I have featured this project in other posts but I have recently unearthed a new little trove of pictures taken as we were leaving. These pictures were taken on the day we actually finished the project. It’s hard to believe a month or two earlier the area was all mud, complete with the broken and sawed up tree parts and underbrush which comprised the entire area prior to our excavations and then landscaping. Interestingly, the water clarity in these pictures, although it gives a really pleasing mirror-like reflective finish, is still a bit dirty, proving the “unfinished” nature of it all. Later, it was crystal clear.
There were numerous and very intimidating challenges to it all. For one thing, the deck seen hovering over the water was always designed to stay just an inch above the waterline. Naturally, installing the deck preceded almost all the landscaping work save for the excavation. In typical fashion, therefore, it became our typical logistical nightmare.
Having said that, once a “level” is decided upon, at least we have something solid to base the rest of the construction on. The impracticalities all come home to roost right around then.
This project was pretty gnarly to make. The liner itself was something like 80′ by 60′, meaning it took 7 of us just to spread it out, much less to adjust it all. EPDM Liners are heavy as heck. Just getting it into the back yard required a machine. Nor was this the only liner on the project. We also had a creek to construct because we wanted at least some water recirculating and oxygenating instead of becoming an algae-infested mess. Yes, it is pretty much shady back there, but it still got enough sunshine to make algae an issue.
So we made a good sized creek, with a fairly good rate of flow. Making it look natural was pretty easy, frankly, owing to the density of plantings and the availability of plants we had relocated, ready for planting, upon the commencement of the project:
(click images to enlarge)
The look from the patio:
The project was complicated by the desire of the owners for a small island. Man, anything but that! 
This is not easy when designing with liners. The little mound where the island goes has to be made just right, at the proper height and width, nor can it eventually sink. So it got compacted to a large degree but not so it would become impossible to plant.
Hey – hand me that piano, OK?
When all was said and done, we had ourselves a real winner, I think. We found abundant forest material to insert into the edges of the water, making it appear far older than – ahem – one day old.
The Springtime effects look gorgeous in many of these shots – there were blooms galore and bright shiny new leaves everywhere.
The project remains a rather epic achievement for yours truly, shared by many, of course. These sorts of projects can be frustrating and challenging but they seem more than worth the effort with a little ‘remove’.
Why not? My oft-stated and not-so-secret love affair with dirt, rocks, machinery and design reflects my equal regard for the one Greatest Human Quality Known To Man: Occasional Silence.
These sorts of things don’t talk back. They don’t criticize or try and take my Pot of Gold. They sit and wait for my touch in a way that is most yielding and totally compliant. I can pick them up, drop them – in place or on the way – and they’ll just wait to get picked up. I swear, if “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend”, then large rocks, lots of dirt, a piece of blank paper and a gorgeous mini-excavator are this Man’s Best Friends.
OK, my bad.
And this guy:
(click any image to enlarge)
Let us proceed…………….
My reminiscences about all these projects are filled with a definite sense of accomplishment, I readily admit. Probably compensatory at that, so yes, there is an egotistical sucker underneath all this nice guy persona. But I still enjoy sharing!!
Let me take this moment to remember as well those guys and the gals who worked along beside me, doing stuff I am almost positive I could not have done at my best. Patient, long-suffering and dedicated work mates made my trade (and still make it so) my own version of pleasure in the most wholesome and healthy ways. Every day there were huge laughs – great explosions following someone’s screw-up or a joke told at an incredibly poor time. Ironies and lying were often featured, carrying monstrous weight as elements of the day. Patient and hilarious, one often waited for the “catch”. Hiding among trees or behind machinery was great sport for a sneaky physical attack. A true phantasmagorical experience, working with dirt and mud among people who just knew they should know better. There is a farmer with a sense of humor in all of us. We got to exercise that homely Beast. And, hey – Hardly a day passed when I did not bless my good fortune at sharing all this – no matter how brutally grim and dismal it sometimes seemed. In fact – all the more so at those times. I have always felt richest in the people with whom I have shared the labor than in any other category. Driving home at the end of a day – endorphins irradiating all my available and very exposed pleasure centers – I often wondered if life got any better.
The accomplishment of a team working towards a goal has few equals in terms of pure social pleasure.
To me, there have been dismal days in the field. Good Lord, working in the North West of the US of A is a constant reminder to me that I have probably forgotten more about mud than anyone I know will ever learn. I have added sod on top of liquid dirt many times. I’ll never forget my first day working in Portland, during a complete 8 hour day trenching for irrigation while the area collected 2 inches of rainfall. The next day was worse! And, yes, to answer an obvious question – I asked myself: “I’m doing this for what?” Those are pretty stunning working conditions, fit for the remaining amphibious gene in all of us. It was a wake-up call for all you kids who make bad grades and think not getting a degree is smart!!
Here is a perfect example. We made this nice-looking water feature for a genuinely cool older Italian couple in Portland, Oregon. I always enjoyed the outcome and it won a State Award to cement its status as ‘pretty well done’. Let’s admire the “After” pictures because it’s going to get ugly showing how we got there.
Here’s the view from the deck above -
These gorgeous “Full Spring” shots obscure some pain which led to the accomplishment. This:
Came from this:
Here’s how we got there………
We began dry enough. It was with bawdy optimism, in fact, that we undertook a challenging and well-drawn chore of rendering a waterfall and 3 levels of ponds down this hillside and which is also featured in the “Pages” section of this very blog under “Construction Of A Waterfall”. In that bit, I neglected to mention a few – um – impediments behind the gig. Anyway, here was our very sunny beginnings, dry, sunny, unseasonably warm October days -
Whilst I scratched around, digging holes and relocating existing stones, the guys went and grabbed the rocks delivered by evil, stinking truck drivers with a penchant for loads of rocks which were too big too handle. By using a ball cart for huge plants, Leo and Samuel were able to huff them all – and we are speaking about pretty much 40 tons of materials – to the rear by the fashion shown below. Dry, it was not that challenging, in the end. Rain of course presented another set of problems altogether. Here’s a dry look at our most modern technology!
150 feet of “carting”, down a hill and not all paved makes a strong guy. I’ll leave that there.
Down the hill……….
I mean, we were incredibly diligent! Never took a minute off – well……….except once.
We did our thing, shaping dirt, getting ready for liner and then the business end of Finishing:
We added the liner -
Note the nice and rather dry conditions! We were STYLIN’!!
So there were we were – ready to roll – and then it got nasty outside:
It had all seemed so smooth – until it wasn’t. And it got cold – almost forgot to mention.
The cleanup’s at the end of each day were tons of fun!
Well, it finally cleared but not before making things rather dismal, in today’s understatement of the week. We applied our level best to it all – and got very detailed:
Even a sudden and random outbreak of “Male Pattern Baldness” did not deter us from inspecting each and every little rock we inserted into this edifice.
Still working…………
Finally, it led to a semblance of order – one could see it taking shape in a much more physical way (and here we have added compost to the surrounding soil, yet to be tilled in):
I believe the attention to detail really paid off well and is a large part of why it was so critically well-received:
In the end, it looked darn good – and we were proud of what we’d accomplished – in spite of our liquid impediments.
Everybody loves a change! Once again we go with the changes wrought inside landscapes as provided by either the erstwhile landscaper, moving dirt from one place to another – or by Time itself, letting things be what they become.
First the dirt and a landscaper, rendering sense out of this mess -
(click on any image to enlarge)
Looking backwards, I think it cleaned up real nice:
This one had an intimidating beginning -
And got even weirder – whew – lots of work!
But it also came out OK, I think -
It’s amazing what a little grass and a few plants can do:
Or some pavers, for that matter. Here’s the rather “raw” look:
And now for something a bit more finished:
Same deal, different day:
From this:
To this: (handsome photographer, no extra charge!)
At times, especially at the beginning of projects – and especially so for smaller crews – the work seems endless……….one goes home at night, knowing darn good and well where one will be the next day. (This, I might add, serves as an understatement!)
Face it, it’s a long way from the above to this:
But interesting!
One of the abject pleasures of installing landscapes is the physical changes they make. There are very few more obvious “cosmetic” enterprises in the world as we know it. Architecture, big ol’ buildings, making streets and roads all serve the same master – The Eye.
I’ve decided to simply show The Eyes some candy to give an idea of how landscapes evolve, not only during the process of construction, but also once we leave. Some of these will be in mid construction, other more literal “Before” and “After” shots, right off the get go.
For example, here are a few shots of my ex-partner’s home, pretty much immediately after we’d constructed a water feature – these will be in “Before/After” order:
(click any image to enlarge)
This one is fairly dramatic:
To this:
From this:
To this:
Here’s an old favorite, I often show, but these are at least more recently-acquired pictures:
This one is the same general lot as the “Infinity Edge Waterfall” and it’s framework, taken above:
Here’s a nice change – I am particularly attached to this one because of what it took from me, lol. It was 108 degrees the day the “Before” picture was shot. I know because I took them, went out to play ball that night and suffered a monster dehydration “event”:
Fortunately, I was able to finish it!
This is a taste of Before and Afters. Next, many more.
