Landscaper in Ottawa, OH

The same things drive it here as anywhere in Ohio: access for a machine, how deep the hardscape base has to go, whether drainage has to be solved first, plant size at installation, and how much has to be removed before the new work starts. On Putnam County ground the base depth and the drainage answer are usually what separate two quotes. We give an itemised written number after seeing the property, and the visit is free.

Hardscape and drainage want dry, workable ground — roughly late March through early December here. Planting is strongest in early fall, September through mid-October, when roots get six to eight weeks in warm soil before dormancy. Lawn seeding is best mid-August through late September. We schedule each part of a project for its own window rather than doing everything at once.

Swamp white oak, river birch, red-twig dogwood, buttonbush, switchgrass, sedges, swamp milkweed and blue flag iris all handle periodic saturation and then dry conditions afterward. That combination — wet for days, then dry — is harder on plants than either extreme alone, and it rules out most standard nursery shrubs.

Yes, when it is sized and built correctly — a properly shaped depression with amended soil, an overflow path, and plants that handle both saturation and drought. It captures runoff and lets it soak away over a day or two. A shallow scrape with random plantings is not a rain garden; it is a wet spot.

Often yes, with siting and elevation decisions made around high-water history. Pavers on a properly built base actually handle inundation better than a poured slab, since they can be lifted and reset if the base is ever undermined. What we would not do is build at the lowest elevation on the property without addressing where water goes first.