Landscaping, Drainage & Hardscape in Highland, MD

Drainage and Stormwater Services in Highland

Highland sits on notably high ground in southern Howard County. The name is literal: on December 2, 1878, the local post office took the name Highland to reflect the town's elevation — 520 feet. That elevated setting is the starting point for drainage work here, because on high ground water sheds downhill, and grading, slope, and where runoff goes are the questions that decide whether a lawn stays dry.

French drain and yard drainage installations manage the everyday runoff of large rural lots — water that collects in low corners after heavy rain, saturates a lawn, or sheets off a driveway with nowhere to go. Highland is an inland community with no tidal water, so the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area — which governs tidal shorelines — has no bearing on projects here.

Retaining Walls, Patios, and Hardscape in Highland

Highland began as a crossroads. One of the earliest businesses there was Wells' tavern, founded by Richard Wells in 1759, and the settlement grew up around that junction of country roads in what is now southern Howard County. It stayed a farm community: more than a century later the post office took the name Highland for the elevation, and farms and horse fields are still common across the area today.

That rural, large-lot character sets the hardscape scope — Retaining walls, patios, stone installations, concrete and masonry, driveways, and outdoor living spaces on properties where grade change and long approaches are the norm. Many rural Highland properties are on private wells and septic systems, so a drainfield or wellhead can sit anywhere on a lot; locate them before you dig, and confirm the requirements for a retaining wall or grading project with the county's Department of Inspections, Licenses & Permits before work begins.

Permits and Stormwater Programs for Highland Homeowners

Highland has no permit office of its own. Because no part of Howard County is an incorporated municipality, every building, grading, and hardscape permit comes from the county's Department of Inspections, Licenses & Permits at 3430 Courthouse Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043 · (410) 313-2455. The counter closes at 5:00 p.m., so arrive by 4:00 p.m., or file through the county's Citizen Access portal at dilp.howardcountymd.gov/CitizenAccess/ at any hour.

The county also runs CleanScapes, reimbursing homeowners who install qualifying stormwater practices — rain gardens, permeable pavers, dry wells, conservation landscaping, and similar work — on a home built before 2003. Howard County sets the current rates and the application window, with applications due each year by November 30; current rates and eligibility are posted at cleanwaterhoward.com or through the county's Stormwater Division.

Other Howard County Communities Actaeon Serves

Actaeon serves homeowners and businesses throughout Howard County, including Columbia, Ellicott City, Savage, Elkridge, Clarksville, Fulton, and Jessup. See the Howard County hub for full county coverage.