trailblazers chefs de file - CSLA

UPFRONT
THE LITTLE DIG
DAN GLENN
The rain won, and the
three-day project took
closer to 12 weeks.
14 LANDSCAPES PAYSAGES
YOU KNOW THOSE golf jokes that start
off with, “There was a rabbi, a lawyer and a
duck…”? Well, in this case it was a Master
Pond Builder (Stuart Gilles of Aquascape), my
friend Tom MacFarlane (a Granite Craftsman)
and a gullible landscape architect standing on
the third tee.
“Dan, there is no-way it would cost that much
to build a display pond in your backyard. I could
build it as an extreme pond event for a third of
your estimate,” boasts Stuart.
Then Tom pipes in. “And I need a place to try
out my idea of granite pavers made from
counter top end cuts.”
Stuart is on a roll. “We can build that pond
in three days with 25 people as a teaching
demonstration. Can we close off the street
for three days?” That should have been my
fi rst clue.
THE EXTREME POND EVENT
We started the extreme pond event two
weeks later. The backyard plan had been
hibernating in my head for fi ve years, but it
was time to quickly pull a sketch together.
The trace paper sketch I made was our only
construction document. It identifi ed the key
f eatures: two water falls, a babbling brook, a
little wooden bridge, a rock perch from which
to feed the koi...and to satisfy the ego, a
series of barely submerged stepping rocks to
allow for “walking on water”.
There was no need to point out the
challenges: an existing drainage channel,
limited site access, tight quarters, clay soil,
mature white pines, utility lines to be moved,
a 600 mm water depth limit, the rainiest
summer in recent history – and we absolutely
could not piss off the neighbours.
And so it began. The numbers: 80 tons of
rock, 12,000 gallons of water, 24 fi sh, 2 visits
from the police.
HUNG OUT TO DRY
The rain won, and the three-day project took
closer to 12 weeks with all the drying time
between digs. However, the result is truly a
masterful application of stone placement, and
includes all my requested water features as
well as an extensive Aquascape bio-fi ltration
system and rainwater harvesting from the
roof and perimeter drain tile.
My three majestic white pines seem to have
survived the ordeal. For a time, they were mad
at me and expressed their displeasure with a
month-long rain of yellow needles that were a
chore to keep out of the fi lters. But it is really
at night that the pond comes alive. Thirty-plus
copper lights from Cast amplify the dancing
water in a glistening show, highlighted by the
darting koi that venture from the safety of
their built-in caves.
While the “Little Dig” did cost me more
than I even predicted, it does certainly
create a mystical sense of place, respite and
local curiosity. I would encourage all those
interested in designing water features to
attend a build-a-pond event fi rst – but do
get a long term weather forecast...and to
keep peace with your neighbours, you may
want to build it in someone else’s backyard.
PHOTOS DAN GLENN dkg@glenngroup.ca