Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain

MAR 2015

LC/DBM provides landscape contractors with Educational, Imaginative and Practical information about their business, their employees, their machines and their projects.

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In October 2012, Superstorm Sandy devastated much of the east- ern seaboard, causing $65 billion in damage across the East Coast. For these New Jersey homeowners, the destruction provided an op - portunity for redesign. After several large trees were wiped out by the storm, Epic Land Design was called in to redo the landscape. The backyard renovation process proved to be defined by extreme weather conditions, taking just short of two years from the start of the design process to completion of the project. Getting Started The main goal was to create a usable backyard for the clients. Be- yond the existing deck, the backyard sloped down 12 feet across a 30' span, leaving the backyard space unusable. After deciding against a pool, the homeowners chose to extend the deck to create a grill area with seating area, a large patio for lounging and entertaining, access from the deck to the yard, a vegetable garden, and landscap - ing for the woods area behind the house to screen the yard from a commuter train. The backyard work began in October 2013, a year after Hurricane Sandy swept the area. First, Epic Land Design installed the terraces, patios and walks. Approximately 90 tons of 2' to 4' boulders were installed, creating the terraced area and increasing the grade about 8 feet. The two boulder walls are each 80' long and used over 600 yards of fill soils. Additionally, Epic Land Design installed a 60' long, 20" tall dry stacked ADK stone seat/retaining wall. The new terraces exposed the foundation, so 40 square feet of natural stone veneer was used to fill in the gaps. The extended patio areas included space for lounging and en- tertaining. The homeowners already had a barbecue, so Epic Land Design created the new space for it. A new paver path connects the driveway, garage and back entry to the deck and patio with a flow- ing walk through the landscape. A flagstone path was constructed to lead to the new semi-formal vegetable garden. The township has a 15 percent impervious coverage maximum, so the patio and paths had to be carefully planned to account for this. Weather Strikes Again The 2013-2014 winter for New Jersey was the harshest the state had seen in several years, with double the usual snowfall. The harsh weather slowed the project as it was just getting started. A brief warm Weathering a t h g Storm e a S the Alli Martin, LC/DBM 40 LC DBM

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