Farmland, stone farmhouses and one- to two-acre lots, and a township where every property is on a well and a septic field.
Request a ConsultationLodi is the most rural of the townships we serve and the most consistent. More than half its acreage is still agricultural, the zoning minimum is two acres in the agricultural district and one in rural non-farm, and 97 percent of homes are owner-occupied, the highest figure of any community we work in. Its master plan describes the character in terms of stone and historic farm houses, barns and outbuildings, and asks that new work respect it.
There is one fact that shapes every design here more than any other: the township's own plan states plainly that there is no municipal sewer service anywhere in Lodi. Every property relies on an individual on-site septic system, and the plan also records that soils across most of the township have moderate to severe limitations for septic, with only limited areas, mainly in the southeast near Saline, rated slight or moderate. Where the drain field sits, and how much room it needs, comes before the planting plan.
The land itself is flat to gently rolling, dropping from over a thousand and fifty feet in the north down to around eight hundred in the south, with steeper twelve to eighteen percent slopes in the southwest. Three drainage basins meet here: Mill Creek to the northwest, Honey Creek in the north-centre, and the Saline River carrying the majority south, and the streams are generally headwaters. What you do on a Lodi property is the first thing that happens to that water.
No municipal sewer anywhere in the township, on soils with moderate to severe septic limitations. The drain field is the first constraint on any plan.
Room to build something with structure, and enough scale that structure is required for it to read as designed rather than open.
Mill Creek, Honey Creek and the Saline River all begin around here. The township's own goal is keeping impervious cover under ten percent per section.
Organic muck soils with high water tables sit near the waterways. They're worth protecting, and they change what will grow.
Every project is designed for the property it sits on. These are the services Lodi Township clients ask for most.
Common Questions
More than most people expect. You can't plant trees or large shrubs over a drain field, you can't compact it with machinery during installation, and you need access for maintenance. On Lodi's soils, which the township records as having moderate to severe septic limitations across most of its area, fields are often larger than average. We locate it first and design the garden around it, shallow-rooted perennial and grass planting over the field itself works well and looks deliberate.
Structure near the house and a considered edge further out. Full garden treatment right to the property line is rarely the right answer on this much land. It's expensive to build and harder to keep. Defined rooms close in, meadow or prairie planting beyond, and a path that gives you a reason to walk it.
Gladly. Lodi's plan explicitly identifies stone and historic farm houses, barns and outbuildings as the township's character. Planting around an old farmhouse should look like it grew up with the building, which usually means restraint and the right species rather than more of everything.
Because Lodi's streams are headwaters. Mill Creek, Honey Creek and the Saline River all start in or near the township. Water leaving your property is the beginning of those systems, not the middle. The township's stated goal is keeping impervious cover below ten percent in every section.
Yes. Lodi sits between Ann Arbor and Saline, both of which we work in constantly, so it's well within range.
Aaron works personally with every client, March through November, across Ann Arbor and surrounding areas.
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