How to Make a Water Feature Interesting

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.

Types of Outdoor Stone Work

Stone Wall

Outdoor stonework is an important part of outdoor masonry and helps to beautify and enrich homes across America. There are nine major types of outdoor stone work and additional minor categories. The nine types include walls, arches and gateways, patios, outdoor fire places, stone seats and tables, walkways, steps, rock gardens, and water features.. Each of these major categories includes multiple minor categories.

Stone walls include garden walls, patio walls, retaining walls, and more. Stone walls may be made of granite, concrete, natural stone, brick, or many other types of stone. Arches include posts on either side of a gate and other similar structures.

Patios include similar types of entertainment areas. Patios may be made of granite, well placed concrete stones, slat slabs, natural stone, brick, or many other types of material. Outdoor fireplaces are frequently set at the edge of a patio. Similar structures that are also considered part of outdoor stone masonry include fire pits, stone chimneys, outdoor kitchens, and outdoor grills. Stone tables and chairs are often located on patios and are a separate category of outdoor stone work.

Stone paths and walkways are an important type of stone work. Walkways may be made of brick, concrete pavers, slate, granite, bluestone, natural stone or more. Stones may be placed tightly together in natural patterns or separated by spaces filled with grass and other natural vegetation. Pathways may include garden pathways, pathways around the side of the home, pathways through a wooded area or by a water feature. Closely related to pathways are stone driveways. Often pathways and patios are created in a matching style and the pathway  branches off from the patio. The stone work of a typical combination patio pathways might consist of split rock, granite, or patterned concrete.

Steps are another category of outdoor stonework. Steps can lead from the house to the garden, from the house to the patio, or from the patio to the grass and or garden.

Rock gardens are a beauty endowing sort of outdoor stonework. Gardens may be enhanced by a fill of pebbles, or can include a large well placed accent boulder. Closely related to rock gardens are stone walled planters, and any of a large variety of stone ornaments and sculptures that are used to adorn the outdoor landscape.

Water features frequently require outdoor stone work for their construction. Water features can include drains, stone water sluices, waterfalls, and runoff irrigation channels. Some irrigation channels are constructed so the rock basin itself becomes an attractive part of the landscape when it appears during a dry spell.

Other less common forms of outdoor stone work include cairns, and labyrinths. Cairns are a man-made pile or stack of stones, often found in uplands, moorland, mountaintops, near waterways, sea cliffs, or on the barren tundra.


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Resource Box The Turf Barbers LLC; 2929 Quinlan Street Yorktown Heights, NY 10598; 914 302 2469 Yorktown Heights, Landscapers">Yorktown Heights Lawn Mowing Service