On these slopes the governing constraint is stability. Anything cut into a hillside needs engineered drainage behind it, because water in shale is what moves a wall long before the block itself fails.
Where we work from: our shop is at 7980 OH-249, Hicksville, OH. Licking sits outside our home counties — call and we will confirm scheduling before you commit to anything.
Soil and drainage in Licking
Water in shale moves in ways that surprise people, travelling along bedding planes and surfacing well away from where it entered. That is why drainage design here starts with probing rather than with the obvious low point on the survey.
Anything cut into a hillside needs drain tile and clean angular stone behind it with a positive outlet. Water moving through shale is what walks a wall forward, and no amount of block quality substitutes for somewhere for that water to go.
What Licking Township properties need
A working windbreak is worth more on an exposed township property than any ornamental planting. That means staggered rows of Norway spruce or white pine spaced for mature size, sited on the west and north — not a tight single row of arborvitae, which browns on the windward side and is the first thing deer strip in a hard winter.
Timing does more work than technique in this climate. Hardscape wants dry ground that will compact, planting wants early fall, seeding wants mid-August through late September, and pruning follows each plant's bloom cycle rather than whichever Saturday is free.
Winter in Licking
The winter work that protects a landscape is mostly done in November: leaves off the turf so it does not mat under snow and grow snow mold, evergreens watered deeply before the ground freezes so they have a reserve to draw on, drive and walk edges staked, and drainage outlets cleared so meltwater has somewhere to go in February.
Salt damage along drives and walks is the visible cost of over-application: a dead strip of turf that gets a little wider every year and browned evergreens where spray reaches them. Calibrated rates, salt-tolerant planting in the first few feet, and repairing the edge each spring keep it from compounding.
What Licking Township properties call us for
These are the services this ground actually needs, ordered by what the soil and terrain in Muskingum 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.
- Snow Removal & Ice ManagementPlowing, shoveling and salting on a trigger you set — residential drives and commercial lots, all winter.
- Paver Patios & HardscapingPatios and walkways set on eight inches of compacted base — the reason ours are still flat after ten Ohio winters.
- Lawn Mowing & Property MaintenanceWeekly mowing, trimming and edging on a schedule you can set your watch by — residential and commercial.
- Sod Installation, Seeding & Lawn RenovationNew lawns, thin lawns and construction scars — graded, amended and established properly the first time.
Why Licking property owners choose us
We know Muskingum County ground
Muskingum County sits in the Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, where thin, acidic soil over sandstone and shale on the slopes, deeper alluvium in the bottoms. 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 Muskingum 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
Licking sits in Muskingum County. We cover these neighbouring communities too:
