Sustainable Hardscapes

By Marty Strobel, Landscape Labor Solutions

This Landscape Labor Solutions project located in Lansing, Michigan features more than 1,100 square feet of hardscape and took three months to complete. Here, the company installed two color blends (Beechwood & Kensington) of interlocking paver stones. Photographed during a rainstorm, the area suffered nine inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Because the contractor designed the patios and walkways as a storm water management system, there was no standing or pooling water on the patios and walkways.

Landscape Labor Solutions transformed a 1928 Lansing, Michigan residential project into a 100-percent fully sustainable hardscape project. One of the client’s requests was that the home be a shining example of sustainability. They wanted the residence to illustrate how one can have a beautiful sustainable hardscape and softscape, while reducing environmental impact.

The project features more than 1,100 square feet of permeable hardscape, a 65-foot porous concrete city sidewalk, two rain gardens, and a low-impact design that works as an effective storm-water management tool. Amazingly, the project retains 100 percent of rainwater on-site.

The Project
First off, all of the project’s six pillars and 40 linear feet of seat walls were excavated and constructed to define the patio area, but were not capped and finished until the very end of the project. Before they installed the seat wall caps, the company ran low-voltage direct-bury wire and installed landscape lighting.

The pillar excavation consisted of a 15-inch dig-out, while the seat-wall bases were excavated to a 9-inch depth. Workers installed GeoTextile Road Fabric as an under-layment beneath the pillars, seat walls and patio. In addition to the fabric, they used GeoGrid throughout the base material to help strengthen and add to the integrity of the base material.

The contractor used a large crane to place the two 2,550-pound Chilton outcropping stones, which are held in place by their weight alone. Crews dug out the water garden to 17 wide x 36 long x 3-foot deep and then used a crane to position two 3-foot boulders around the edge. Workers lined the pond with under-layment and a 45-millimeter EPDM Liner, and then electricians wired in an 8,800 GPH high-head centrifugal pump. For the retaining wall, workers installed Atlas Hardscapes Talia Stone.

The contractor established one main grade stake as the finished floor level for the patio, and based all their other various measurements off that. Workers hand excavated the patio area 12 inches deep and dug the walkways 9-12 inches deep. The patio area alone took two laborers five days to excavate. They hand dug six inches of limestone fines and four inches of clay, removing more than 30 cubic yards of soil. All of this material had to be removed in wheelbarrows and moved uphill more than 100 yards. Next, 6A crushed clean limestone was moved in by wheelbarrow and spread and compacted in 2-inch lifts.

The hardscape crew adhered Talia Stones to the existing sandstone steppers, and then planted two Pinus strobus pendula (Weeping White Pines) to create the “Living Arch,” which frames a formal fountain that is surrounded by a boxwood hedge. They then secured the Weeping White Pines to a cyclone fence top-rail. The left side of the “Living Arch” features ‘Anthony Waterer’ Spirea and the right side was planted with hydrangea.

Walkways
Workers laid a 2-inch flexible PVC pipe under the middle of the patio and across one of the walkways to the water garden’s 8,800 GPH centrifugal pump. Next, a 1-inch leveling course of crushed pea stone was screeded over the entire area and then they installed Atlas Hardscapes Harbour Stone.

Later, after all hardscape cuts had been made with a cut-off saw and brick edging installed, the joints were grouted with crushed pea stone as well.

The hardscape team installed a 9-inch deep 6A crushed limestone (with no fines) base beneath the pavers. After this, they compacted the limestone in 2-inch lifts using a Wacker 550 Plate Compactor; a 1-inch layer of crushed pea stone was screeded over the limestone for final leveling. Overall, workers installed more than 700 square feet of brick pavers in this area.

Permeable Project
Even though the walkway hardscape is not made with permeable pavers, the company designed the patio and walkways to function as such an application. Because the company constructed the hardscape on an all-rock base with reinforcement from the GeoTextile and the grid, the patio, pillars, and seat walls resist the constant movement from the underlying moist-soil conditions.

Here, the walkway is shown just after all the cuts had been made. In the walkways, the company used bendable 2-inch PVC tubing to create the perfect curves and then cut the pavers with a Partner cut-off saw. They then installed the paver edging with 10-inch Ardox spikes and lightly grouted the pavers with crushed pea stone. Overall, the hardscape crew installed more than 250 square feet of walkway.

The Water Garden
During the design phase, the company discovered a Muskrat had eaten a hole in the pond liner underneath the Chilton outcropping stone. To get to the pond liner, the company had to remove two trees and an 2,500-pound stone. First off, they used a Connelly Crane to remove the two large cherry trees. Workers had to plank the crane into a field behind the homeowner’s property and then removed the trees to allow the crane’s boom access over the security fence to the site. To get access to the damaged pond liner, the company also had to use the crane to remove and re-set the outcropping stone.

Before the contractor began the project, the existing walkways consisted of Lilac Irregular Select Flagstone installed on limestone fines. Over the previous 11 years, the flagstone sustained movement from freeze-thaw and became uneven, making them a liability for the homeowner.

Curb Appeal
For the home’s front exterior, the company built Allan Block retaining walls and decorative pillars, which encompasses the entire front landscape. The downspouts on the front of the home drain into two rain gardens planted with perennials and ornamental grasses.

Additionally, they installed Belgard ‘Subterra’ permeable paver landings and walkways to create the random cobblestone surfaces that lead between pillars through the front garden to the permeable paver driveway. Workers removed the front city sidewalk and replaced it with porous concrete. The home’s front and driveway foundation were waterproofed with a low-VOC rubber membrane to protect the walls from the additional water pressure.

Going Green
The contractor used recycled concrete as part of the permeable paver base, as well as using bulk-leaf compost to help create the custom soil mixtures for the rain gardens and landscape. The project is a great example of how a well-designed and installed hardscape project can be environmentally friendly.