Hardscape Solutions: Bucket-list build

LOCATION: Corning, Iowa

COMPANY: Sun Valley Landscaping

At the center of this project sits a dry stack bridge, inspired by the Hogan Bridge at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Course — host of the Masters tournament.

“This project had a lot of bucket list items,” says Hugh Morton, owner and president of Sun Valley Landscaping, based in Omaha, Neb. “For me, the dry stack bridge was one of those. It’s something that, as a landscape architect, you think would be awesome to accomplish, because gravity is truly the only thing holding it together.”

Morton jokes that after the completion of the bridge, his crew made him remove the forms to see if the bridge would hold.

“When you pull those boards, you’re under a ton of rock,” he says. “You have to have a lot of confidence in yourself to do that.”

The bridge crosses over a natural stream that runs through the middle of the yard. The stream separates the client’s home from a vineyard, which was also a major focus of this project.

Sun Valley utilized flagstone for the vineyard’s patio and also installed custom metal screens, which cast patterns onto the hill when sunlight passes through them.

“The direction (from the client) was to have a spot to sit down and be comfortable,” says Morton. “I knew the budget was enough to where we could make it a super enticing place to be, even if the client wasn’t working in the vineyard.”

Located an hour and a half east of Sun Valley’s Omaha, Neb., headquarters, Morton says crews camped at a local state park while working on this project.

“We worked some long hours out there in the sun,” he says. “So, to have a place for the crew to come back and rest, fish and bond together was special.”

The project earned Sun Valley Landscaping a Gold Award from the 2022 National Association of Landscape Professionals Awards of Excellence program.

(Photo: Colin Conces)

Hugh Morton, owner and president of Sun Valley Landscaping, says the layout of this project created three distinct rooms to break up the large backyard.

(Photo: Colin Conces)

Sun Valley had metal screens custom-made to provide privacy for the vineyard seating. The screens also cast patterns onto the ground when light shines through them.

(Photo: Colin Conces)

Morton says maintaining green spaces on the property was a priority to avoid overriding the landscape with hardscape materials.

(Photo: Colin Conces)

Sun Valley utilized flagstone for patio spaces in this family gathering area in the middle of the project and the vineyard patio.

(Photo: Colin Conces)

The dry stack bridge that connects the home to the vineyard was a point of pride for Morton and his crew.

(Photo: Colin Conces)

Garden tower lights line the walking path through the project, providing adequate lighting under the Oak trees that line the property.

(Photo: Colin Conces)

Sun Valley also incorporated lighting throughout the oak trees, including those near the vineyard seating area.

(Photo: Colin Conces)

An in-progress photo of the bridge shows the form, which helped crews pull off a “bucket list” build.