Priorities: Permanent Solution For Failed Retaining WallChallenges: Maintain Integrity of Walls on Adjacent Properties, Safe UninstallSolutions: Methodical Tear-Out Techniques, Sequenced Install The general contractor that built this client’s neighborhood had graded each back yard by installing a retaining wall several feet high with railroad ties. After thirty-plus years, that structure had failed. Our client’s 63-foot […]
We’re all used to the routine by now: As summer swelters on, huge green rafts of algae pop up all over Austin’s signature waterways. They grow and multiply until soon, the city makes an announcement: Tests have shown this blue green algae (or cyanobacteria) is toxic, and we all need to steer clear. It’s happened […]
Chances are, you or someone you know has spent the summer nursing shallow-rooted grasses through the deep Central Texas drought. Every time you turn the spigot on to irrigate your struggling lawn, your water bill swells up that much more. But there’s plenty more upside to ditching your turfgrass for a native plant community. Switching […]
Last week, an amazing thing happened in Austin. If you were looking out the window, maybe you saw it. Or if you’re a tough customer and you were standing outside, maybe you even felt it on your skin. It was fleeting but it happened. I wouldn’t report it if I didn’t know it, because I […]
From last winter’s damaging ice storms to this summer’s exceptional heat, we’re all experiencing unusual stress. For a lot of us humans, it’s soaring A/C bills and irritating inflation. But other species face different kinds of pressure. For Central Texas’ trees, it’s been an especially rough year. Whether native, adapted, or otherwise, woody plant species […]
Transforming a tight space to create more comfortable access and plenty of seating.
An energetic family dog gets a durable play area, and his humans get an outdoor hangout.
A high-capacity rain garden with a cistern, native plantings, and practical outdoor seating.
Violet Crown preschool’s play area gets a facelift.
Project Description: This client engaged Maas Verde to construct a retaining wall to raise and level his Central Austin front yard. The existing yard sloped severely downhill and left very little useable flat space. With its commanding view of downtown, the house is often the scene of community fundraising parties, yet the slope limited the […]
