Asheville Landscaping: Patio Update

 We finished the brick edging on the patio we are building in Asheville. Also got most of the Pennsylvania cut flagstone laid. 

Check back soon for more pics.  

Living Waters Landscaping 

828-301-8017

Asheville Landscaping: Pondless waterfall

Asheville pondless waterfall

Just finishing construction of this waterfall in Asheville. Landscaping and a flagstone patio will be installed next! 

Modern Style Fountain in Asheville, NC

When you think of a fountain, many images come to mind. A three tiered concrete formal fountain maybe. Or the Bellagio in Vegas? 

Even a Lion's head spitting water into a small pond.

I have these same thoughts when I get call from clients asking me to build them a fountain. I wonder what they are thinking when they say 'fountain'.

I received an invitation to build a fountain for a client in Black Mountain, NC a couple weeks ago. His first concern was the noise of the nearby Interstate 40 in the background of this rather pristine mountain home.

 Side note: this property is the land formally known as Miami Mountain. A 1920's retreat with some of the best views of the Blue Ridge in the area.  

So, bringing the relaxing sound and 'white noise' of a fountain was crucial to this project.

The other aspect of this feature was to blend the rustic, mountain cottage feel with a modern look. The house was originally built in 1926, and my client has recently renovated it inside and out. He chose to modernize the house, while still allowing some of the original construction to show through. He left the original stone work on the fireplaces for example, but made the kitchen look like the Jetsons were in town!

It's a neat look and feel, and we decided to bring this design style outside to the fountain.

We had a custom steel box made and mounted it on a Galvanized pipe set in a concrete pier under the river rock. Then we faced the pipe with stone that we harvested off the property, giving the illusion that the box is balancing on the stone. 

With about 2500 gallons per hour flowing out of the box, it makes a great sound and creates a beautiful full sheet of water.

It was a small project, but it was fun to build.

Check back later for more fun projects by Living Waters. 

Asheville Japanese Garden

Just a quick post to highlight a Japanese Garden project we were blessed to be able to work on.

This garden features a cascading waterfall with approx. 15 feet of total fall. We used some beautiful Jasper boulders in the waterfall and stream.

The waterfall ends with a relaxing Koi pond.

We also enjoyed installing some really fun stone work. There was a large dry laid Autumn Flame Stone patio, and approx. 600 square ft. of Wolf Creek Natural Stone Veneer retaining wall work.

The best part of this landscape design was the use of some amazing Bonsai trees. Our client had been raising some ancient trees that he wanted to use in the landscape. Some trees were as old as 250 years. Some of the trees were planted in the ground, others were placed in traditional containers around the yard.

I feel that I am constantly learning my craft as a landscape contractor. Each project providing me with a new challenge. I hope to grow and learn more as I install landscapes and water features in the Asheville area.

Japanese Gardening Asheville

We have spent most of our summer working on this Japanese style garden.
We were chosen, by our clients, to work on this design created by Bud Stuckey. 
The design called for a rather traditional style Japanese Garden in a small backyard.
Although I have only worked on a few Japanese gardens in my career, I felt that I learned a lot and was able to grasp some of the philosophy and patterns in traditional Japanese gardening. The pace, precision and meditation of working with this design, felt very natural to me. It also humbled me and gave me more respect for this type of gardening and stonework itself. I leaned that I have a lot more to learn!

Working with the design, we were able to create some beautiful features that are consistent with traditional Japanese gardening, but had our personal touch.

We installed a Stone Seat at the foot of the stairs to create a place to stop and enjoy the garden and even take of your shoes, if you want.

We also created a Stone Island feature using three hand selected boulders that created a simple triad. This feature was designed to bring a meditative center piece to the garden. 


This garden included a great deal of carpentry to bring a wood element into the space. We installed three Verandas, a deck and some custom planter box benches. 

One of my favorite carpentry features on site is the 'Butterfly Ramada'
that we built over the hot tub deck. It allows our clients some cover and privacy while soaking in the hot tub, and also leaves the sky open for nighttime stargazing. 

Our designer found this beautiful 700 pound slab of 
Cold Water Canyon stone that we used as a bridge from the 'Dry Garden' or Karesansui, to the hot tub deck.
The bridge also gives the illusion that the stream flows under the rock and disappears into the Karenagare, or Dry Stream Bed.  

We finished the project with low voltage landscape lighting throughout, and Japanese style plantings. 

Overall we really enjoyed working on this project, and are thankful to our clients for letting us 'play in their backyard'!

Redwood Fencing in Felton

Here is a before picture of a project we have been working on this week.
Our clients just recently had their septic system renovated to use the treated septic water to irrigate the existing lawn and new landscaping.

The installation of the new system unfortunately left them with an exposed yard with little plant life.
We installed a new decorative Redwood fence and a simple landscape plan to bring this yard back to life.

 The large box at the end of the path is the septic treatment system. We decided to accent the box and use it as a bench instead of trying to hide it.

We also installed a 'Good Neighbor' style privacy fence in the backyard.

Stone Veneer in Los Gatos

Here are some progress pictures from a job in Los Gatos we are working on.

The project includes a Slate patio, a planter box and a retaining wall.


We are using Multi-Classic Stone for all the features on the project. The ledger, slate and cap stones are all Multi-Classic Stone.

We have only finished the hardscaping in these pictures, with the finished landscaping soon to come.

All the stone work was sealed with a Low-Sheen
Stone Laquer. 

Here are some more progress pictures. Enjoy! 

Patio and planter box formed and ready to pour.

Forming the retaining wall.

Finished wall.

As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions or inquires about new landscaping projects in Santa Cruz County and the surrounding areas.

Using Recycled Stone in the Landscape

There is a sort of 'Alchemy' applied when working with recycled stone. 

We had a project last week that required us to use a Fieldstone that was pulled off of the interior fireplace during the renovation of the house.

The project required us to wrap two front entryway posts with this natural stone. Using fieldstone to make a square feature can be difficult. Building with used fieldstone makes it even more complicated. 

Fieldstone is round and irregular by nature. Any type of stone can be considered a 'Fieldstone' as long as it has been weathered above ground for some time.
The weathering gives it an aged looked and usually rounds sharp edges. In Santa Cruz, we usually use Sonoma Fieldstone, because it is harvested in California.

Using a stone that is round or has rounded edges can make our job more interesting, when we are trying to create a square column. 

The stone work was capped with recycled Bluestone. The patio at the entryway is made of Bluestone, so incorporating it into our feature helped to bring everything together. 

Landscaping in Santa Cruz:

Slate Entryway Steps

We worked hard this last week to finish a stairway at our clients house in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The design for this project was to create a pathway from the driveway to the front door. We came up with a modern looking, staggered stairway that is veneered with 16 inch 'Multi Color' natural slate.

After initial grading and excavation, we begin the layout and forming. 

Time is taken at this stage of the project to get the design and layout perfect.

Making sure the forming is right will allow the the next stages of the job to go more smoothly.

After the forms are up and secured, we install a grid of 1/2 inch rebar to give strength to the new concrete. The rebar grid is laid on 12-16 inch centers, leaving 2 inches on any side of the rebar from the ground and forms. 

We then pour and finish the concrete. Since we are going to be veneering the steps with natural stone slate, we only need a rough finish on the concrete.

Although the finish is 'rough', it is still very important that the steps are completely flat.

After the concrete has cured, we begin laying the slate. We start with the risers of the steps so when we lay the flat work, or 'treads', they can be set over the risers.

We use Thinset to glue the slate to the concrete. 

The slate is carefully spaced and cut into place when needed.

The 'Multi-Color' slate is a very common slate, and has some rich colors.

The 'nose' of each step tread is bullnosed, using a special diamond blade on the tile saw, prior to installation.

The steps are then grouted with a colored, sanded grout. 

We will also be coming back next week to seal the slate with a 'low sheen' stone sealant.

Please visit my Facebook page and website for more info and pictures of other stone installation projects in Santa Cruz.

www.livingwaterslandscaping.com

Front Yard Landscaping in Santa Cruz, Ca.

We Just finished this front yard landscaping project in the West Side of Santa Cruz. It is a simple design, but has a beautiful impact on the house and neighborhood in general. It includes some sod, plantings, landscape lighting and a brick entryway staircase.

We used the Amaryllis Path Light by Aurora Lighting to illuminate the entryway stairs. They are an elegant, flower like low voltage light that are very functional and add an artistic statement to the new landscape.

Please visit Living Waters Landscaping.com for more information on our services.

Pondless Waterfall Construction in Ben Lomond Ca

Asheville landscaping: Dry Stone Walling

We have been working hard this week to complete a natural stone, dry stacked retaining wall. 

Dry stone walling is an ancient craft. Some say it dates back to more than 5000 B.C. 
This is a picture of a dry stacked wall in Peru, laid by the Incan people.

Dry stone walling is a technique that requires no concrete or mortar. The stone is stacked tightly together and gets strength from the connection each stone has with each other.

A properly built dry stacked wall can last for hundreds of years. 

Below is a video from the landscaping and dry stone walling project we just completed. We used a Moria Ledger stone that was capped with an Autumn Flame Select stone for this wall.



Please visit or website for more information:

www.livingwaterslandscaping.com

Landscaping in Santa Cruz: The Evolution Of A Mailbox

~I got a call from a client of mine in San Jose last month to re-work his front yard landscape.
We installed this waterfall into his pool last year and he was very happy with our work.


In the design phase of his new front yard landscape, we noticed his mailbox could use an upgrade.

He had installed this mailbox in the early 1980's. It had since become overgrown, and almost hidden, in the Juniper hedge.


We decided to remove the hedge and build a new veneer stone mailbox pillar. 


We also designed a front entryway staircase using dry laid natural stone.


The new design will open up the front of the house and make it feel more welcoming.

With all the clearing done we start with the excavation and foundation for the pillar.
This picture also shows the new entryway steps. We used large Mossback slabs to create this custom and natural looking staircase. Some of the Mossback slabs weighed more than 800 pounds! 


The footing for the pillar was 18 inches deep and two feet wide with a rebar every 8 inches. The footing for the pillar is very important. Make sure you do not cut corners on this part of the project, if you are building a pillar yourself. If you are in an area that freezes in the winter, you will need to put your footer below the frost line or the ground will heave and your pillar could fall over. Check with a  local contractor in your area to get necessary depths for concrete footings.


After the footing has set, we begin the block work.


The finished column will be 4 ft tall. 


Block is mortared together with rebar laid on the top of each corse of block to create a grid of rebar throughout the column.

The mailbox was then installed into the column. 


After the block is laid and filled, we install the stone veneer. We chose the El Dorado 'Durango Mountain Ledge' stone for this project. 


We used a 'dry stack' walling style with this project. 

With the dry stacked style, we 'back mortar' all the stones in place using a polymer-modified veneer mortar. This way there are no visible grout joints. 


Each stone is individually cut to create a custom fit and a very natural look.

With the stone work done, we cap the column with an El Dorado Chiseled Edge Textured Column Cap.

Feel free to visit our website or Facebook page for more information and to see the different services we offer.


Living Waters Landscaping.com