Landscaping in Pomona, NY

Working in Pomona

Pomona is a village of about 2.4 square miles, partly in the Town of Haverstraw and partly in the Town of Ramapo, on the east side of Harriman State Park. It was incorporated in 1967 and named for the area's apple orchards. The village is zoned R-40 residential, and many properties are large wooded lots with long driveways and back sections that were never cleared.

USDA soil maps show a mix across the village. Paxton fine sandy loam is common, formed over dense till, and water can perch on that dense layer from late fall through early spring. There are also Chatfield and rock outcrop areas where bedrock sits 20 to 40 inches down, pockets of sandy Hinckley soil that drain fast, and wet Catden muck in the low spots.

That mix changes the work from one lot to the next. A French drain that empties well into the sandy part of one property can sit full on Paxton ground next door, and a clearing job on a hillside can fall under the village steep slope law. We are based in Pomona and work on these soils regularly.

What we build in Pomona

Before you build in Pomona

Permits and rules in Pomona

Pomona is an incorporated village, so permits go through the Village of Pomona Building Department, not the Town of Haverstraw or the Town of Ramapo. The department issues building permits, tree removal permits, and road opening permits, and the Village Engineer reviews most steep slope applications.

The village regulates earthwork closely. Clearing, filling, or grading any property needs a building permit from the Building Inspector, with exceptions for planting and for filling low areas with 15 cubic yards of material or less. The steep slope law covers slopes of 15 percent or more, and disturbing a regulated slope, including building a retaining wall on it, needs a site development plan permit and a work permit before work begins.

Fences can be no taller than 4 feet in a front yard and 6 feet in other yards, must be inside all lot lines, and cannot rise more than 2 feet in the sight triangle at a street intersection. Retaining walls of 10 feet or more need Planning Board approval, which does not affect our work because we keep every wall at 4 feet or under. We prepare the plans and applications our part of the job requires.

When to schedule work in Pomona

Paxton soil holds water on its dense layer from late fall into early spring, so clearing and grading in Pomona go best from late spring through early fall. We seed cleared ground in late summer when we can, which gives grass time to root before the leaves drop. Long driveways need plowing in winter, and we offer snow removal and salting.

The village has no regular leaf pickup. Bagged leaves can be collected at the curb by special arrangement with IWS at $6 per bag, and free biodegradable bags are available at Village Hall. We can haul the leaves away as part of a fall cleanup, so we schedule it for November, after most of the leaves are down.

All services in Pomona

Guides for Pomona homeowners

• Hudson Valley seasonal yard checklist. The lower Hudson Valley gets hard winters, wet springs, and a long leaf season, and a yard that is checked at the right times avoids most of the expensive repairs.
• Yard drainage in Rockland County. Most wet yards in Rockland come down to clay soil, a bad grade, and roof water with nowhere to go.
• Why a lawn stays wet after new sod or equipment work. A lawn that stays soft and wet for days after rain, weeks after new sod went down or a machine drove across it, usually has a problem under the grass, not in it.
• What drives paver patio cost. A paver patio is typically priced by the square foot and by the base work under it.

Nearby

We also work in New City, Monsey, Nanuet, Congers, Suffern, Hillburn, Valley Cottage, Sloatsburg, and across Rockland County.

Questions

Something to haul away first? See junk removal in Pomona.