Lichen Waterfall

What a busy summer.  I can’t believe it is over, and we are in the slow decline towards winter.  As such, it is a perfect time to catch up on my blog.  It has been a little while and I will do my best to catch up.

PREFACE

One project I worked on this summer was a small waterfall water feature in Pocatello, ID.  The client had an existing pre-fabricated plastic water fall in the location already, but had grown tired of the manufactured look.  They had tried planting flowers, vines, and perennials around the plastic to soften it up, but the plants could only do so much.  When I was called in, they hadn’t even tried to fill it again from the winter as they knew they had planned on replacing it.  To keep it from being a massive eyesore out their large bay windows in the family room, they placed some potted flowers in the pond portion to tone things down a little.  This client loves little garden ornaments, and had several little frog ornaments and a couple larger metal herons.

CONSTRUCTION

The construction phase of the project began long before I actually broke ground at the property.  In the late part of the spring, we were able to take the kids to Disneyland.  We had a great time.  We figured it would cost us quite a bit less to drive and stay in Las Vegas the first night, and drive the rest of the way the next day.  With my in-laws going with us, it saved the cost of seven airline tickets and the cost of the rental car once arriving in Los Angeles.  Shortly after passing Jackpot, Nevada, heading south on highway 93 from Twin Falls, I noticed some really nice looking boulders on the side of the highway. 

After returning from Disneyland, I called the Nevada Bureau of Land Management.  I found it wasn’t very expensive at all to get a quarrying permit for collecting landscape boulders.  I had another project that needed some boulders, so I made the hour trip down to check things out and collect a few.  The rocks were even more spectacular than I had hoped.  They were dark red shale, and they were just covered in several different species of lichen, from bright fluorescent green to a dark black.  We found a place off of the main highway where we could drive right up to some decomposing cliffs and collect all the specimens we wanted.  The hard part was only taking what we needed, and not overloading my truck.  Because of the nature of shale, most of the pieces were quite flat – almost like a flagstone.  In fact, I may consider these rocks for my next flagstone patio project.  They would be gorgeous.  I did manage to overload my truck a little and couldn’t drive over 50 miles per hour without the threat of swaying off of the road.  Another trip down, this time with the family, would enable me to collect enough rocks for both projects.

I started actual construction on the water feature by clearing out all the existing materials that would be inside the new pond area.  This included the flower pots, plastic water feature, concrete blocks, quartzite flagstone, and gravel.  With this removed, I could see a little more of what I was dealing with.  The area was quite difficult to work with as it was quite narrow with only about ten feet between the house and an arbor, but about twenty-five feet across the width of the family room.  It also had very little vertical drop, but sometimes you make do with what you have.  

I started excavating and dug out the overall shape I wanted the pond to be.  The brand of equipment I was using was Aquascapes, and I was using a skimmer box and one bio-falls.  I created the layers and the area for the falls.  Because the area was so wide, I decided to make two spill areas.  This was a little tricky as I only had one bio-falls.  After digging out the pond and building up the falls area, I started dry-setting the rocks.  Before I could start with the underlayment and the liner, I had to get all the underground plumbing installed.  This includes the skimmer, bio-falls, pipe from the pump to the falls, shut-off valves, and overflow. 

I plumbed it so the owner had the option of running either falls separately, both simultaneously, or shut both off completely.  With the plumbing completed, I pulled out the dry-set stones and started with the underlayment.  The underlayment is almost like a heavy cotton fabric that protects the pond liner from any sharp rocks that might work their way up underneath the pond.  After the underlayment came the pond liner.  This is a thick piece of rubber that is difficult to move around.  When I had gotten the liner as flat on the contours as I could, I started placing the rocks. 

This is like building one puzzle from 20 different boxes.  Some pieces went together like they were made that way and others I had to persuade them to fit together.  While placing the stones, I used a black expanding foam behind and around the rocks to seal any cracks or crevices to increase the amount of water moving over the surface of the rocks, as opposed to going behind them.  I sealed up the bio-falls and skimmer and capped them off.  I installed the gravel in the bottom of the pond and was ready to test it out.  I filled it with water, turned on the pump, opened the valves, and watched it flow. 

With a few tweaks with more foam and rocks, I decided that the water feature was finished.  I cleaned up the area and raked out the surrounding soil. 

CONCLUSION AND BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS

Overall this was a good project.  It took me about a week, working by myself in tight quarters.  The client is super excited about the waterfall and loved sitting outside, reading a book, on cool evenings through the summer.




BEFORE





AFTER





Established Landscaping Makeover

Landscaping projects come in all shapes, sizes, and scopes.  For this month, I have decided to highlight one I worked on a couple of years ago.  The location was in an area that had older homes, but was an extreemly trendy area to build, and builders and developers were buying up lots, tearing down the old homes, and rebuilding with the latest technology and techniques.  Technically, this home was a remodeling project, but when the only thing that remained of the original house was a small portion of the foundation in one corner, it is as good as a complete rebuild.  This was a situation of a new home on an established lot, in an established neighborhood. 

                My initial assessment of the property showed it had some great potential.  The lot size was quite large for a city lot, and there were a few large mature trees on or surrounding the property providing some privacy.   One of the major challenges to overcome was the grade.  The lot was situated on a hill, with the grade sloping from east to west.  Prior to the remodel, the previous owners tried to gain more usable area by installing a retaining wall.  It helped, but was placed in an awkward location and reduced the usability of the lot.  Also, because of the grade issues, drainage was also a major factor.  In the Seattle area on sloping lots, when the ground is disturbed, it can cause springs to form which can cause all sorts of drainage issues.  Another major issue was the main access to the home.  The builder focused on creating a beautiful home, but didn’t leave much for the landscaping.  There were some stone steps that had not been properly set into the hill side and would wobble under foot.  The flagstones leading to the front door were small and spaced far too far apart to be of use. 

                When I met with my clients, they had specific ideas of what they wanted, but didn’t know the best way to make them happen.  They had one little girl who was nearly four years old, and were expecting another little girl.  They also had an energetic black Labrador named Rover.  Their main priorities included making a safe, attractive, and functional entry walkway with steps, creating an area for entertaining in the backyard, and increasing the usable lawn area for their girls and Rover to play.

           The design called for a complete rework of the front entry, including the wall, steps, and walkway surface.  The homeowners decided on using concrete pavers to help keep the project on budget.  The design also called for a series of retaining walls to be built, one that would retain soil that had been cut out, and another that held fill material.  This would increase the usable lot area significantly allowing for a large flat lawn area.  A large patio in the backyard with plantings and lighting accents would serve for the entertaining area. 

                The project turned out to be a great success and the homeowners were thrilled with what was done.  There were a few modifications to the design as we entered the construction phase, but overall, the design intent was maintained. 

  

FINISHED PHOTOS:

 

A Landscape Designers Home

BEFORE

AFTER

For my first post, I want to address the old adage 'never trust a skinny cook’. So it is with landscaping and landscape design. I am always curious to see the landscaping around the homes of those in the landscape industry. Most of the time the landscaping is a work in progress as there are always new ideas and materials to experiment with. Occasionally you find a home where the landscaping has been finished and it is a great opportunity to glean interesting ideas and concepts. Prior to this summer, the landscaping around our home in Washington was the former type of landscape, but I was able to finish most of the project in my mind prior to moving away. This blog features the landscaping at our home in Lake Stevens, Washington.

Landscape Sketch - Before

One of the reasons we decided to purchase our home was that the landscaping was complete. It wasn't ideal, but was such that I didn't feel like I had the huge weight of INSTANT PROJECTS looming over my head. There were some shrubs and a couple small trees along with a simple prefabricated water feature with some fish. It had some space for entertaining with a two-tiered deck. The backyard was fully fenced with plenty of lawn area, which was extremely important for our family. The orientation of the home was another plus with the front of the house facing west with plenty of shade in the afternoons for the backyard. There was also NGPA (Native Growth Protected Area) both behind and across the street from the house with lots of mature trees and native vegetation.

Soon after moving into the home, we realized that there were some significant drainage issues that needed to be resolved. Since it involved removing the existing deck in order to replace the foundation drains, I decided it would be a nice opportunity to implement some additional modifications tumbling around in my brain.

Landscape Sketch - After

Install a new deck - The idea was to keep the deck footprint the same. Since the lower deck was only a foot or so above ground level, it needed to be fully dismantled in order to replace the clogged foundation drains. I rebuilt it using the existing joists, but installed all new cedar decking. I didn’t really care for the narrow steps of the original layout, so I extended the steps to the entire width of the deck. The cedar planter boxes and benches took up a lot of usable space on the deck, so I only replaced the smaller boxes, using them to frame the access to the lawn. The railing of the original deck felt heavy and obtrusive, so I replaced it with a more visually appealing railing that blends in with the plants and other landscaping around it.

Reduce the slope of the yard – While trying to find a good location for an inflatable pool, I decided that my yard needed to be more flat. After installing the new deck, I installed a small retaining wall along the fascia with plenty of space for air and water to circulate. I then capped the wall by mortaring concrete pavers to the top of the retaining wall blocks. These pavers were set level with the top of the deck. I installed more drain lines behind the wall and backfilled behind the wall with a sandy topsoil. This raised grade just enough to maintain a slight slope on the lawn for drainage purposes, but make it appear level. The grade did need to slope slightly more near the concrete patio area as I only installed one step up to reach the lawn area.

Replace the water feature – Even though the existing water feature created some sound and enjoyment for the kids, it really didn’t fit with what I had in mind. To create the necessary drop for the waterfalls, I installed a CMU (cinderblock) wall under the front edge of the deck up to the fascia board. I continued this around the corner of the deck, leaving an area for access by building a cedar gate, completely enclosing the area under the upper deck. The wall gave me an area to build the water feature from. My original idea for the main pool of the water feature was to cantilever the patio out over the water, but soon remembered that kids are drawn to water like moths to a flame. I redesigned it to include a seat wall between the patio and deck areas and the pond. I also wanted to be able to adjust the water level based on the age of my kids. While the kids were young, the pool would be kept at around six inches or so. When they grew up, the gravel in the base of the pond could be removed making the pond deeper, up to 36” deep. I veneered the wall under the deck and the seat wall with a Montana Slate flagstone and capped the seat wall with a flat topped wall cap.

Install additional patio space, walkway, and update plantings – I used the Montana Slate flagstone again and build a small sand set patio at the foot of the seat wall. This transitioned to a walkway that extended out along the side and to the front of the house. We placed a portable fire pit on the stone patio area. As I was building the walkway, I had placed a pile of sand along the fence for future use. It didn’t take too long before the kids had found a use for it, turning it into a make-shift sandbox. They had such a good time that I decided to work it into the landscape installing boulders around the perimeter. The plantings I installed help to bring some color and textures into the landscape. Hostas and a variety of ferns work great in the shade, along with some Annabelle Hydrangeas with their large white blossoms. Rose Glow Barberry, Purple Smoketree, and a Crimson Queen Japanese Maple provide some purples and reds all season.

Along with these main improvements, I also updated the outdoor lighting, built a garden box in the sunniest corner of our yard, and installed a secondary gate to the storage area beside our house. It was all quite the project and took some time to complete, but the end result turned out really nice. The new atmosphere of the landscaping is serene, relaxing, and an enjoyable place to spend an evening.