ARTICLES Archives - Page 85 of 314

Ponds can be gorgeous year 'round, even in winter. But keeping them attractive in truly cold weather involves some preparation, writes Mike Gannon, and a willingness to get active outdoors to keep things on track at a time when being indoors might seem a far better idea!

Ponds and Ice

Ponds in winter are uniquely charming. Where they teem with life and activity through the spring, summer and fall, they slow down when the weather gets cold - but never so much so that they lose their ability to surprise and delight. It's the seasonal changes that bring a welcome sense of drama to these settings when the days are cold and short: Super-clear one morning, snow-covered or crazed with ice the next, in winter these watershapes offer up daily levels of textured, luminous variety that I see as

Trend Tracking

It's not all that often that I use WaterShapes World to discuss a specific item appearing in our current newsletter, but this time I can't resist: The first in a series of three great articles appears in this edition, and I want to call as much attention to it as I can. In my last blog (click here), I wrote about the important lessons water-oriented professionals have learned through coping with

Too Little, Too Late?

‘Many watershapers have a single-minded focus,’ wrote Stephanie Rose in her Natural Companions column in February 2007, ‘doing all they can to deliver quality shells and surrounding decks to their clients. Quite often, however, that narrow focus means that inadequate space is left for planting – a problem I face quite often as

When it comes to refining the way mosaic tile projects come together, says Jimmy Reed, there's no substitute for persistence in working on intersections where surface planes flow into one another. It takes patience, he adds, and a crew trained to pursue visual perfection.

Following Lines

Through many years of applying small pieces of tile to the complex sorts of surfaces found in pools, spas and other waterfeatures, I find most of the challenges (and opportunities) come in figuring out intersections - that is, places where planes meet, contours change and, in general, a whole lot of attention needs to be paid to getting things just right visually. We at Rock Solid Tile (Calabasas, Calif.) have been fortunate to find ourselves involved in many projects in which

Colored plaster and aggregate finishes are found in more and more watershapes these days. But as Que Hales, Doug Latta and Kim Skinner discuss, not all pigments are created equal -- and knowing how to choose among the options can be the key to a project's success.

Pigments and Pools

There are few things prettier than the classic sky blue that results from the combination of white plaster and clear water. In recent times, however, amazing and even startling colors and color combinations are appearing within swimming pools and other watershapes courtesy of either integrally colored plaster, white plaster paste coupled with colored aggregate or colored paste with a colored aggregate. Various textures are also available courtesy of these finishes, with surfaces ranging from

Pond Calculations

How do you figure out how much water there is in a pond? This is a question that frequently reaches my desk - and it's important enough to know that I devoted this edition of "Ask the Pond Digger" to answering it. In the video, I approach this as a practical matter of how you figure out how many gallons a pond contains, offering a couple basic ways to

Silver Linings

We've had lots of rain and snow in California in recent weeks. So much precipitation, in fact, that nearly half the state is now officially out of the drought emergency that has bedeviled the state for the past six years. If current weather patterns persist through the spring, chances are good that the entire region will be breathing easier for a while. This is fantastic news for watershapers of every description who

The Best Medicine

‘At nearly five months and counting, it’s clear that many of us are still trying to sort out, understand and learn to live with the events of September 11, 2001 – and I suspect that, on some levels, we will be doing so for months or even years to come.’ That’s how Brian Van Bower began his column in the February 2002 issue of WaterShapes – an essay in which he defined a transcendent role for watershapes and conveyed a message about

The Eastern Way

The Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens has a huge advantage over its neighbor, the Chinese Garden: It's been there about 100 years longer. As was discussed two months back (click here), the Chinese Garden was first opened at

There were some positives in the existing front yard, says Colleen Holmes. But the overall space needed lots of attention to turn the Koi pond and its bland, disjointed surroundings into a warmer, more effective transition from the public sphere to the family's private retreat.

Working Out Front

In my lengthening career as a landscape designer and installer, I have worked on every aspect of a variety of residential and commercial projects - indoors and outdoors; on backyards, sideyards and front yards; on formal gardens, wild meadows and stands of trees; and on pools, spas, fountains, ponds, streams, waterfalls and more. I enjoy every part of the projects that come my way, but