In August 2016, I was contacted by Von Winkel from the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. The Springs Preserve is associated with the Las Vegas Valley Water District and does a lot of work to preserve the original habitat in the ancient springs that rose from the desert floor of the valley where Native Americans and …
Best Pond Practices | Fish-Safe Airlift Systems for Protecting Endangered Species Read More »
Winter is here, so I feel it’s time to revisit short-term pon quarantine systems. Quarantine is a practice used for winterizing fish in colder climates, caring for sick fish and separating new arrivals for a period before introducing them into your existing system. It’s important to have a system that’s easy to set up, tear …
Best Practices | Short-term Pond Quarantine Strategies Read More »
When designers don’t pay attention to the needs of the system that keeps it healthy, Mother Nature tends to take their designs in a different direction. I’m still being asked to assess formal pond designs that are not optimal for live fish and plants, so I wanted to take an opportunity to go over some …
When homeowners decide to invest in professional landscape architecture, many choose to incorporate a beautiful water feature as the focal point or “crown jewel” of the design. This is no surprise, because we as pond installers know that a well-functioning, attractive water feature offers homeowners much enjoyment and brings the landscape to life with the …
Pond Construction | Renovate & Re-envision Existing Water Features Read More »
Several months ago, I was contacted by Glass Entertainment, a production company, to help with a project for the TV show “Tanked.” The owners of Acrylic Tank Manufacturers (ATM), Wayde King and Brett Raymer, live in Las Vegas and are the stars of the show. They were building ponds in their own backyards and wanted …
Best Practices | A Reality TV Pond-Building Competition Read More »
Two years ago, I was contacted by a retired couple about helping them design a pond at their home. Having never built a pond before, Bruce wanted to build it himself. He had grand ideas but said he needed advice, equipment and a lot of guidance. The home was in Mountain Springs, a summit area …
Pond Construction | The Do-It-Yourself, Desert Trout Pond Read More »
In early April 2014, I was contacted by a very distraught young man. He’d recently had a small pond built for him by a local contractor. The pond was in a small, raised planter against the east wall on his side patio. He said the pond was a mess and all of his fish had …
Creating an airlift system to both circulate water and oxygenate a system at the same time is one of my favorite pond construction techniques. Almost any pond can be built using an airlift system in some fashion, but formal designs lend themselves to airlifts more often than garden designs. Formal ponds are generally located in …
Best Practices | Formal Pond Circulation & Oxygenation Read More »
The floating bridge, or steppingstone look, has been popular for some time now in both formal and garden pond designs. Building them in a manner that will stay stable over time isn’t actually that difficult. Floating stone bridges give an appearance of freedom that solid bridges or bridges with railings simply cannot. The feeling of …
We’re back with the third installment of our series on the formal courtyard pond. This article is just one example of how to deal with this specific type of formal pond. With the structure and basic plumbing in place, the polyurea liner can be installed. Polyurea is usually a two-coat operation, with the first application …