construction

Illuminating Challenges
The lighting of pools is much more challenging than it once was, notes Graham Orme, mostly because their contours are so much more intricate than they were even 20 years ago.  Here, he starts a new series that will guide all of us toward more 'enlightened' results.    
Pond-Algae Strategies
Although a little algae in a pond is generally a good and inevitable thing, observes Mike Gannon, a bloom of any noticeable extent is never truly welcome.  That's why he has sized up and is ready  to recommend a number of ways to help keep the intrusive greenery at bay.      
Split-Level Pond
Given the choice, there are few projects I enjoy more than renovations:  The process of taking an existing outdoor space that isn't making people happy and coming to their rescue with a personalized dreamscape is about as satisfying as it gets. This sort of shift in vision happens quite often when homes change hands and the new owners bring in a different set of needs and desires.  In grand terms, there might be nothing particularly "wrong" with the original setting, but if the new owners either want to
2017/8.1, August 9 — Vanishing-Edge Pond, 24/7 Poolscapes, Algae Management and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS August 9, 2017 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
2017/7.2, July 26 — Rooftop Perspectives, Turtle Liberation, Fountain Folly and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS July 26, 2017 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
Mountain Majesty
Who says you have to live in the Rockies to get the perfect mountain home?  These clients are living that dream just outside Kansas City, Mo. Not long ago, they purchased land north of the Missouri River near Smithville, a rural outpost known for its rolling hills, plentiful trees and tobacco farms.  It's a place where relatively low-cost land is still available, and people have started buying acreage and building their
Edge-Wall Essentials
Vanishing-edge walls have been a common design detail for the past 25-odd years and have been the subject of seminars and workshops almost as long as I can remember.  Still, it's clear that there are several key points about how they should be designed and installed that elude watershapers who persist in treating these key structural components as little more than glorified in-pool spa dam walls or some other internal detail. You can probably
2017/7.1, July 12 — Colorado Dreaming, Poolside Flames, Vanishing-Edge Walls and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS July 12, 2017 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
Straight and Narrow
As I've intimated many times in these Travelogues, I'm a big fan of small water. I like rain chains.  I prefer narrow scuppers to wide sheet falls.  I like waterfalls with flows the diameter of my thumb rather than the span of a grand, old tree.  What I like most of all these days are described as rills or runnels - little channels that artfully
2017/6.2, June 21 — Sparkling Beauty, Glowing Artistry, A Righteous Rill and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS June 21, 2017 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…