Pond Landscape Design

Pond landscape design can work as a style in its own respect or function as part of a more complex landscaping design such as a Japanese garden or tropical garden. In either instance, pond landscape design occupies a central position to all or part of the yard. Centrism helps contribute to the feeling that one is looking at a natural scene instead of something merely manmade. Ponds in the wild lie in the center of clearings or high in the mountains between peaks. Centrally locating a pond in the middle of your yard gives it this same sense of convergence and isolation.

The water should be surrounded by ledges and greenery in order to draw attention to it. This is often overlooked by amateur landscapers who attempt pond design without the proper awareness needed to correctly build such a deceptively simple structure. Any body of water that is merely a depression in the ground not only looks unnatural, but it also looks depressing. You have to add a vertical element and some lush, green vegetation transforms to give it a sense of life and vitality.

An even more powerful sense of vitality can be added by constructing a waterfall that runs into the pond. Running water carries with it a powerful calming influence on the human mind. Waterfalls are constructed using special silent pumps and all natural materials (such as small boulders or limestone) to make them look identical to those found in the mountains.

A pond should either have an earth bottom or a gunite bottom covered in a layer of earth that makes it look natural. Since most residential pond landscape design deals with a limited amount of space, the earth bottom ponds we normally find in municipal parks and large corporate campuses are impractical for a back yard element. They tend to silt up too quickly and present serious flood threats when heavy rains suddenly strike.

A concrete bottom covered with a natural substance like earth or rock works much better for residential landscaping. It is more reliable from a functional and emergency drainage perspective, but it is concealed behind all natural materials.

Landscape lighting is absolutely vital to pond landscape design. At night, no one can see the water or the greenery surrounding it without some sort of lighting. Special down lights can be mounted all around the bank to ensure that the surface of the water is clearly visible from all vantage points. If a waterfall is present, we typically install underwater lights behind the falls to illuminate the flowing water from within and create a prism of colors as the light refracts outward in all directions.

Garden Waterfall Design

Garden waterfall design continues to grow in popularity throughout the Houston Area. Many residents have become tired of traditional swimming pool and fountain design. The garden waterfall is a very ornamental landscape feature than can add a significant aesthetic to any back yard. Waterfalls are very important to the Japanese Garden design, natural pool design, and certain custom fountains as well.

The visible elements of garden waterfall design are the same as those found in Nature. You will see boulders in high places at the top of the falls, and rocks scattered along the edges of both sides of the stream. Many of these boulders are actually planters with vegetation planted inside them. This more closely resembles the manner in which vegetation grows in and around rock formations in the wild, and it completely conceals the true nature of the planter in a form that you would typically associate with wilderness areas.

The unseen elements of garden waterfall design are a bit different, however. In Nature, rivers and stream cut through rock and dirt to form deep channels. When these channels reach a cliff or steep slope, the water plummets in either a vertical or near-vertical fall to a lower elevation. It is simply not cost effective to build a garden waterfall using a rock basin. Instead, concrete is used to form the basin just like it is in swimming pool design. Concrete is not only cost effective, but is more resistant to shifting Houston soils and is by nature waterproof. Once the concrete dries, we then place rocks over the concrete to hide it, making the stream channel appear natural.

Slope is the hardest thing to recreate in garden waterfall design. In Nature, waterfalls occur in mountainous regions. It is not easy to recreate this in Houston, however. Our land is very flat in most places. The only exceptions are properties along bayous where dry gullies and ravines have been cut out of the ground by seasonal rains. These can be sometimes be shaped into garden waterfalls that run into natural swimming pools, but the slope has to be just right and look consistent with the rest of the property.

There are clients who are willing to pay the money to create hills and slopes in order to have a waterfall garden that looks truly authentic. In order to create these forms, we have to do more than simply add artificial hills and cuts into deep pools. We actually have to elevate an entire portion of the yard in order to make the slope look natural, and to make the sudden drop-off into the basin realistic. Attempting to bring the scale down to fit a smaller area, or attempting to create smaller slopes and hills on a limited budge, will generate poor results.

Large water fountains

Large water fountains are designed to attract attention. You could even say that they demand attention. In the right setting, they create a certain ambiance that is meditative and pleasurable. With their playful movement of water, the pleasing auditory effect and a certified timeless beauty, they are emotional eye-catchers for a serious homeowners’ landscape design.

At Exterior Worlds, we define a large water fountain as one that ranges from about 10-feet by 10-feet up to 30-feet by 30-feet. This size means they are perfect for a commercial application or a large-scale home and can make your property even more impressive. Large water fountains come in a variety of styles and shapes, including Roman classicism, a Hill Country natural pool or as part of a Japanese garden design, perhaps alongside a koi pond.

Humans have been fascinated by water fountains for eons and go back to the earliest fine homes. They are recurrent features of Greek and Roman homes and the corresponding gardens, most notably Mediterranean landscape design and classical landscape design. Ever since then, the construction elements—stone, water and light—have made a highly personal artistic statement even as they evoke archetypal responses.

Outdoor water fountains provide a respite, a time and place of relaxation in which to disengage from the hectic daily schedule. Our clients find that fountains, large and small, bring a calming element into their exterior landscape. The homeowners may begin their day by sitting by the moving water and contemplating what lies ahead, with all its varied opportunities and challenges. Or they may close out the busy day beside the fountain, letting the splash and movement of the water calm and soothe them.

All outdoor water fountains benefit from proper landscape lighting, something we believe is critical. From a practical standpoint, it is important to light them so no one accidentally falls into them at night. Aesthetically speaking, moving water that is well-lit becomes mesmerizing. Beautifully-lit water is a joy to look at and provides a note of tranquility.

Exterior Worlds both designs and builds custom water fountains. We pride ourselves on doing the job right the first time around so that you don’t end up with a fountain plagued with problems. Believe us when we say that we have seen more than one fountain eventually turned into a large planter. Our expertise includes the unseen, but important and necessary, features used in professional landscaping, such as positioning dimmer valves within water fountains that allow you to adjust the water flow to your preference or the use of custom stone work to hide the fountain’s nuts and bolts.

All of our large water fountains are custom-designed and custom-built. Because everything is built on-site, nothing is pre-fabricated. Our design services include helping you with the placement of the fountain so that it blends into and complements your property—perhaps a custom swimming pool, an outdoor room, a welcoming courtyard, a private patio design and any other hardscapes. We provide high-end landscape design services for a discriminating clientele and truly believe that what is in your best interest is also in our best interest.

Outdoor water fountains

Our landscape needs a special focal point. What does Exterior Worlds suggest?

Outdoor water fountains make a stylish statement about your home by creating a refined ambiance. Typically, each fountain is different and therefore an original. It is like building a working piece of art into your landscape. You can use them to enhance the architectural style of your house. They can be designed to be played in, thus providing welcome relief during Houston’s infamous summer season. In these technological times, fountains are quite functional, serving as camouflage for annoying traffic and loud air-conditioning units.

While there are many ways to design and build a fountain, during the typical design process, the scope of the work is defined and a budget developed. Cost factors include material choices, ongoing maintenance contracts, and integration with hardscapes such as custom patios, seat walls, retaining walls, steps etc..

We advise our clients that building a custom outdoor water fountain appears to be like building a swimming pool, but is actually more difficult. It takes practical know-how and experience to avoid common mistakes when designing or constructing one. We work with our clients to provide as much information as possible to insure that their fountain is the success they deserve.

What are some of the designs outdoor water fountains come in?

You can find them in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles, such as Roman, Moorish or Asian-influenced. Additional features can be added, such as a waterfall or a contemporary wall fountain. Whatever style you prefer, be sure to pick a fountain that fits your home and garden landscape.

Designing your own fountains may be more expensive than choosing a prefabricated ones, but our clients have enjoyed these long-term benefits:

• A common problem of ready-mades is “over-spray” or water coming out of the fountain. This malfunction creates subsequent problems, such as the area near the fountain becoming slippery or moldy, the fountain running out of water, and discoloration of the adjacent materials due to chlorination.

A custom-built fountain addresses these problems during the design process.

• Custom-built fountains can be constructed with special features, almost none of which are available on prefabricated fountains. Enhancements include overflow release valves to drain excess water, auto-fill lines to maintain the water level, skimmers, filters, lights, auto-chlorinators and backwash lines (for easy cleaning).

• Custom-built fountains can be built much bigger than prefabricated ones, which is important when working with the scale of some homes and buildings.

What can Exterior Worlds tell us about the materials they are made of?

Many outdoor water fountains are constructed with tile, marble, rock, natural stone, and polished. Other popular choices include stone masonry products such as sandstone, limestone, brick, and concrete blocks. The basins that act as a reservoir are typically made with gunite and rebar, and then plastered—as found with a swimming pool. These interior surfaces are sometimes re-surfaced with stone, pebbles or mosaics. Your process of selection should begin with materials that work in the Houston area. These materials need to handle our climate’s extreme sunlight, rain and other natural elements.

Koi pond design

Koi pond design is gaining popularity in Houston. Recently, one of our major projects in River Oaks involved designing a contemporary garden around the central figure of a koi pond. The details of this project can be referenced in the case study on this project, which details the eclectic nature of this unique architectural feature in relationship to the home and surrounding landscaping elements. Koi ponds are highly unique in terms of both design and construction. They typically occupy a unique position on a property and function as major elements within a landscape design theme.

Koi ponds are so named because they were originally developed as environments for koi fish. Koi are a hybrid species of carp produced by cross-breeding German carp with Asian carp. They are highly colorful and have very soft mouths. They are a very benign and docile species that can even be trained to take food from the hand of a person. Because koi are sensitive fish, the ponds they live in must be designed with maximum life support and safety in mind. The water must be carefully filtered and aerated so there is always plenty of oxygen for the koi to breath. The pond must also measure a certain depth in order to give them room to dart away from predators and lower themselves closer to the bottom of the pool on a hot day. Ideally as well, certain structures should also be incorporated into the overall design in order to give them a place to hide from predators.

While a koi pond must work on all levels to support the life cycle of the fish it contains, its design must also feature exceptional aesthetic elements or patterns of recognizable geometric forms. Many, such as the one we did in our River Oaks project, are rectangular in nature and approximately the size of swimming pools. Others are perfect circles with ornamental coping that compliments patio tile or stone and serves a dual purpose of creating an overhanging structure that covers a portion of the water to create shelter and shade for koi. A koi pond can also be built to mimic a natural body of water in a manner similar to the way we design natural swimming pools. Waterfalls and ornamental rock formations can then be added to create a backyard landscape that is equivalent to a walk through a wilderness park.

Other koi ponds feature designs that range from the formal and traditional to the ultra-contemporary and the avant garde. One of the many popular traditional styles is the Japanese garden. The Japanese garden is a multidimensional blend of greenery and water, normally highlighted with a cascading fountain that looks like a stone stairway. In areas of the city that favor more eclectic blends of architecture and modern art forms, koi ponds can become a form of contemporary art unto themselves, combining unique geometric angles and linear forms with contemporary, custom fountains that add a subjective, three dimensional presence to their aesthetic.

If you have considered adding a koi pond to your residence, no doubt you have already run across koi pond design kits on other websites. Do not buy these. The heavy clay content of Houston soil makes it a very tricky environment for construction of any type, and the logistics of planning, installing, and engineering filtration and aeration of the pond are complexities best delegated to professionals who will give you a satisfying and lasting return on your investment.

Pond Design

Pond design is important to both commercial and residential landscapes. A pond can be built in virtually any style. It can establish the theme of a landscape, or it can support a more complex landscaping design. A good many ponds are deliberately constructed to look like the ones we find in forests and mountains. Others appear deliberately manmade and are designed in this manner to work as compliments to highly contemporary and eclectic architecture.

In most instances, commercial ponds tend to look deliberately man-made and are designed to reflect the architecture of an office park or corporate headquarters. Residential ponds, by contrast, feature designs that heavily emphasize Nature, vegetation, and wildlife. Other than making certain that the size and shape of the pond honor home architecture and outdoor elements, we can basically accommodate any style or sensibility the homeowner is looking to add to the property.

In as much as possible, a pond should look have earth or gravel at the bottom to look as natural as possible. However, exclusively earthen bottoms inside the city limits of Houston are impractical. Heavy rains will flood the pond and alter the shape of the bottom. In order to maintain the form and depth of the pond bottom, we normally build a gunite shell to buttress it against unstable soil conditions that can cause erosion. Gunite creates a very stable, sealed basin for water containment and circulation. Drains and silent pumps can be hidden beneath the surface of the water. Such concealed mechanisms can be used to aerate the water for goldfish and koi, power fountains, or create artificial waterfalls.

Once the gunite shell is built and pumps and drains installed, we almost always add earth or gravel to the bottom of the pond. In addition to the aesthetic this creates, this creates an ideal habitat for wildlife. Many plant species such as lily pads and reads will grow just as hardily in a gunite pond provided the layer of soil or gravel is thick enough. A number of native wildlife species, such as turtles, bluegill perch, tadpoles, and adult frogs lay their eggs in this soil and hide from predators.

To further magnify the pond and make it stand out in a yard, we will often design ledges around the water where we can place a number of plant species. Ledges also provide shelters for aquatic life, especially if they are built to curve inward under the water. Fish can hide under these ledges and remain completely concealed and safe. We can also build rock formations and fountains that look like natural waterfalls. Such ponds can even be designed as natural swimming pools that are environmentally friendly and also safe for human use.

These many elements are based upon the intended use of the pond and the overall theme of the surrounding landscaping design. No two ponds we design will ever be the same, and homeowner consultation throughout the process plays a very large role in determining the specifics of the final outcome.

If you are interested in any high-quality landscape services, Exterior Worlds has been providing the high-end residential landscape services and garden design services discussed above for the Houston and the surrounding areas including The Memorial Villages (Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Hunter Creek Village), Tanglewood, River Oaks, West University and the greater Houston (Hou), area since 1987.