Third Time`s a - Werbrich`s Landscaping

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Charm
Third Time’s a
Unsightly slope is transformed
into a wonderful water feature
—finally!
By Barbara E. Cohen | Photos by Chris Bucher
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Like
many homeowners, Becky
and Jeff Knipp assumed that a steeply sloping
yard and naturally damp area in their backyard
would make a perfect location for a waterfall.
But they were wrong. u “Oftentimes, a home­
owner thinks it makes sense to install a pond
or water feature in a naturally occurring wet
area of the yard,” says Kevin Werbrich, owner
of Werbrich’s Landscaping and an experienced
installer of ponds and water cascades. “However,
they may just be creating a bigger—and more
costly to resolve—problem.” u Such was the
case for the Knipps, whose basement walkout
patio opened onto an unattractive slope that
drained into a swampy low point at the edge
of their wooded property. Their first waterfall
project compounded rather than resolved their
yard’s drainage issues. Over a five-year period,
the Knipps were forced to rebuild their water
feature three times.
continued >
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AFTER
Rebecca grew discouraged about the
backyard and even contemplated filling
in the hole and planting a terraced garden
instead.
At this point, the Knipps met Werbrich
at a Cincinnati home and garden show.
Nearly 40 percent of his work in the last
three years has been repairing features
improperly installed by other contractors
or do-it-yourselfers.
“Kevin didn’t know how to gracefully
tell me my pond was junk,” Rebecca says.
“But he encouraged me because the site
was perfect for a water feature.”
The homeowners were determined to
get it right on the third try!
Third attempt:
Transformed and terrific
First attempt:
Too small, no sound
Part of the Knipps’ landscaping
problem came from not understanding fully what their choices
were. But faulty designs forced
them to revise and rebuild.
“This wasn’t a project without
BEFORE
errors on my part,” says Rebecca
Knipp, a sixth-grade science and English teacher who oversaw the backyard redesign. “Research your options before you begin. Really know
what you want.”
The Knipps’ backyard, with its 25-foot slope and 14-foot drop to a
broad, flat area at the level of the basement walkout, seemed well-suited
for a waterfall and pond, at least in the minds of the inexperienced
homeowners.
Their first contractor created a 25-foot-long stream that emptied into
a 10x12-foot holding pond with a small limestone seating areas at the
bottom of the hill.
“Unfortunately, on hot days there was a lot of evaporation and very
little sound from the cascade,” Rebecca said. “We soon realized the pond
was dwarfed by our four-acre property, too.”
Under Werbrich’s tutelage, the Knipps
salvaged their backyard without resorting to drastic measures. First, Werbrich
continued >
LEFT: The site after the old pond was demolished, ready for the waterfall’s construction
to begin.
Second attempt:
Larger but leaky
The second contractor enlarged the pond to create space for fish and to
eliminate the evaporation problems, but there were flaws in the work.
“The rocks constantly shifted and the pond leaked,” Rebecca said. “I
was somewhat content with it because of the larger, deeper area and
more water plants and fish. But water got under the liner, and there still
wasn’t a lot of sound from the water falling down the slope.”
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Finally, Rebecca and Jeff Knipp can enjoy the sound of water falling
on the rocks before it lands in the pond adjacent to their patio.
corrected the original drainage problems
and re-engineered the stream into a true
waterfall. Water now drains into the pond
without flowing under the liner, a problem the contractor sees all too often in
poorly installed projects.
Over a two-month period, Werbrich
transformed the existing stream and
pond into the current configuration with
a terraced garden using three pumps running 22,500 gallons of water per hour.
A 45-mil-thick rubber liner sits over a
protective under-layer of fabric to protect
it from small punctures, and the liner is
completely covered with stones and gravel
to avoid leaks. Two mechanical skimmers
and a biological skimmer keep the pond
free of debris and healthy for the water
plants and animals, as well as for the
home­owners and their guests.
Finally, Rebecca and Jeff Knipp can
enjoy the sound of water falling on the
rocks before it lands in the pond adjacent
to their patio. With fish, water plants,
insects, birds and other wildlife—such
as wild turkey, foxes, deer, turtles, and a
bullfrog nicknamed “Frogzilla”—that visit
the refreshing spot, the homeowners now
have the fully appointed backyard oasis
they sought from the start.
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