Boulders are a versatile way to change, maintain, and transform shorelines and landscape. The possibilities are endless. Maintaining lakeshore can be a constant maintenance concern for homeowners on lakes, ponds, and rivers. Having your shoreline wash or erode away can be frustrating, costly, and scary. Using boulders for shoreline restoration can be the answer to many of these problems. Shoreline restoration has lots of variables that need to be considered and reviewed. Boulders are a great solution because they are natural stones. They can take the severe climate changes, the ice heaving, high water, heavy rains, and pounding waves that other retaining walls cannot. They also typically meet the requirements for the regulations and codes surrounding lake or waterfronts.
Our landscape designers and landscape architects are very adept and familiar with shoreline restoration projects and the legal requirements. You can often be working with the Department of Natural Resources, your Watershed district, and your city to get the necessary approvals for a project. The reviews and requirements can actually dictate how a project must be done and the timing. Sometimes special permits are required also. But a shoreline restoration can be very exciting also. You can add some unique boulder elements when you are doing the shoreline restoration. You can create natural steppingstones in between the boulders that step down into the water. You can build fire pits, sunning platforms, elevated patios or gathering areas also.
If you have a hill or a bluff you can use boulders to replace the common straight up and down stairway. You can create stations as you go down the hill where the placement of the boulders dictate patios or stopping off points for sunning and relaxing, Steppingstones made out of natural stone are a great alternative to the more common wood or concrete steps. They are really durable, not as slippery as wood at times, won’t decay, and will complement your landscape. Installing outdoor lighting along the pathways down to the water is another thing that we can help you with, call 952-292-7717.
