Landscape designer in Missouri City

Drainage here is shared. The city, municipal utility districts, the Fort Bend County Drainage District and, in the Harris County part, the Harris County Flood Control District all maintain parts of the system. Many neighborhoods also sit inside levee improvement districts, which build and maintain levees and pump drainage. Riverstone, for example, is split between two of them.

Your own lot is your responsibility. Most problems we see are surface water with nowhere to go on flat clay: water against the slab, a soggy side yard, downspouts dumping onto a bed. Surface water drainage, yard drainage solutions and downspout rerouting carry it to the street or a neighborhood lake.

The Lake Charles clay series, typed in Fort Bend County, is heavy clay that drains very slowly and cracks deeply when dry. Near the Brazos, around Sienna, floodplain clays such as Brazoria and Pledger behave the same way. Concrete laid straight on that soil cracks as it moves.

We build concrete patio construction and patio paver installation on compacted base, pitched away from the house, with joints placed to handle movement. Pavers have the advantage of flexing and resetting if the ground shifts.

Most construction in Missouri City needs a building permit, and starting before it is issued doubles the fees. Fences over 7 feet need a permit. Irrigation systems need a permit to install, alter or repair, inside city limits and in the extraterritorial jurisdiction. Gazebos, lawn decks and trellises are exempt from the accessory structure size limits, but must sit behind the house and outside setbacks and easementsEasementA strip of the property that someone else, often a utility or drainage district, has rights to use. Building permanent structures in an easement is usually restricted. In practice: Many Houston lots have a rear utility easement. Check the survey before placing a pergola or outdoor kitchen near the back fence..

HOAs add their own review. In Sienna, owners need written approval from the Modification Sub Committee before starting any improvement. We draw plans with those submittals in mind and build the schedule around the review.

Because irrigation work needs a permit here, we include it in the scope. Clay holds water longer than people expect, so we zone beds and lawn separately and set run times to soak in without pooling. See irrigation system installation and irrigation repair.

Requests here usually pair drainage with outdoor living: a patio that finally drains, a cover over it for summer, and planting that survives clay and heat. It all runs through our landscape design process and one crew.

• Drainage to the street or a neighborhood lake
• Patios and pavers built for clay movement
• PergolasPergolaAn open overhead structure of posts and beams that frames a space and supports shade or climbing plants. Smaller cousins include the arbor (an arch over a path or gate) and the trellis (a lattice panel for climbers). and patio covers drawn for HOA review
• Permitted irrigation zoned for clay