Santa Cruz Landscaping: Retaining Walls

A retaining wall is a structure constructed to resist the pressure of soil when there is a desired change in ground elevation. There are several different types of retaining walls and many of the walls we have built are a wonderful addition to any of our landscaping projects in Santa Cruz. Below you will see several examples of retaining walls you might consider as you look for creative ways to: stop erosion, channel water through or over your landscape, or create more usable space on your Santa Cruz property. 

 

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We offer a broad range of retaining wall options. Our walls are built to last, while maintaining beauty and artistry in the landscaping. We specialize in dry stacked natural stone walls, but enjoy building with a variety of products and have built many retaining walls in and throughout Santa Cruz using many different materials. 

Here is a short list of the materials we are able to build your retaining wall with:

 

-Allen block

-Keystone

-Timber/ wood

-Concrete

-Natural stone

-Boulder walls

Below are some wonderful examples of what a retaining wall can look like in your landscaping design. Retaining walls are not ugly walls that hold dirt, but can be incredible landscaping works of art. When considering the future of your landscaping design why not picture one of these beautiful features.

 

If you have any questions or comments please visit our website at: http://livingwaterslandscaping.com

We look forward to speaking to you about all of your landscaping needs in and around Santa Cruz County. 

Santa Cruz Landscaping: Another Pondless Waterfall

Here is another Pondless Waterfall we built in Scotts Valley, Ca, which is a city just outside of Santa Cruz. Pondless waterfalls are a beautiful piece of landscaping. This was one of my favorite features to work on. Although the excavation was tough, it was a solid rock hillside, it still came out beautiful.

The first picture was taken just after excavation. As you can see we are about to put the liner in and start building.
For this job we used a Bobcat and a Mini-excavator during this construction. This allowed us to use some good sized boulders.
Our clients chose Sonoma Fieldstone and Cold Water Canyon stone to use in this landscaping feature. These stones work well together and make a very natural water feature. Once again, its our goal to create waterfalls you might see in any mountains whether Santa Cruz or some other beautiful coastal range.

I will be posting more on pondless waterfalls, pond filtration, pond maintenance and other landscaping features in the future. If you want more information please visit my website @ Living Waters Landscaping.com 

The rest of the pictures show the finished product. I plan to go back for some more pics next year when the plants have had a chance to mature.

Santa Cruz Landscaping: Maintaining Pond Balance

Maintaining balance in our ponds is important. The ponds we create are designed after what we see in the Santa Cruz Mountains streams and water features. In the same way that we design our ponds and waterfalls after nature, we want them to function like they do in nature. As always our landscaping is meant to recreate what we all enjoy in the mountains. 
 

The thought behind the filtration on our ponds is based on the natural ecosystem of a pond or waterfall. Water is filtered by flowing over and through rock and sand. Then the water is aerated when flowing over waterfalls. When the water reaches the pond, thats where the natural eco-system thrives. Plants in the pond cleanse the water while drawing nutrients in through their roots. Fish eat algae and mosquitoes. Then the beneficial bacteria in the bottom of the pond goes to work. Beneficial bacteria consume fish waste and other organic matter. They convert deadly ammonia into nitrites and then into harmless nitrates and nitrogen. Ponds are truly a wonder when considering landscaping! 

After all the biological filtration is done, the water is then mechanically filtered. The water is drawn into a skimmer box from the pond. In the skimmer there is a leaf catch for large debris, and a woven mesh screen for smaller particles. Water is also gravity fed through bottom drains into settling tanks that help separate waste and clean water. The clean water is then pumped through a pressurized bead filter. The bead filter is another great place to house beneficial bacteria. The clean water is then pumped back into the system, either to the top of a waterfall, or to underwater circulating jets. Some other features we install to help with water quality are, aerators, UV filters and natural bog filters.
Although this sounds complicated it is a relatively simple landscaping feature for all to enjoy; especially the Koi! 

I will be posting more on pond maintenance and pond filtration in the future. If you want more information you can always visit my website @ 
Living Waters Landscaping.com 

Santa Cruz Landscaping: Filtrific Water Feature Equipment

Santa Cruz Landscaping: Pondless Waterfalls

The Pondless Waterfall has been a feature in my landscape installations that increases to gain in  popularity in and around Santa Cruz.

The pondless waterfall is basically a waterfall or fountain without the pond, just as the title suggests. It is a waterfall without the exposed water of a traditional pond we expect to see in this style of landscaping.
It still has the soothing sounds of flowing water and natural feel of a traditional water feature, without the maintenance and complex filtration of a koi pond or ornamental pond and waterfall system.
The pondless waterfall system allows my clients to run the waterfall on a timer, turning it on and off as they wish.
A traditional pond needs constant circulation to keep the water clean and the fish happy.

The installation on this style of landscaping is basically the same as a normal pond and water feature, we excavate the project area, install the liner with a protective geo-textile fabric, then we rock it in.
The difference is in the area where the waterfall drops into the pond. Here we install a 'pondless basin', or an area that looks like a shallow pond with decorative river rock at the bottom. Thankfully we have a great deal of inspiration from the many rivers found in Santa Cruz.


Traditional Pondless Basin:

The traditional pondless basin in built by digging a hole approx. 3 ft deep and filling it with three grades of cobble stones and gravel. Large cobbles first, then smaller cobble stones, and topping it off with a decorative pea-gravel. At the bottom of the basin, there is a pump vault that allows an open space for water to collect and be pumped to the top of the waterfall with a submersible pond pump.

This system works quite well and creates a beautiful, almost maintenance free  water feature. However, if the rocks in the basin get any debris, leaves or soils in them, it can be very difficult to clean. We are talking about almost two feet of small river cobbles and gravel combined with decaying leaves.....this equals a maintenance nightmare!!
You basically have to dig out all the rock and wash it clean before it causes pump failure.

I try to give my landscaping clients water features that are easy to maintain and only require professional maintenance on a seasonal basis.
With that in mind I have turned my eyes to a new system for Pondless Waterfall installation.

Over the past couple years I have began to incorporate a new system for our pondless waterfall installation.

Filtrific has created a wonderful system for ponds and pondless waterfalls. It allows us to install a pondless waterfall without having to worry about debris clogging our pumps and creating maintenance hassles.

Their 'vanishing waterfall' system is taking the water feature to a new level. It is very similar to the traditional pondless feature.
The main difference is that the pond pump is housed in a basin separate from the pondless area.
This allows us to build the pondless basin at a depth of only 9 inches. Decreasing the maintenance greatly.
It has a fabulous 'homeowner friendly' filtration system that can be easily cleaned and maintained, without professional help. It allows us professionals to install a system that we can guarantee will be easy to maintain and give longer life to the submersible pumps that we install.

The best part of this system is the 'vanishing pond'. A traditional pondles waterfall, when it is turned off, will house the total volume of flowing water in the waterfall in the pondless basin. This means that it will fill the basin and leave exposed water until it is turned on again.
This might not sound like a big deal, but exposed, stagnant water grows algae real quick!
The Filtrific system houses the total volume of flowing water in the falls underground, in a contained vault. The water in this vault is not exposed to sunlight and, therefore, does not encourage algae growth.
This also means that, with the FIltrific system, when you turn your pump off, it will leave the pondless area dry. Then, when you turn it on, it creates a small pond for the waterfall to splash into. Hence the name 'vanishing waterfall'.

I will be posting more on this subject in the future. I am committed to installing quality water features, and I am always looking for the best way to do this. To the left and below are some pics of a 'vanishing waterfall' we installed outside of Santa Cruz, Ca recently.

Before

 After

Santa Cruz Landscaping: Welcome!

Greetings,

I started this blog with hopes to share my love for landscaping, water gardening and water feature construction.

I have found great joy in the past 10 years designing, building and caring for many different ponds, waterfalls, fountains and gardens in and around Santa Cruz .

I am always amazed to see them come to life out of the dirt.

With the eternal foundation of the rocks, the fluidity of the water, and the playful life of the plants, fish and frogs. I often find myself in a child-like state during the construction of a pond or waterfall.
With all my skill, knowledge and hard work, I am humbled as God and nature show me how a waterfall is built, and I just sit back and enjoy!!