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. Rush sits outside our home counties — call and we will confirm scheduling before you commit to anything.
Soil and drainage in Rush
Cut-and-fill is the recurring project. A usable patio or a flat lawn panel on a hillside means retaining the cut properly and compacting the fill in lifts rather than dumping it and hoping. Fill placed without compaction settles for years and takes whatever is built on it along.
Thin soil dries fast on a south-facing slope and stays wet at the toe of the same hill. That is a planting decision rather than an irrigation one: drought-tolerant species up top, moisture-tolerant species below, and mulch heavy enough to stay put on the grade.
What Rush 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.
One contractor across all four seasons removes the seams that cause most of the problems we inherit — the summer crew that never staked the property for the winter crew, the salt that killed a turf edge nobody was responsible for repairing.
Winter in Rush
Drifting is the underestimated problem on open ground here. A drive can be clear at dawn and closed by mid-morning with nothing new falling, because wind is moving what already fell. Return passes should be written into the agreement, and drive edges staked in the fall so the pavement line can be found when a drift buries it.
Material choice shifts with the thermometer. Standard rock salt loses effectiveness around 15°F, and below that treated salt or a calcium or magnesium chloride blend is what actually melts anything. Applying more rock salt in those conditions wastes product and damages concrete.
What Rush Township properties call us for
These are the services this ground actually needs, ordered by what the soil and terrain in Tuscarawas 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.
- Fire Pits & Outdoor Living SpacesFire features, seat walls and outdoor kitchens that stretch an Ohio patio season from May into November.
- Tree & Shrub TrimmingPruned at the right time of year, to the right cut — so plants stay in scale instead of getting sheared into boxes.
- Landscape Design & InstallationA drawn plan before a shovel moves — so the beds, grades and plant choices still make sense in year ten.
Why Rush property owners choose us
We know Tuscarawas County ground
Tuscarawas County sits in the Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, where thin soil over sandstone and shale on the slopes, deeper alluvium in the valley 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 Tuscarawas 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
Rush sits in Tuscarawas County. We cover these neighbouring communities too:


