Ashtabula sits at 673 feet above the Lake Erie shoreline, where the Ashtabula River carves through the city before reaching the harbor, and the surrounding terrain reflects centuries of glacial clay deposits that make gardening both rewarding and demanding. The heavy clay soil that runs throughout the area, from the hillside neighborhoods near the Smolen-Gulf Bridge down through the flatter expanses of Geneva and North Madison, holds water long after a rainstorm and bakes into a near-concrete surface during dry stretches. With 41 inches of annual rainfall and lake-effect moisture rolling in from the north, unprotected beds erode quickly and compaction is a constant enemy. Residents of Conneaut face the same dense subsoil conditions just up the shoreline, and quality mulch, blended topsoil, and decorative stone all do serious work in keeping landscapes healthy and manageable across this stretch of northeastern Ohio.