Making A Somewhat Formal Waterfall

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…………

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My good and hard-working friend Rick Barrett analyzes his most recent impossible situation, looking for clues. We got a call from a designer in Portland who designed this most interesting water feature from the comfort of her drawing board. While we agreed it would be a beautiful edifice, we also wondered just how we’d pull it off. The notion of hanging the deep black slate, composed of various thicknesses but the same color, off a block cement wall posed some bizarre and – to us – new material. It would have to be cement, owing to the varied thicknesses of the slate. All sort of adhesives could do the job, but the thickness thing hung us up. We needed a material which would allow us some “squeeze room” in order to have the absolutely perfect outer dimensions to align. Anything other than perfection – with water flowing over it – would show up like crazy.  And this referred not only to the top lip, where it would be grievous if not straight, but the front and sides as well.

Of course, I neglected to mention that the plan also called for adding real rocks at the front and a corner of both levels of the falls system, making the cement idea even more emphatically needed.

(click on any image to enlarge)

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So we arrived at a conclusion – erect the walls first, then nail burlap to the block walls, which would give the cement something to grab onto. It would also allow us just enough “wiggle room” to align all the slabs of slate so that they matched at every possible angle. Now, inasmuch as we are working with a natural stone product, total perfection would be absurd, layered and split as they are. But I believe Rick  got very, very close.

He’s a working dude! 😉

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I missed many episodes, picture-wise, as the construction proceeded, which I now regret. Often, we were busy elsewhere from the rear of the home, working on the landscaping out front or one the sides, which involved irrigation and the construction of some garden carpentry projects.  Rick did almost every bit of the water feature by himself. He also – it bears mentioning – erected the stone walls. I thought his work was masterful and so did the client and even the designer.

The blue tarp, for the record, was not only handy for preventing the brick walls from getting splashed with wet cement or from the splatter from the debris of brick and stone-cutting, but it also doubled as a “rain roof”, keeping the guys and the stuff dry.

Generally speaking, here it is on the day we pretty much left, all done up and proper.

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Quite a change from the first shots…………..note the stones – and not only the Basalt Chrystal cemented around using that “exposed aggregate” concrete finish. Note as well the insertion of natural stones by the bottom basin as well, sort of stuck into the patio floor finish. It added a natural touch. The patio is also cantilevered over the water, allowing us to hide the water pump which sits in the bottom basin. There is far more to this project than meets the eye, I guess is what I am saying.

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A bit longer view –

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Now closer –

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With some cool garden carpentry in the form of these trellises.

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This was an interesting project, also.

Landscape Rocks & Boulder Month – Rounded River and Glacial Rock

I typically have worked with 3 major categories of rocks and boulders in the landscapes I have designed and installed. Since I am newly-arrived in Kentucky, the more “Eastern U.S.” types of boulders and rocks – the Shales and the Limestones – have not been much in my headlamps. I truly admire their potential as the prior post points out. Particularly the limestone slabs interest me, with their horizontal possibilities. The list of more Western boulder types is this:

1. Rounded River Rocks, smoothed by tumbling under glaciation and running water

2. Fractured basalt rocks, into which I include “Glacial Schist” – also included in the Basalt rock  column would be the pillars and crystalline rocks of basalt origin

3. Igneous rocks of particular individual merit……….and I guess I could include Fossilized Rock – ‘petrified wood’ – as well, since I have actually used it in landscapes.

River/Glacial Boulders

I find these multi-utility rocks. They come in large numbers, very naturally. Aside from how we view the West, it was real wet at one time, with glaciers advancing and retreating, big boulders and small ones tumbling under mile-thick coverings of ice. As well, many rocks sat under water and the incessant pounding of running water rounded them off into interesting and sometimes literally circular shapes.

In landscaping, I like using these for water features (insert “duh!”), owing to the natural affinity with water in all its guises. I use them also for constructing artificial creek beds which double for a site as drainage trenches, moving rainfall and snow melt off the property and directing it where we want it to go. These are a delight to construct:

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We assume the most natural effects in making these. Notably, for example, water will encounter an obstacle – such as a large rock – and find a way around it, thus the curving parts of my artificial creeks have larger boulders at junctures where the bends take place. We also try and find what would be a natural course, including its origins. When things make sense, the senses agree.

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As can be seen above, I also use these to solidify a hillside as well. Inserting boulders does indeed help with erosion control, sitting all hefty and attractive, they supply ideal locations for planting as well as for diverting tides of water.

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The picture below has a bunch of grouped boulders “Keyed” to prevent an erosive collapse onto what will eventually become an expensive and very long concrete driveway. They retain a secure place, especially when we add channels to it which will direct the water away. Nevertheless, this being such entirely new, basically ‘sculpted’ and not very compacted terrain,  and composed of soft, dusty, silty material, we did what we could to avoid future problems. It turned out, the first year, we were glad we did.

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And we play, too, attempting to make remarkable pieces of art out of our soil and rock sculptures. For example, on this same property, we made sets of stairs out of large, up to one ton boulders, in two different locations. These stairs are not for everyday traffic but they were still functional, keeping one’s shoes out of the dirt and garden – the intent of any garden pathway.

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The steps are on the right in this picture. If you enlarge it, you can far more detail and I am really not all that at editing pictures to show the features I want most to focus on. I just take them.

The above picture is taken at the bottom level, just as Spring had arrived and in time for us to address the disasters which a 100 year rain event had caused. We were more than a little glad we had taken what steps we did take to minimize erosion damage. It could have been worse. This project was about 6 months old at this time – in construction terms, from when we began.

This is another level up, between the home itself and a huge garage where garden tools and an RV shed are located. The stairs here are obviously on the right.

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Other functional and very playful uses of these rocks carry a softening effect to hard surfaces –

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The intrude into the lines we devise, offering a small anarchy

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But my single most primary usages of these gorgeously-shaped stones is generally related to their natural affinity with water.

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Don’t do these at home!! 😉

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How To Make a Bubble Rock Water Feature

Cheat. 😉

That’s the most important thing. I have to admit to overusing my own resources which see me doing automated and machine-driven work instead of old-fashioned pick and shovel stuff. For me, the excuse to use a machine always wins the race of fun things to do. (There IS that!)  And, yes, I would far rather dig a hole and place a rock using modern technology than by honest shoveling. Let’s just say I have seen both sides of the issue and have drawn a conclusion. It’s a fault! 😉

Here, for example, is a perfect example of that very thing!

(click to enlarge all images)

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We were tasked to create a small bubble rock water feature at my softball and business partner Bill Hermant’s house in Reno. Actually, I am positive it was his wife LaDonna’s idea, but Bill was warming to landscaping around this time and it might just have been something he wanted. A mystery, fer sure, but she sure wasn’t crying about it!

Anyway, we were using these machines at another project and it was a quick trip down to his place – which was in the neighborhood – so we “reallocated” our machines down to Bill’s place. The portable nature of even the mini-excavator made this all a half-day enterprise, the fact is. So, I dug – for 15 minutes. As The McKenzie Brothers would say, the “Beauty Part” was in how the little mini-ex grabs dirt and then drops it into this other machine – the awaiting Bobcat – which then runs the excavated dirt to wherever Kenny was taking it. For sheer automation, this is a formula from Heaven.

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Does anyone else think that’s a great hole? I do. That’s a good hole. Moving along, we add liner, and some additional “protection (additional layers) where the big old rock will sit –

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The rock was purchased locally and we had it bored by the firm who supplied it at $50.00 a “bored” foot. Here it sits in the rear of the truck, a chain stuck through the hole and ready to lift – gingerly – out.- It weighs about 600 pounds so, as I have made clear, allowing the machine take the lifting place of a few guys fumbling around with this sort of weight is  – still – the height of wisdom. The number of disasters, from ailing backs, skinned knees, penetrating the liner inadvertently, clothes losses and banging up against a house are pretty long.

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We do so, preparing for the insertion into our great cool hole –

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We set it down, then re-grab the thing, so that we have the incline and the angle of approach set well enough from above to insure we set it with a minimal need for reorienting inside the hole. At this stage, someone will be setting either bricks or other smaller rocks in place to rest this big guy on top of. At that time, we will run piping, being careful to keep it from pinching off the stream. Then we will cement it in place –

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I got a bit carried away doing the plumbing, cementing, lifting, orienting and mixing it up down inside the hole and did not get many pictures of the process at this point. However, the picture below should give a great view of what it looked like down there during the process of plumbing and cementing. Yes, there are two pumps in this picture. The one we are most interested in for purposes of this post is the small black one on the right. Note also the clear and flexible plastic tubing which conducts water up through the pipe to the top of the silicone-grouted top. It connects to the little pump, but in the case of Bill’s place, it gets itself a bit detoured so we can install a control mechanism for adjusting the amount and rate of flow by hand, then returns on down to go up the big ole rock.

Note also the rock in question standing on its own. This is the set-up when cemented into place.

1This was actually a pretty quick project. We cemented everything into place, then returned the machinery back to the other project where we finished the day. Then, the next morning, we dropped by Bill’s, ran the pump, got satisfied, then re-filled the hole with river rocks and an attractive top and finished her up by pretty much break time.

Here is the final product – a nice gurgle at the front entryway which always attracts a small crowd who love the sound and the effect.

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Landscape & Natural Waterfalls – A Professional Admirer’s View

Inasmuch as we specailize in water features of all types, I will make some general comments here, then break them down into categories in future posts. But first, let’s take a stroll and see what it is about waterfalls that so catches our fancy:

(these are made to view enlarged – left click to do so, maybe even twice, for more detail)

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Nature gives us these incredible sights which focus the senses, get us wet and still just fill us up with wonder.

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We see Chaos and Order at once in the most raw natural waterfalls, as if Nature Herself made a miscalculation and She wants to remind us of the sheer destructive and awesome power of water itself. The sheer volume of noise alone makes you need to shout to be heard and silences even the busiest mouth (Quite a handy Nature Trip for some who will remain nameless 😉 ):

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We look over the top of these – at our most curious – and we see why they exist and how unassuming they seem, wandering their way to such a ‘falling’ pass – then becoming something else entirely besides “just some swollen creek”.

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Getting closer quiets the mind and reveals more – and we love it, wanting that at “our place!”

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This one could be rough to imitate, in the end. This one you can walk under – (It’s Silver Falls in Oregon.)

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There is truly nothing like the sound and motion of water in a landscape. Absolutely nothing outside of earthquakes and volcanos. Nature makes a scene with all those rushing and deafening roars or even its smaller lush and strangely full-throated gurgling sounds. Those of brooks or even the larger cascading monsters are all possible to reenact in a landscape, right out one’s own door. Well – that is, to a degree. In terms of sizes, we can manually construct some wild stuff, especially these days with the advent of all the tricky machinery at hand not only used for the construction itself but also for the amazingly efficient and long-lasting pumps we can produce to motor that water over an edge.  Here is a diesel-powered waterfall I once worked on:

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And here is a City Scape – (same theme, water, water, water and lots of it, running fast!) – this is Ira Keller Falls in Portland, Oregon, with a skinny-dipping bloke, waiting for his opportunity. I can’t take this guy anywhere, I swear:

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But, frankly, the chances are great we will end up settling for less at home. This, of course, is just a guess 😉

More manageable, not quite so deafening, we opt for the same wonder, just on a different scale. Yes, we do Formal as well as Natural:

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More natural:

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The process is actually rather simple, in a way, with some decided conundrums, but many folks have done their own water features and of course landscapes quite admirably and successfully. Indeed, for those who are inclined, some of the very best water features I have ever seen are those of “puttering” homeowners.
Like all landscaping projects, constructing a waterfall system, no matter of what ilk, whether formal or natural, requires intensive labor. Excavations are required, rocks and liners placed, cement work, electrical puzzles need fixing as well as the many and varied engineering problems which have to be borne in mind, including settling of soils after excavation and the new weight of water itself.
Professionals who specialize in such constructions know most of these various items to watchful of.  Splash loss, for example, the subsequent water replacement, their times and duration. Indeed, even the replacement system iself, are huge issues unless one wants to consider manually filling his water with a garden hose daily in Summer when evaporation is such an issue.
In short, don’t let me misstate things – water features are fairly complex. They possess many puzzles, some which only appear later for the unwary. It must be said too – Add that they are costly. An installation of a water feature is a “marriage”, of sorts with the constructor. One wants to know those who constructed it and who are now most familiar with its installation will be around in later seasons to help guide the homeowner in the proper direction for maintenance issues. Having said this, a curious client and student can teach himself darn near all he needs to know. It isn’t rocket surgery, after all.