Plateau soils hold water and sit over shale, so cut slopes need holding and hardscape needs drainage detailed for saturated conditions rather than average ones.
Where we work from: our shop is at 7980 OH-249, Hicksville, OH. Aurora sits outside our home counties — call and we will confirm scheduling before you commit to anything.
Soil and drainage in Aurora
Slopes are the defining feature and the opportunity. Ground steeper than roughly three-to-one is dangerous with a walk-behind and impossible with a rider, and terracing converts it into level, plantable, usable space. Every wall we build gets drain tile at the base with a positive outlet, a minimum twelve-inch zone of clean angular stone behind the block wrapped in geotextile, and geogrid into compacted fill on anything with real height. Walls that lean forward in this county were backfilled with soil rather than stone.
Hardscape on shale-derived soil has to be detailed for saturated conditions rather than average ones: deeper excavation where the subgrade is soft, geotextile separating clay from the aggregate base, and roof water tied into solid pipe and carried past the hardscape before anything is built on it.
What Aurora properties need most
Commercial and multifamily property here needs something different from a residential lawn: consistent presentation at entrances and signage, service scheduled around operating hours, and documented winter clearing on walks, entries and ramps. Most winter liability attaches to pedestrian surfaces rather than the parking lot, and the time-stamped record of what was cleared and salted is exactly what an insurer asks for.
The order that gets the most from a budget is almost always the same: drainage and grading first because everything else sits on top of them, then hardscape with sleeves and conduit run for anything you might add later, then structural planting, then beds and mulch, then lighting.
Winter in Aurora
Equipment and route design matter more here than anywhere else in the state. A contractor whose whole route is sized for an average winter will be underwater in a lake-effect week, which is why capacity — not price per push — is the question worth asking in October.
Most of what protects a landscape through a hard winter is done in November — leaves cleared so turf does not mat, evergreens watered deeply before the ground freezes, and drainage outlets cleared so February meltwater has somewhere to go.
What Aurora properties call us for
These are the services this ground actually needs, ordered by what the soil and terrain in Portage County demand rather than by what is easiest to sell.
- Retaining Walls & TerracingEngineered walls with real drainage behind them — turning slopes you cannot mow into space you can use.
- Drainage Solutions & Yard GradingFrench drains, swales and regrading that move water away from your foundation before it costs you a basement.
- Paver Patios & HardscapingPatios and walkways set on eight inches of compacted base — the reason ours are still flat after ten Ohio winters.
- Commercial Landscaping & Grounds MaintenanceOne contractor for grounds and snow, with documented service and a contact who answers the phone.
- Landscape LightingLow-voltage LED lighting that makes the yard usable after 5pm — which in Ohio is half the year.
- Sod Installation, Seeding & Lawn RenovationNew lawns, thin lawns and construction scars — graded, amended and established properly the first time.
Why Aurora property owners choose us
We know Portage County ground
Portage County sits in the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, where gravelly till on the rises and organic muck in the kettles, so soil can change completely across one lot. We plan around that rather than applying a template written for another part of the state.
We fix the water before anything else
Every dollar spent on plants or hardscape sitting on ground that stays wet gets spent twice. On Portage County soil we diagnose drainage first — and often the honest answer is two downspouts rather than a system.
46 Google reviews, licensed and insured
Verbatim reviews from neighbours across the region, full coverage on every crew and machine, and financing available so a full plan can be built in one season.
One contractor for all four seasons
Landscaping April through November and snow and ice through the winter, from the same crews. The people who stake a drive in November are the people who mowed it in July.
Nearby places we also serve
Aurora sits in Portage County. We cover these neighbouring communities too:
