When you're placing water features on your landscape, you will do well to employ concepts used in creating
the intriguing man made Lake Harris at the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas. You don't
have to go out to Las Vegas to see Lake Harris. You can search for 3356 Las
Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas on Google and then click on street view. Then
take a virtual walk in a southerly direction along the sidewalk on the west
side.
As you take the walk, you
will notice that almost no section of the lake resembles another. I say almost
because the landscapers have even employed the principle that sections of
symmetry appearing in a random fashion (unpredictable predictability) add
interest to a landscape. Lake Harris changes in size, shape, and border on both
the sides close to and far away from the pedestrians. In some places there are
waterfalls that fed the lake, in others flat tropical like vegetation. On some
borders there are trees, on others a small or large rock outcropping made of conjoined
stone of unpredictable shapes and sizes. On one part of the far bank, there is
a large uninhabited rain forest, with tropical ground cover, bushes, and trees of various heights, shapes
and species. The many waterfalls vary
one from another, with falls that have three, four, five levels, or seven
levels. There are narrow ribbon falls, horseshoe shaped falls that separate one
section of the lake from another, and a wide semi circular falls, with
intriguing rock outcroppings scattered in its lower five levels.
When you're planning
to install water features in your own backyard, consider adding variety to your
lagoons, streams, and waterfalls, and their borders. You might also want to employ variety in the
size shape, species, and height of your surrounding vegetation.
Resources: If you live in the
Yorktown Heights, NY, Westchester County, or Putnam County area of New York
State, call the Turf Barbers at 914
302 2469; 2929 Quinlan Street Yorktown Heights, NY 10598;
http://www.theturfbarbers.com for the tops in water feature landscaping and outdoor masonry.