Max Phelps built his first waterfall in 1997. While he has experience farming and beekeeping and ran a tax preparation business for 20-plus years, he has operated Rock Castles Landscaping since the fall of 1999. The company designs, builds and specializes in waterfalls and water gardens. Edible landscaping, gardening and farming are part of the culture in rural South Central Kentucky, the place Max calls home most of the time. Max has been both an Aquascape CAC and a member of the IPPCA. He was also the first-place winner of the "Most Natural Looking Stream and Waterfalls" category at INFOTANZA 2010, and he is the author of the twice-monthly landscape column "Yards to Paradise," in its fifteenth season.
Tree ponds

Pondside Trees: Pros and Cons of Large Pond Plans

By Max Phelps / June 27, 2017 / 5 Comments

  It seems that every nature and landscape photographer seeks out the lake with the reflection of trees or mountains in the water. These are the shots that make for calendar photos that hang on the walls of old-timers like me. Let us consider building our water gardens where they will receive both the shade […]

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Have Your Waterfall and Eat It, Too!

By Max Phelps / April 30, 2015 / 2 Comments

Fruiting shrubbery and flowers can be used in landscaping a water feature just as easily as traditional shrubs or grasses and they can look just as amazing. You’re going to landscape your waterfall and pond, so why not do it with edible trees, shrubs and groundcovers? Here are some that work well for me. A […]

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