WaterShapes Classic
'As much as I love cold weather,' wrote Stephanie Rose in opening her Natural Companions column in April 2007, 'I have to concede that we experienced way too much of a good thing this past winter. Long periods of extremely cold weather are the norm in many other parts of the country, and plants survive. Here, however, our local plants may be accustomed to surviving the isolated sub-freezing night, but sustained, frosty temperatures
'When I teach seminars on watershape design,' wrote Brian Van Bower in opening his Aqua Culture column ten years ago, 'I always emphasize the importance of having a list of questions to ask prospective clients during initial conversations. It's a point that always seems to ignite discussion - and it usually ends up with someone in the audience asking me to provide such a document for general use. 'I always refuse to do so, not because I
‘Many watershapers have a single-minded focus,’ wrote Stephanie Rose in her Natural Companions column in February 2007, ‘doing all they can to deliver quality shells and surrounding decks to their clients. Quite often, however, that narrow focus means that inadequate space is left for planting – a problem I face quite often as
‘At nearly five months and counting, it’s clear that many of us are still trying to sort out, understand and learn to live with the events of September 11, 2001 – and I suspect that, on some levels, we will be doing so for months or even years to come.’ That’s how Brian Van Bower began his column in the February 2002 issue of WaterShapes – an essay in which he defined a transcendent role for watershapes and conveyed a message about
‘Whenever I’d call my mother on the phone when I was a kid,’ began Brian Van Bower in a column he wrote for WaterShapes’ January 2002 edition, ‘she’d start the conversation by asking me, “Are you smiling?” ’ At a time when the pressure is on businesses to perform with higher levels of client service and accommodation than ever before, that question might carry even more significance than it did when Brian first wrote about it. He continued: ‘Back then, I never gave her greeting too much thought because
'I'm not a big believer in conformity, strict rules and absolutes,' wrote Stephanie Rose to start her December 2006 Natural Companions column, 'but sometimes I'll come across something that, well, is just wrong. These aren't matters of taste, style, or visual appeal: What I see is just plain wrong!' 'Whether we classify ourselves as watershapers or landscape professionals, we collaborate with our clients to create spaces that appeal to them both visually and emotionally. . . . [I]t's our professional responsibility to
'Anyone who runs a good business knows that day-to-day operations are so all-consuming that it's difficult to step back and scope out where you fit within your corner of the industry.' 'We can't give those daily details short shrift,' wrote Brian Van Bower in opening his Aqua Culture column in the December 2006 issue of WaterShapes. 'Still, it occurs to me that . . . our daily endeavors need to be
'I can be quite outspoken,' declared David Tisherman in opening his Details column in the November/December 2001 issue of WaterShapes. 'Here's the unvarnished truth: No more than a hundred pool builders out there can legitimately call themselves designers, . . . while only a handful design at the very highest level.' 'Almost always, the difference between these top-level designers and
'If you've been paying any attention to the media lately,' wrote Brian Van Bower at the start of his Aqua Culture column in WaterShapes' November 2006 edition, 'you may have noticed that watershaping is "in" as a big-time topic for television, books, magazines, newspapers and other forms of mass communication.' 'Never in all my years as part of this industry can I recall a time during which the subject of
The Currency of Beauty