Time Lapse in Years: Bill and Donna’s

Pictures of this project are taken from my business partner’s (Bill’s) back yard in Reno, Nevada. The pictures below are taken from the crude beginnings when we faced nothing more than a pile of really nasty weeds and a pretty solid wasteland. The dust was intense in the constant winds of Reno, causing real messes inside the house and making using their back patio next to impossible. The picture above is taken from a sort of filter posed by one of my all time favorite perennials, Gaura, shown here ready to burst into bloom, a condition it maintains all Summer long. An amazing plant, Gaura, somewhat drought-tolerant and excessively and richly-bloomed.

Bill’s wife, Donna, is as hard-working as her old man and she wanted a place they could relax in on those rare occasions when they didn’t work. She got pretty thrilled the first time she heard her waterfall running out back and I am not sure they have ever closed their windows at night since then, lol. Donna’s a true fan of the sound of water.

Below is a picture taken from above the water feature’s source, a waterfall developed out of, really, nothing. Notice as you browse this project, the presence of some fat trees near the falls. Luckily, they are happy there. They makes the inset of a rushing waterfall less surprising than one would expect to see there on the flat bottomed old lake bottom their property is located on. Oh, and Donna may have one of the most total set of Disney collectibles in the known universe. Anyway, when we began it did not look like this. Scroll down for the beginnings.

Here we go…..THIS was what we dealt with first:

Just a bit on the “dusty” side……..Oh yes, and there was this:

And then this:

Now, these pictures were all taken AFTER we had built the water feature. Imagine, if you will, what preceded all that. Basically, weeds and dirt and not much else. Anyway, after dealing with Bill and promising him that all those “Sticks” we were buying at good rates would actually turn out to be plants, his good nature won out and he went and trusted us, lol. Well, he then ended up with these pictures, taken last year:

He got happier and happier. Fortunately, we always had an ally in Donna. For her, the water did the trick! Anyway, there is much more there, but we accomplished almost all of it between gigs and in our spare time. They were and are gracious and loving members of the landscape fraternity. Naturally, the fact that Bill and I played about 100 games of softball a year together matters, too, lol.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.