Roxborough & Manayunk, walls before plants.

Manayunk, zip 19127, is built on a steep bank above the Schuylkill. Rowhouses step down the hillside streets toward Main Street, the canal and the river, and many back yards are terraced in stages, with old walls holding each level. Roxborough, zip 19128, sits higher along the ridge that Ridge Avenue follows. The housing there is more mixed: twins and detached houses, deeper lots, and on the east side the ground drops toward the Wissahickon Valley. Across the river is Lower Merion Township, where this crew is based.

The problems follow the slope. Old retaining walls, often dry-laid stone or block with no drainage behind them, bulge and lean as water builds up in the soil they hold. Steps cut into a hillside settle unevenly and turn into a hazard. Runoff from the lots and streets above crosses a yard on its way down, carrying mulch and topsoil with it, and finds every gap at the foundation. On the narrowest Manayunk lots, everything comes in and goes out by hand, which limits what is practical and changes how a job is staged.

Retaining walls rebuilt with a compacted base, drainage stone and a perforated pipe behind them. Steps and landings reset on a proper base, with even risers. Swales, dry creek beds and piped downspouts that carry water across or around a lot. On the larger Roxborough lots, planting work leans toward stabilizing slopes with groundcover and shrubs that hold soil, and renovating beds under mature trees. Maintenance covers mowing, pruning and fall leaf cleanup.