naturalistic waterfeatures

Devising watershapes that appear as though nature made them, says Anthony Archer Wills, requires both careful planning and expert execution – especially when the project is on a grand scale, as is the case with the one covered here. In this, his second article on a huge pond/stream/waterfall complex, he details the painstaking process he pursued in building a system that is nearly 800 feet long and includes caves and other intricate custom details.

Earthbound Endeavors

Last month, we began our discussion of a large pond, stream and waterfall system for a historic upper Midwest estate found on the forested shore of a scenic lake. As related there, the project was to include three major ponds and a series of complex waterfall structures connected by streams rising close to the top of the gently sloping property. To sum up, the space we were working with measured approximately 300 feet wide and 800 feet long – a large section of a 35-acre estate marked by scores of mature trees that largely governed the watershapes’ configurations. Moreover, as there were no natural rock formations or outcroppings on site, we faced the need to