Native Landscaping
Landscaping with native Iowan plants can be very beautiful, require less watering after establishment, and can support our native ecosystems including pollinators and birds. The designers at SLS can design both hardscape and softscape features for your yard that enhance the time you spend outdoors.
Native plants and grasses with deep root systems allow rainfall to percolate deeply into the soil below, instead of rushing off into our streams and rivers causing erosion and pollution. Native plants are more tolerant of our weather extremes in Iowa. They create a diverse habitat that attracts birds, butterflies, pollinators and other wildlife. Additionally, native perennial flowers and grasses delight year after year and require minimal maintenance or watering once established.
Hardscape Installations
We have a skilled team of hardscape designers and installers that can create a stunning outdoor living space for your home. Patios, pathways, retaining walls, seat walls, firepits, outdoor kitchens, water features…we can do it all! We custom design for each client’s needs and budget. Our installations go above and beyond industry standards to ensure that your new patio or retaining wall will never dip, sink, or sag.
Permeable Paving
Permeable Pavers are a great way to have a beautiful hardscape, while being environmentally-minded. Hard surfaces in urban areas account for the majority of polluted stormwater runoff in urban areas.
Pervious pavement allows water to infiltrate between pavers into layers of rock chambers below the pavement, then into surrounding soils. Perforated drain pipe is installed to ensure water does not collect for an extended period of time underneath the pavers. Water that moves through rock and soil is filtered and slowed, reducing pollution and flood potential.
Permeable Pavers come in many different beautiful designs and forms. They are ideal for patios, walkways, driveways and parking pads.
Rain Gardens
Rain gardens, both beautiful and practical, are used to help collect rainwater that is shed from impervious surfaces including rooftops, driveways, sidewalks, patios, compacted lawns and soils and more.
Rain gardens are typically a constructed depression that water flows into, which allows a variety of perennial natives with deep roots to filter and clean the water while slowing and mitigating the water from entering our stormwater and sewers.
Rain gardens come in many different shapes and sizes. They are constructed to suit the best needs of each individual property based on location, water runoff, and soil profile.
Timber Stand Improvement
Timber Stand Improvement is the process of removing invasive species from our remaining native stands of timber. Our woodlands if left alone are susceptible to being overrun by oriental bittersweet, honeysuckle, multiflora rose, barberry, autumn olive, and other invasive species that form thickets. These thickets prevent the germination of our native trees and plants and leave bare earth underneath them, exacerbating erosion problems. Thickets of invasive species also reduce habitat for our native nesting birds and other wildlife.
Woodlands need to be managed in the 21st century. Unfortunately ‘leaving nature alone to be nature’ in this day and age means potentially losing our native woodland ecosystems. Active management of removing invasive species is the only way to preserve our woodland ecosystems for the next generation.
Bioswales & Bioretention Cells
Bioswales are landscape designs that help to remove silt and pollution from runoff water. They have a design that incorporates a swale to help divert the running water in a specific targeted direction for many reasons; filtering and cleaning the water before it hits our streams and rivers and slowing the watershed which can erode stream banks.
Bioswales are often filled with deep-rooted vegetation, native grasses and beautiful native forbs which have the functionality of slowing and cleaning the water runoff.
Bioretention cells are very similar in the characteristics and intent of Bioswales, except they do not have slope or diverted direction to move the runoff to. They act as a holding area for the water, cleaning and filtering it, and sending it to streams as slowly as possible.
Prairie Installation
Prairies are areas of land that contain a wide variety of native grasses and flowering plants and are a hallmark of Midwestern ecosystems. Restoring these beautiful, resilient landscapes are one of our specialties.
Prairie plant mixes include Big Bluestem, Indian Grass, Purple Coneflower, Black Eyed Susans, Blazing Star, Milkweed, Rattlesnake Master, and many, many more. We can source a wide variety of seed mixes for varying sun and soil conditions. These native grasses and flowers have deep roots (sometimes in excess of 10 feet) for resisting drought and allowing for rain water to percolate and be cleaned and filtered before slowly discharging into our streams and rivers. In addition to being functional and beautiful, they also provide irreplaceable pollinator and wildlife habitat.
Establishing a prairie can take up to 3 years, and maintenance is important to ensure proper success. Maintenance practices include well-timed mowing, burning or targeted treatment to minimize non-native invasives. You don’t need a large area to reap large rewards from these bold, beautiful natives. We have installed tiny backyard prairies to large acreages and can confidently design, install and provide the skilled maintenance required or provide consultation.
Soil Quality Restoration
Why would the state with the best soil in the world need soil quality restoration? Because most residential housing developments built in the past 50 years had all the topsoil removed from the site prior to construction. Most of us have yards installed on heavily compacted subsoil, low in organic content, with at best a few inches of topsoil.
Every spring and fall we offer soil quality restoration service - which is a deep tine aeration over your entire yard and then top dressing with compost and overseeding with fresh grass seed. This process helps break up soil compaction and adds much needed organic material into the soil profile. This can improve the health and resiliency for your turf and trees. Some customers find they want to repeat the process annually if they are starting off with particularly poor soils.
In Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty, you may be able to receive a reimbursement for 50% of the cost thanks to stormwater quality funding.
Custom Concrete Edging
Transform your landscaping with custom concrete curbing. Our continuous concrete borders look and feel like stone and with proper care will last the lifetime of your home. Some reasons our customers love their concrete curbing include:
• More economical and durable than traditional lawn edging
• Successful root barrier
• Multiple colors and design options
• Design flexibility including flowing curves, straight lines and custom designs
• Reduces edging and trimming time
• Most jobs completed in one day
• Professional appearance adds value to your property
• Existing landscaping not disturbed
• Continuous curb
• Will not rust like steel, decompose like wood, break like plastic, or move like brick
Combined with the economical installation, the sleek look, and the custom colors and patterns, concrete curbing can blend with the most modern or rustic home and lends a cohesive look and feel to any landscape.
Rain barrels
Rain barrels capture runoff from downspouts from the roof, which can then be stored and used to water garden plants whenever it is convenient for you.
Rain barrels come in many different styles, sizes and setups. SLS can customize your rain barrel installation to your particular needs.
Landscape Maintenance
The team at SLS along with our certified arborist on staff can help keep the plants, trees, and shrubs in your existing landscaping healthy and vibrant. Sustainable Landscape Solutions can prune your trees and shrubs, install or refresh mulch in your garden beds, as well as keep your yard weeded during the growing season. Email us for a quote for a one time yard clean up or for continuous service.
Wetland Work
Wetlands are habitats that have water covering the soils for the vast majority of the year. Wetlands support both aquatic and terrestrial species. The extended presence of water favors the growth of specific plants (hydrophytes) that have adapted to, and supplement the characteristics of a (hydric) wetland soil.
Wetlands take years to develop and require ongoing maintenance to compete with invasives that also enjoy the hydric kind of ecosystem that a wetland provides.