Landscaping and Hardscaping
The paving and the planting are one drainage problem. A new bed piled against fresh asphalt traps the water the driveway was graded to shed. A patio set lower than the yard becomes a basin. A+ Paving & Landscaping builds the hardscape that meets the pavement: concrete patios, front garden beds, porch landscaping, and walks. You can see examples in our project photos.
Clay first, plants second
Eastern Panhandle soils are often clay over limestone and shale. Clay holds water and moves in a freeze. A bed dug into that clay without a way for water to leave will stay sour, and the edge of the asphalt next to it will crack where the water sits. Before anything is planted, the grade should fall away from the house and away from the pavement. That is the same idea as crowning a driveway, applied to the lawn edge and the porch.
Patios and walks are hardscape, not a substitute for a stone base under a drive. A concrete patio in a Berkeley Springs yard still needs a stable subgrade on a hillside. A walk to the front door in Martinsburg still needs a slope that does not dump roof water onto the stoop. Garden beds should work with the paving instead of against it.
Where landscaping meets the driveway
A stone border shows up beside a finished drive in the gallery. Those edges are where a string trimmer and a plow both hit the asphalt. A clean border keeps the edge from unraveling, as long as the border itself is not a dam. Leave a path for water. On a flat lot in Shepherdstown, that path matters more than it does on a hillside, because water will not leave on its own.
HOAs often have rules about bed edging, patio color, and what can sit in a front yard. Check with your HOA before the work is laid out. If the project also changes the driveway apron at the street, check with the county or the town as well.
Sealcoating and landscaping belong on different days. Sealer needs a clean pavement and a cure window, and fresh mulch and irrigation overspray will mark it. Contact us with photos of the porch, the bed, or the patio you want tied to the paving, and we will plan it together.