New Landscapes for 2005
Wow, I can't believe how fast this year went. It seems only
yesterday I was trying to melt the permafrost so that I could plant my
little petunias and voila. The leaves have already begun to change. Thank
goodness winter will be early this year because I have never been so busy.
2005 was challenging both creatively and physically, as a result I have come
up with some interesting things you might like.
May and June
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Linear Design1
I don't often do linear designs as most people like to have curvy lines. But there is no reason you can't be experimental with shapes |
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Linear Design 2
Because the house has a lot of stone work done on the left side of the house I put more detail on the ground with the right side. |
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Linear Design 3
In most landscapes the edging is either a black plastic edging, or a brick edging. Here the owner wanted something more substantial that would never move while he was mowing, Split'n'Stack (now called Stack stone) |
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Linear Design 4
With any design there should always be some focal point. Something that draws your eye to the design. This bistro set is functional but mostly decorational. It creates a nice scene that is both inviting and relaxing |
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Front faux Creek1
Too often now yards are just covered in one size of rock that is often repeated by your neighbours. This causes the yards to all blend together and look bland |
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Front Faux Creek 2
This creek is both functional as a walkway to the back but also creates a theme that makes it stand out amongst the other landscapes. |
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Front Faux Creek 3
Eventually once the plants grow this will truly create a mountain theme. (This design was lead by my friend Dianne Pilling) |
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Waterfall 1
This was a very large installation of both a faux creek and a pond and waterfall |
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Waterfall 2
The owner was able to bring in rock for the project and trench out the soil for us, which was fantastic because we were able to finish the creek in a day and a half |
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Waterfall 3
The water rushes from the mountains, breaks around an island producing both a male and female stream, then rejoins and continues under the sidewalk. The faux creek is a little noisy at the start but mellows nicely at the finale |
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Waterfall 4
This pond has a skimmer, where the dog is standing, and a filter behind the rock at the top with an ultra violet light that kills algae and keeps the water fairly clean looking |
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Waterfall 5
Very often when building the waterfall, people just stack the rocks and then turn it on. You must spend at least a couple of hours tuning the waterfall, to get the right sound that is calming yet not too quiet. |
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Waterfall 6
A considerable amount of time is spent in colour coordinating the stones and setting them to create a natural look. Otherwise it is very easy to create a pile of rock with a hose in the middle. |
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July to August
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Brick Patio 1
Originally there was a wood deck that was rotting, and carpenter ants. The owners wanted no maintainence, and something different from the neighbours |
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Brick patio 2
Once finished this patio will have a gas powered firepit, BBQ and heater, and be integrated into the yard with plantings and a small pond and waterfall |
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Brick patio 3
An important safety issue when designing stairs is to create an edging that is a different colour. In this way, in the evening people will always be able to distinguish the stairs from the rest of the brick work |
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Fishscale Drive 1
This is not a true fishscale design. I wanted to create something a little more open and contemporary. |
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Fishscale Drive 2
The majority of the cobble stone is tan but this would have blended to easily with the brick of the house so a brown paver edging was added to give a bit more definition. |
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Pond 1
This is a little 5' X 3' pond tub. with a 18" high waterfall. It has just the right sound to soothe but not interupt discussion on the patio. |
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Pond 2
When building, always add a variety of stones that will bring colour. Definately have a base rock (e.g. fieldstone) but slip in some Montana rainbow, Kootney granite, and glacial green slate for a little interest. |
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Re-done Pond 1
Often when homeowners build a pond they don't consider that they may make changes in the future. In this case a 22' creek was added on that sucked the pond dry each time it was turned on. |
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Re-done Pond 2
The pond tripled in sized and depth and a new patio was added so that the owners could enjoy the fish. |
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Re-done Pond 3
Once the pond was increased the water stabalized and there were far less problems with algae and string algae. |
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