ready can involve grading, leveling and shaping, installing drainage solutions, or smoothing undulations so you can take advantage of beautiful views or just get more use out of your space. Hilly terrain can be tamed and made more usable when living spaces are carved into hillsides and then finished with beautiful masonry.
Correcting Drainage
If your land has standing water or if water tends to flow where it’s not supposed to (toward structures, for example), then an excavator can create better drainage that will keep your property safe from water damage. This may involve creating a few low-lying areas, filling in others where water tends to pool (especially if standing water is attracting nuisance insects like mosquitoes) and grading the land so that water has a chance to soak in rather than running off.
Pool Excavation
Installation of any inground pool or spa will require excavation. Now is a great time to decide exactly where you want your pool or spa to be, so that when landscape project restrictions are lifted, you’ll be ready to break ground!
Retaining Walls
Structural retaining walls need a proper foundation as well as an area that will be backfilled, so the wall can support the immense weight of the earth they’re holding back. Even a small retaining wall could be holding back several tons of dirt and rock, and that weight increases when the soil is water-saturated. A firm footing will help the wall do its job and last for many years.
Preparing for Hardscapes
Aside from shaping the land and preparing soil to support the weight of a paver or natural stone patio (especially a patio with heavy elements such as outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, or hot tubs), excavation is also needed for underground utilities such as natural gas, electrical, and plumbing. The extra power of excavation equipment is especially welcome in New Hampshire’s rocky soil!
Driveway Excavation
Poorly installed driveways don’t last, even less so than poorly installed patios. The secret to a driveway that will last, lies in the preparation: a perfectly leveled and graded site to encourage proper drainage, and of course an adequate base.
Excavators move the earth, and virtually any major landscape renovation will require their services. Give the excavation pros at Northern Lights a call to start planning your landscape project. We are committed to quality work and to transforming your landscape into outdoor spaces of your dreams.
Related: TIPS FROM A LANDSCAPER FOR CREATING A BACKYARD YOU WON'T WANT TO LEAVE IN AMHERST NH
