Landscape and Irrigation is read by decision makers throughout the landscape and irrigation markets — including contractors, landscape architects, professional grounds managers, and irrigation and water mgmt companies and reaches the entire spetrum.
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CASE STUDY Finishing Touches When finishing hardscape installations for your customers, be sure to consider the surrounding areas prior to calling the job complete. A patio or walkway situated next to a home may be po- sitioned next to a downspout, or a patio may be at the bottom of a hill where runoff is inevitable. Mother Nature can do a number on your handy work if you don't manage for moisture that may accumulate on or around the hardscape. There are a few things you can do to ensure your cus- tomer's new outdoor space remains just how it looked on the final walk through for many years to come. Jason Toth, technical customer service supervisor at DAP Products Inc., recommends the following: 1. Identify the proximity of downspouts to the hardscape. Is water emptying directly on to the surface, or into a planting bed nearby? Redirect the spout away from the space or be sure that there is a deep bed of soil and mulch that can take up some of the moisture, instead of letting it seep under, on or through your hardscape. 2. Tackle transition areas. Where your hard- scape butts up to brick, concrete block, asphalt or the home's exterior foundation, there will inevitably be a crack where the two surfaces meet. Use a polyurethane caulking material, such as DAP Premium Polyurethane Construc- tion Adhesive Sealant, to seal the space and prevent moisture from seeping in, leading to soil erosion, rot and frost heave. This is especially important if the hardscape meets the home's exterior foundation. Water sheeting down the house can pool at the base and seep in to base- ments. If you don't seal the deal now, you could be looking at a whole-house foundation issue. 3. Encourage cleaning. Educate your cus- tomers about the need to regularly clean and scrub hardscape surfaces. While these surfaces are durable and low-maintenance, they still require some attention. Using an environmen- tally friendly cleaner, or light power washing, can prevent mold and mildew from developing, which can eventually lead to staining and dam- age of your hardscaping materials. Sidebar provided by DAP Products Inc. www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation May/June 2015 41 LANDSCAPE CONSTRUCTION TWO RIVERS The story begins with two rivers: the Susquehanna River flows into the Chesa- peake in the north; the James River in the south. Two projects, one tied to each river, have been put into place to lower stormwater volume going into sewer systems. Both use StormPave permeable pavers, by Pine Hall Brick Company, which enable rainfall and snow melt to penetrate through the pavement surface. From there, it either seeps into the ground, where it is naturally filtered, or it is captured into tanks for irrigation. The Susquehanna River In Lancaster, Pa., the combination of stormwater and sewage can overwhelm the treatment plant on a rainy day, which results in pollution being released into the Conestoga River, then into the Susquehanna, and finally into the Chesapeake Bay. The installation of the StormPave pavers was one of the key features in an upgrade of the intersection of Plum and Walnut streets in Lancaster. In 2014, the Chesapeake Stormwater Network announced that the project won the Grand Prize — the Best Urban BMP (Best Management Practice) in the Bay Award, or BUBBA. The stormwater network — which is made up of nearly 4,000 stormwater professionals throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, which runs from New York south through several states to Virginia — began the competition to recognize innovative approaches to handle stormwater. The network noted that the project effectively transformed a low-lying in- tersection that had a large concrete island and a dangerous merge lane into a model for stormwater management, enhanced pedestrian amenities, im- proved traffic safety and increased commercial activity. A large outdoor din- ing patio and diagonal parking spaces, both with StormPave pavers, were built at the Lancaster Brewing Company. The once concrete-and-asphalt intersection is now home to native shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses and new tree species surrounding the outdoor café. Adjacent to the dining patio is a sculpture with a framework of steel and irregular native woods that hides a 700-gallon cistern. The installation captures stormwater from the roof for watering planters that are used by the brewery's owners to grow their own produce. John McGrann, owner of Penn Stone, a Pine Hall Brick Company dealer, said that the use or permeable paving is seeing increased popularity in the area around Lancaster, in part because of environmental concerns. McGrann said the project at Plum and Walnut makes good economic sense, on a couple different levels. He said that the City of Lancaster is under a mandate from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to either come up with a way to solve the problem, or the EPA will require the city to build a series of expensive gray-water holding tanks. The tanks are designed to hold the wastewater long enough to give the treatment plant time to treat all of it before it's discharged into the river. "We can either spend the money or we can explore the alternatives that are out there," said McGrann. "We can get in compliance with the EPA require- ments through a strategy of green infrastructure for half the investment and create some interesting infrastructure in the process." Early examples, in addition to the intersection project, have included the use of porous pavement (instead of solid asphalt) to build basketball courts, and a combination of porous pavement and permeable pavers to replace an alleyway, McGrann said. "From what I hear, we're getting held up as an example of discovering good solutions instead of being confrontational and getting forced into a bad solu- tion," said McGrann. Educate your customers about the need to regularly clean and scrub hardscape surfaces.