Terracing a steep hillside to create planting beds in Clinton: excavator, land remodling, dump truck work

The owners of this property wanted to make their steep hillside into planting beds. Luc used his excavator to sculpt the land into 5 even terraces. This meant moving and bringing in a lot of dirt, including a nice layer of compost for the top (notice how dark the soil is!). The end result is a beautiful wave that undulates down the hillside. Next: planting!

Above: terraces with natural weed-reducing newspaper layer and on top of that compost


Above: terraces as viewed from hilltop

dump truck and excavator at work...

Terraces before adding newspaper and compost layers

Clearing Trees & Brush in Greenbank

ABOVE: Before clearing


ABOVE: After clearing. There are many more views not included of the lot, but this picture gives you an idea of the site.


ABOVE: (left) Luc's dump truck full of debris (right) the excavator bucket, repaired by Luc after he lost an excavator tooth.


ABOVE: clearing a home site and making a driveway for a couple who are going to build their home in Greenbank. They wanted to leave many of the trees and to clear out the brush and small trees. Luc did topple some large trees on this lot, taking good care to avoid the neighboring homes and a close-by fence! He hauled the debris away in his dump truck and accomplished all of the clearing with his excavator.


ABOVE: some of the trees (with stumps) that were removed from the lot.

Honeymoon Lake Rock Wall and Stairs

"After" picture of the rock wall (above), only a partial picture of the wall. There is also a staircase in the middle of the wall to the left of this picture.

BEFORE the rock wall & stairs (above)

Luc transported his excavator, trailer and dump truck to the site. Luc used the excavator to prep the ground for the rocks that eventually made the wall. The excavator was also used to move and place rocks. (ABOVE) finished wall, stairs, and garden beds.
The rock wall makes a nice clean line and gives an organized, natural feel . The stairs provide easy access to the grassy field above.

The sandy mud (above) and the placing of cottage stone for the staircase.

The staircase turns to the left to keep the slope of it gentle enough to easily walk down and to end where it does. Because the staircase was build on a steep lot it needed to turn to the left to slow the downward momentum.

ABOVE: Luc's excavator and the wall-in-progress (unfinished). You can get an idea of the length of the wall in this picture, even though some of it is not included to the left.

Luc's Lively Equipment: Excavators and Dump Trucks

The Excavator
(pictured above and below lifting a log)

Luc's Drive-Around Truck,
(pictured above)
can haul small amounts of stuff

The Big Ford Dump Truck

(pictured above)
The heavy-duty Work truck

The Trailer:
(pictured above)
for moving the excavator

Big jobs often require big equipment. It can actually save a customer money to have their landscaper use an excavator for example. Larger-scale work like clearing, rock retaining walls, tree transplanting, foundations, and blackberry removal can all benefit by using an excavator and dump truck. The excavator clears away a building lot full of blackberries in a day or two, whereas a man, or team of men, will take a week or more. Luc does a lot of jobs with his excavator. Using an excavator also entails moving it from one place to another with a trailer and large truck and having a dump truck to load dirt, land waste, rocks and any other material that he may need to move. Luc's excavator is a medium size one that can fit into tight areas, leave smaller environmental impact and yet it can take good sized trees out, do lite clearing, and lift large rocks for retaining walls.