Ponds, Streams & Waterfalls
Now comes the fun part. The final stage of building a stream is where all of the planning and close attention to the stream's earthen substructure, transitions in elevation, liner alignment and hydraulics come into play as you move to build in details that effectively mimic nature. In the first two installments of this series (click here for part 1, here for part 2), I discussed in detail how you excavate and grade the site, place the major transition stones, lay in the liner and install
I believe that what we strive for in our watershapes is evident in the paintings and sculpture of the great masters. The harmony, the beauty, the drama, the excitement of the senses, the total captivation of the viewer create an experience we call great art. The more we can reflect on this work and use it as a lofty benchmark, the more effective our watershapes become. I've always believed that the best way to work at the highest level is to follow the tenets of
Believe it or not, I became involved with this project because my nine-year-old daughter, Savannah, plays tackle football. I was watching one of her games when I overheard a teammate's father talking about a renovation at the Palm Beach Zoo. Joining the conversation, I learned that he owned a general contracting company that builds large commercial projects and that he'd been hired to renovate the zoo's parking lot and utility infrastructure and build an exhibit facility for two Bengal tigers. It was, he told me, the first phase of a long-term plan to upgrade the zoo at Dreher Park, a complex that also includes a planetarium and a museum. The work at the zoo, he said, was one phase of an effort by the city to create a quality facility that ultimately could serve as a low-cost alternative to Orlando's theme parks. As part of the project, my new friend's firm also was acting as general contractor in the construction of a new tiger pen, the first of a series of new display areas planned for the modest zoo. When he talked about the watershapes involved, I jumped: The design
As is the case with a stream's aesthetics, the functionality of any multi-level, gravity-driven waterway must be considered from the outset of any project. After all, no matter how natural and beguiling a stream may be in appearance, if it doesn't hold water, work properly in terms of hydraulics and filtration or provide ecological balance, the whole thing can and will become a nightmare. Fortunately, making streams work isn't all that difficult - as long as you keep your eye on a critical set of fundamentals. Last time, we laid out the stream course, created
Building a stream that looks as though it was actually completed by Mother Nature is no small challenge. To make the illusion work, the watershaper quite literally "shapes" the basic elements of the stream - its path, width, depth, outcroppings, falls, transitions and plantings - all with an eye toward mimicking natural designs. To a large degree, the process is different from that of designing and building a pond, pool or fountain. In those cases, the watershape generally goes in the ground almost exactly where and how it's been drawn. With streams, however, the differences between
As I see it, there are six main types of watershapes: pools, spas, fountains, ponds, waterfalls and streams. Although there is tremendous variety within each category, I think most of us in the business would put pools, spas and fountains in one sub-group and ponds, waterfalls, and streams in another. Obviously, there's room for overlapping here - waterfalls installed with pools, for example, or fountains in the middle of ponds. The key distinction for me, however, is the closeness with which a pond, waterfall or stream must imitate
Waterfeatures may well be the hottest thing in landscaping today, and the reason is simple: No other landscape detail captures all the senses the way moving water does. I don't get the impression that people sit around for hours watching their tulips grow, for example, but I know for a fact that people who have ponds in their yards will sit for hours, with others or in solitude, drinking in the scene and communing with the koi and the water lilies. In that sense, ponds have more to offer than the average waterfeature: A pond's live component adds interest and touches of tranquility that work in countless settings, from backyards and corporate offices to dining terraces and the common areas in apartment complexes. The possibilities are
All too often, the purchasers of a home (new or old) find a garden space stripped of any natural feel. Large lot or small, they sense no "connection" to the land - only a bleak space devoid of vegetation or any sort of overhead canopy and lacking the finishing touches that draw them out of the confines of the home to enjoy what usually represents the majority of their real estate. From my perspective, the best way to generate this connection to the land is through the creation of ponds, streams and waterfalls in these backyard settings. Such features bring a more natural look and feel to residential garden spaces and instill a sense of connectedness. And whether customers pick up this sense consciously or subconsciously does not matter: What matters is that they somehow know it, that they feel it. Plantings are a big part of this picture, but I lean heavily on watershapes to create connections because of
Some projects grab you right from the start, and this was definitely one of those cases. As the principals at Herzog Development Corp. explained in our initial meeting, their new development was to be a "golf course community with a rustic feel, but refined." To embody that refinement, Don Herzog and his son, Daryl, wanted some sort of elaborate waterfeature - something that would break the monotony of the stark, flat terrain of northeast Dallas County and welcome
