MORNING COFFEE BY THE WATERFALL - EAST BEACH 

Type: Water Feature & Landscape
Time Frame: 3 days
Budget: ~$15,000
Materials: Slate, Stone, Gravel, Pond Equipment, Landscape Lighting, Soil, Plants, Mulch
We arrived with a completely blank slate at this Norfolk, Virginia backyard. Our client gave us several goals to accomplish here.
Our first goal was moving water. Our client needed the sound, the negative ions, and of course the view of the waterfall. 

To make this happen, we needed our Aquascape pondless waterfall kit and a bit of elevation for our waterfall. We started with our boulder wall to accomplish this. 
We then moved to excavating a basin for our pond's reservoir. We used the soil to backfill against our boulder wall. Thankfully, we had enough soil from our basin and did not need to bring in any additional soil.

Once the pondless basin was set, we started the boulder layout for the waterfall. We started with the center rock for the water to flow over, then the frame rocks on either side, and finally adding and filling in the remaining gaps, hiding our EPDM pond liner.

​​Now that we had flowing water, it was time to focus on the second goal of this space: the landscaping. We needed to attract native insects, bees, and butterflies, which meant using a blend of true native plants, native cultivars, and a few to just look good. 
​Another important goal with our landscaping was incorporating a place to sit and enjoy the wildlife activity and the sound of the water. Our client provided us with a beautiful bench. We used slate stepping stones to set the bench beside the waterfall and create a private morning coffee nook.
​​With our landscape almost complete and our waterfall done, we then moved onto the final goal: low-voltage LED lighting. It wouldn't be complete without it! For the final touch, we backlit the waterfall to cast rippling shadows against the trees and back of the house. We also incorporated three boulder displays into the space, each with their own landscape lighting.
To finish out the backyard transformation we trench edged the new layout and installed fresh hardwood mulch. The outdoor oasis now finished, we get to dust off our hands and let our client enjoy the space. 

Best part about the whole project? We were able to make all this happen just inside of the client's original budget of $15,000. ​