Tag: placement

2020/3.2, March 18 — Alpine Horseplay, Mirror Magic, 9/11 Memories and more

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS March 18, 2020 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE An Equine Retreat Designing ponds for special purposes is nothing new toAnthony Archer Wills, who recently worked onthisone, meant for horses. The result, set in the shadow of the Bavarian Alps, is beyond beautiful — even though the four-legged part […]

Your Liner Is Showing

No matter the cause, nobody is particularly happy when a once-concealed pond liner pops into view. And it's sad, writes Dave Garton, because these exposures can usually be avoided if the installer works wisely with the liner and takes the time to select and place rocks with care. By Dave Garton

I’m not crabby by nature – just the opposite, in fact – and I don’t want anyone to think that I go out of my way to find and critique flawed ponds.

Thing is, I’m a reputable pond designer and installer and have made a point through the years of meeting with garden clubs and other groups that are interested in what pond-making is all about. After these events, it hasn’t been uncommon for owners of ponds installed by others to call me over for a visit and ask me what I think needs to be done to address what they see as worrisome

Wilma’s Baubles

Of all the visual offenses perpetrated by pond installers, there's one that upsets Dave Garton more than any other. Here, he offers several reasons for why it's something he encounters with such frequency, then discusses ways to avoid having it happen in the first place.By Dave Garton

Pond installation offers lots of opportunities for straying off the naturalistic path, but to me, there’s no more problematic detour than the unfortunate “string-of-pearls” effect.

When this happens, the edge of a pond looks more like Wilma Flintstone’s rocky necklace than it does like the banks of a natural body of water. And it’s a double shame, because the installer went to all the trouble of sourcing and placing natural material – but ended up with completely unnatural results.

I’ve seen too many of these nightmare ponds through the years. Some are the result of a do-it-yourselfer’s lack of awareness. It also happens with

Hard-Won Wisdom

In his career as a pond designer and installer, Dave Garton has used his acquaintance with nature to inspire and refine his efforts. Here, in a new occasional series, he shares what he's learned along the way -- and offers guidance in avoiding an array of all-too-common errors. By Dave Garton

I retired a while back after working for more than 20 years as a pond designer and installer. The result of that change in life is that I’m busier than ever.

I still hear, for instance, from old clients who want me to come back to modify or expand an existing pond/stream/waterfall system. Those requests, often from people who have become good friends through the years, are hard to resist.

More often, however, I’m being asked to teach. I’m frequently approached by

Specific Efficiency

Designing watershapes in locations where electricity and water are scarce and expensive has taught Shane LeBlanc the value, wherever he's working, of focusing on conservation. A case in point is this project -- one in which the client started out as an efficiency skeptic. By Shane LeBlanc

In recent years, I’ve had the good fortune to tackle a number of watershaping projects in the islands off the coast of eastern North America. From the West Indies to the Caribbean, I’ve learned in pursuing these projects that fresh water and electricity can be amazingly expensive commodities.

These are, of course, settings in which numerous clients want to take advantage of water-on-water views. Trouble is, the vanishing edges that achieve these effects are questionable choices where the energy required to run them is costly; where winds and evaporation

Pools of Light

10 year logoBy Mike Gambino

‘If there’s ever been such a thing as a match made in heaven, swimming pools and landscape lighting lay a strong claim to that perfection.’  That’s how Mike Gambino opened his Currents column in November 2009.

‘Separately, they take little-used spaces and transform them to all-day hubs of activity and sources of constant beauty.  Together, however, the magic

2019/9.2, September 18 — Fountain Maneuvers, Double-Duty Waterfeatures, Trip Planning and more

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS September 18, 2019 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE Grand Expectations Approaching the renovation of an historic fountain set over an existing, untouchable structure is daunting enough. But it gets tougher, writeJ. Wickham ZimmermanandChris Roy, when the original documentation is sketchy and you have no choice but to figure […]

Progress Report

4 4 gannon video artBy Mike Gannon

In the last video I shared with you, I relayed information about upgrading a do-it-yourself pond into a watergarden that exemplifies the value of an informed, professional touch. This time, a pond we updated was large enough that I know it was installed by a professional – but one who at the time seems to have been a bit lacking in insight and imagination.

There’s only a brief glimpse of

Shaping with Light

Lighting the various planes, elevations and contours of today's swimming pools is a challenge: It takes familiarity with the capabilities of modern LEDs, notes Graham Orme, but it's also important to think about safety, angles, intensity and the goal of producing a warm, beautiful glow.By Graham Orme

These days, using LED lights to illuminate rectangular or kidney-shaped pools is pretty simple: You just space the fixtures out at proper intervals on a wall facing away from prime viewing spots inside the house and on deck, specify the appropriate wattage, hook them up to a suitable control system and step back to bask in the warm nighttime glow.

But that sense of routine quickly disappears when

2017/12.2, December 20 — Healthful Analogies, Intricate Lighting, Regal Waterworks and more

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS December 20, 2017 www.watershapes.com THE NON-TOXIC POOL Interventions Tireless in his quest for information about and approaches to the creation of toxin-free pools and spas,John Cohenhasspent years weighing observations of nature and the human body and figuring out ways to use what he’s learned to help […]