New Holland, PA • (717) 354-5570
New Holland, PA • (717) 354-5570
The Leading Edge Series Recap: A Complete Look At What Was Learned and the Industry Trends to Follow in 2026
To wrap up 2025, we gathered industry professionals for a series of classes spanning from October 3rd to December 11th, covering landscaping and hardscaping industry techniques and the tools of the trade. As leaders in the industry, we take pride in sharing our knowledge with others and the industry, helping them grow their businesses and achieve the success we have. If you couldn’t attend in person – we get it, life can get busy in the hardscaping world – we still want you to be able to learn the tools, tips, and tricks, so we wanted to take a moment to recap each of the 6 classes as well as the Signature Series: Tools of the Trade event that took place on December 10th and 11th.
October 3, 2025: Building With Boulders
The Leading Edge Series kicked off with the class “Building with Boulders” on October 3rd, hosted by Sauders Hardscape’s own James and Alvin Stoltzfus. The class explored placement techniques, equipment use, and safety considerations to help students master the art of natural landscape design with boulders. Students got hands-on experience with Yukon Valley Natural Stone and setting tools from Pave Tool. They learned the different methods for setting them, including visual arrays, and how to strategically place them to enhance structural integrity and visual appeal when creating boundaries, accents, or terrain transitions. The class was shown how to build with ledge boulders and how to scatter them in a flower bed.
October 10, 2025: Water Feature Basics
The second class covered the basics of installing common water features, including fountains, ponds, and waterfalls. This class was taught by Jason from Authentic Hardscapes, who covered how to properly plan for water flow, pump selection, and filtration, which are all essential in ensuring proper installation and attracting wildlife, masking noise, and creating a natural landscape. Students all reported enjoying the live build portion of the class, which you can see in the video to the left.
October 31, 2025: Natural Stone Walls
This class explored dry-stack techniques for building lasting natural stone walls. This included base preparation, stone selection, layout, and installation principles. This class was taught by Jordan Keyes. Students once again noted that the live build of a dry-stack stone wall was their favorite part. They also enjoyed a demonstration of the various tools used in the building process. You can see the full breakdown of this class in the video on the left.
November 7, 2025: Stone Veneers and Concrete Dressings
This class was a student favorite, with one participant noting, “More classes on concrete finishes!” The fourth edition of the Leading Edge Series focused on helping students learn how to apply stone veneers and decorative concrete finishes. This included hands-on experience with surface prep, adhesive techniques, and aesthetic design principles. The techniques that were taught helped refresh walls, patios, and facades, offering affordable, stylish upgrades that mimic the appearance of solid stonework.
November 14, 2025: OLF Systems & Cladding
For the fifth class of the Leading Edge Series, students learned to build custom outdoor kitchens with the Outdoor Living Foundations (OLF) system. This covered structural assembly, appliance layout, and the application of cladding materials such as stone or stucco. If you want a complete look at how to assemble an OLF kitchen, check out our comprehensive guide. These versatile foundation systems can be used for more than just kitchens, including fire features, furniture, and columns.
Students were able to visit the warehouse and see firsthand how the components of the OLF system are packaged together, including standard base options and customizable features. Then they got a demonstration of how to assemble to components of the base. Mahlon and Marek got specific, covering gaps to leave, the glue to use, and gluing techniques. Watch the video on the left to see this demonstration firsthand.
November 21, 2025: Turf and Putting Greens
The final class of the Leading Edge Series before the Signature Series Tools of the Trade event covered base prep, drainage, seam joining, and realistic contouring techniques to help students successfully install synthetic turf and backyard putting greens.
Students began by raking down gravel to create a solid base with proper drainage for the turf or putting green. Instructors walked through every detail of this step, including the correct rake angle.
They then rolled out the turf and demonstrated how to cut and install it over the gravel base, including securing it with glue and nails. The session concluded with rolling out the turf beads and raking them into place. You can check it out in the video on the left.
The Signature Series Tools of the Trade Event
This 2-day hands-on experience served as the grand finale of the Leading Edge Series. It took place on December 10th and 11th and gave students the opportunity to try the tools defining the trade and practice industry-defining techniques.
Day 1: December 10, 2025
The first day of the Signature Series kicked off with keynote speaker Phil Bahler, owner of Pave Tool Innovators. He covered how broken systems can break good people.
Then, from 9:00 to 9:30 am, students were introduced to excavation and base-prep techniques, including using laser systems, correctly placing products, and building a properly compact base for rock-solid installations. From 9:30 to 11:30, students got the opportunity to visit different worksites and try tools firsthand. There were three worksites covering excavation and base prep techniques where participants could try different tools, these included:
- Wall Beside Building Pad: excavation, compaction, and base prep
- Driveway: Screeding
- Driveway Entrance: Trass
From 12:15 to 1:00 p.m., students had the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker Tom Bahler, founder of Bahler Brothers, as he covered the industry’s history, the efficiencies of different tools and systems, and how to work smarter, not harder.
The afternoon began with a presentation on a wall installation from Pave Tool. After the presentation, from 1:30 to 2:30 pm, students were able to demo tools at different worksites once again, including:
- Wall Beside Building Pad: Wall installation clamps, splitters, and tools
- West Side of Warehouse: Screeding
- Driveway: Mechanical Paver install
- Bottom of Steps: Bound Gravel
The day concluded with hands-on learning for mechanical paver installation. This was performed at the driveway site. From 3:00 to 4:00 pm, students were able to go around once more to demo the tools at different work sites, including:
- Driveway: Mechanical Paver Install
- South Side of Sauders Showroom: PA Irregular Stone Install
- West Side of Warehouse: Mechanical Paver Install
Day 2: December 11, 2025
Day two kicked off with a presentation on a porcelain and stone installation by the owner of Sauders Hardscape, Mahlon Stoltzfus. From 9:00 to 11:30, students were able to go to different worksites to demo tools used for these installations, including:
- South Side of Sauders Showroom: Porcelain/Trass Install
- West Side of Warehouse: Mechanical Paver Install, Paver Edging
- Burts Driveway: Mechanical Paver Install, Marking, and Cutting By
After lunch, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm, keynote speaker Weston Zimmerman, from SynkedUp, discussed the overlooked profit killer for contractors.
Afternoon classes began with one presentation on paver edgings from Pave Tool and one from Mahlon Stoltzfus on joint material selection and installation. From 1:30 to 2:30 pm, once presentations concluded, students were able to demo the tools commonly used in these types of installations. They could visit any of the following job sites to try out tools like:
- Driveway: Joint material installation
- Driveway: Marking, cutting, edging
- West Side of the Warehouse: All things vacuum and mechanical lifting
The event concluded with a Q&A session and the chance to win door prizes.
Final Takeaways
It was an honor to host these events and share tips and tricks with local business owners and others interested in learning more about industry tools and techniques. We enjoyed meeting everyone and seeing their faces light up as they learned more about the industry we all love. In 2026, we want to continue offering these classes and share our knowledge with the local community. We’d love to hear from you what kinds of classes you’d like to see, what you’d like to hear more about, and how we can support fellow landscapers and hardscape professionals.
Chris Newton
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