Bluff Archives | Marek Landscaping

Cobblestone Trail on Lake Michigan Bluff

Megan Foley — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:15:49 +0000

In 2018, Marek Landscaping, LLC installed a 5,730 square foot switchback trail at a bluff-side residence in Bayside, WI. The trail was constructed with reclaimed antique granite cobblestone from old Milwaukee roads set in a permeable base of crushed quartz. It features a retaining wall made from Black Locust that was harvested and milled on-site with custom designed geogrid reinforcement and built-in limestone overlooks. Custom made copper caps atop the Black Locust posts along the trail to add a decorative element to this rustic landscape while preventing the posts from splitting over the long-term.

Special consideration was taken to bluff dynamics and site ecology throughout the project to minimized site impact as much as possible during construction. Other improvements to the property, including invasive species management and supplemental native woody and herbaceous plantings. Our Stewardship team has been keeping the new native plantings happy and healthy through regular maintenance for the past several years.

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Lake Michigan Emergency Bluff Stabilization

Marek — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 03:41:50 +0000

Marek Landscaping, LLC was contacted by Milwaukee County Parks to perform emergency bluff stabilization and erosion control for a section of Lake Michigan’s bluff along North Lincoln Memorial Drive. The emergency stabilization measures included a compost blanket and Filtrexx slope interrupters, were in place three days after Marek was contacted, and successfully maintained the stability of the slope during a 2-inch storm event occurring shortly after completion. No runoff sediment was deposited onto the public bike path after the storm. Within less than a week the cover crop germinated further stabilizing the soil until the native plants were able to germinate.

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Atwater Park Lake Michigan Bluff & Dune Stabilization

Marek — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 03:32:08 +0000

The project is located on the Lake Michigan shoreline and serves as a main public beach in the Milwaukee Metropolitan area. The project addressed actively eroding areas, re-establishing a pedestrian walkway/service drive from the top of the bluff to the beach, stormwater infiltration measures, and creating a biostabilized dune area at the bluff/beach interface. We were involved with designing a newly developed steep slope restoration technique that uses a compost based bio-engineered matrix with close to 50 species of native plant grasses, sedges, and forbs. This has shown excellent initial stability, weed resistance, and early native plant germination.

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