protection
Code 3 Water (Brentwood, CA) offer the MP line of home wildfire-fighting water pump systems.…
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
Koi ponds can be watershapes of great beauty in which sizeable populations of large, gorgeous fish thrive through the long lives these creatures often experience. With the pond that appears at the start of the video linked below, however, there were key features that were missing from the existing pond that put the big fish at risk in a number of ways. I don't know the full history of the pond, but it's clear it
On a big project such as the one we're covering in this video series, the rocks needed to give the cascades a natural look are quite substantial - some in the 36-inch range or larger, with weights rising to a ton or more in a few cases. Handling these brutes takes reliable equipment as well as distinct skill in working with
I recently read a short article in a construction magazine in which the writer described a fairly convoluted process by which he had “protected” a tree on the site where he was working. Basically, what he did was wrap the trunk in two-by-four studs, securing them in place vertically with some loops of metal strapping. In his estimation, this was just what he needed to keep the tree from being damaged by accidental equipment bumps – the boards, in effect, would suffer and the tree
In an ideal world, tree roots would never be disturbed and decks, hardscape, structures and plantings would all avoid impinging on a mature tree's space. Too few job sites, however, work that way: In our world of shrinking spaces, homeowners want as much useable space as possible, and this often entails building over and around tree roots. In the process, contractors all too often cut through roots to accommodate footings and other structural elements and generally ignore trees and their needs for the duration of the construction project. As is also often the case, arborists are brought in to remedy problems only after irreparable damage to a tree becomes evident. This is true despite the fact that trees generally serve as the anchors of our landscape designs and that most of us know that we should them with significant deference when designing landscapes and beginning construction. Typically, however, protecting a tree and its roots is a low priority for most general contractors and architects - and even some
Every once in a while, being right is not such a great thing! Last month in this column, I described the initial phases of a spectacular project in Malibu, Calif., and one of the things I mentioned was the fact that from the moment I stepped onto the site, I suspected that there might be some serious problems afoot. This impression was based largely on what I saw to be substandard construction of the existing swimming pool and on concerns about the elevation of the deck relative to the structure of the house. Unfortunately, those initial impressions turned out to be
