Services
Land that works ecologically and passes review.
Conservation landscape design, native planting and habitat restoration — turning disturbed land, coastline and open space into something that functions ecologically, satisfies the reviewer, and largely maintains itself.
The cheapest water-quality device on most properties is the band of vegetation nobody mows. It is also the one most often mowed to death by a well-meaning contractor who was never told what it was for.
What a planted buffer is actually doing
It slows runoff before it reaches open water, so sediment drops out on land where it is harmless instead of in the pond where it is not. Its roots hold the bank. It takes up nutrients that would otherwise feed algae. And it removes the clean sightline from mown grass to open water that makes a pond attractive to resident geese.
None of that works if the planting is the wrong species. Stock grown from local-provenance seed establishes and persists; generic nursery stock frequently loses to phragmites and cattail within a few seasons, and then you have an invasive stand that costs more to remove than the planting would have cost to do properly.
What we design and install
- Conservation landscape design and local-ecotype native planting
- Vegetated buffers, aquatic bench planting and no-mow conversions
- Wetland, shoreline and habitat restoration
- Invasive species management and long-term stewardship plans
Phragmites, and what can be done about it
On a shoreline, a stand of phragmites takes the water away from you visually long before it does anything else. It is also genuinely difficult to remove, because cutting it alone does not work and a single treatment rarely finishes it.
What does work is an integrated plan: assess the site first, then combine targeted, aquatic-safe herbicide application with mechanical removal of the dead biomass, followed by a schedule of follow-up and replanting so something desirable takes the ground back. We do this for communities and for private waterfront owners.
Restoration that has to satisfy somebody
Where the work is tied to a permit or a mitigation requirement, it has to be designed, installed and documented to survive review. The 2026 federal nationwide permit for aquatic habitat restoration was revised toward ecological function, which rewards restoration designed to work rather than to tick a planting count.
Mowing to the water's edge every week is an ongoing expense that makes the pond worse: more runoff speed, more nutrients, no root structure on the bank and a standing invitation to geese. Converting that strip costs once and reduces the maintenance bill afterwards.
Next step
Tell us what the water is doing.
The first site visit is free on any stormwater facility in Sussex, Kent, Worcester, Wicomico or Dorchester county. You get a walkthrough and a straight answer about what is actually required.