Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain

JUL 2016

LC/DBM provides landscape contractors with Educational, Imaginative and Practical information about their business, their employees, their machines and their projects.

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Mike and Becky Skudin knew they wanted a pond with multiple waterfalls to highlight their new back yard in Indian Trail, N.C., but they couldn't quite en- vision exactly how it would fit. The backyard sloped away from the house and Mike logically went with the idea of following the natural to - pography of the land. He sketched out his ideas before fishing for a contractor. He eventually selected my company Hoaglandscape, Inc., out of Belmont, N.C. I thought it would be better if the water fell towards the main viewing area, a deck on the rear of the house. After careful consideration, the Skudins agreed to the plan. So, 36 tons of fill dirt were hauled in to reverse the course of the slope. Eighteen tons of boulders were used to form a natural, two-foot high retaining wall to hold the dirt. The two waterfall streams of 10 and 15 feet now run towards the house and can be seen from the Skudin's master bedroom. I began building water features in 2007 and am now one of less than 150 Master Certified Aquascape Con- tractors in the United States and won a "Top Frog" Award in 2012 for my business practices. The design called for a 20-foot by 12-foot pond fil- tered by two 2500 Biofalls units. They are fed by two 9PL pumps housed in 6.0 skimmers pushing water around 5,000 gallons per hour. Twelve tons of boul- ders were used to build the feature. Fifteen aquatic plants including water lilies, horsetail rush and dwarf cattail were picked to help sustain a healthy ecosystem. Fifteen koi dance colorfully in the water, but they aren't the only abundant wildlife the pond at- tracts. Birds flock to bathe in the streams and frogs are abundant. Rain proved to be a challenge during the project. It came after most of the pond installation was complete. Two weeks were lost due to rain, stretching the proj- ect timeline to two months. Heavy clay soil led to slow drainage and my three-man crew slogged through the muck at a slower pace. A heavy emphasis was placed on native plantings in Above: Homeowners in Indian Trail, North Carolina wanted a natural water feature in their new backyard so they hired Hoaglandscape, Inc., who designed and built a 20' x 12' pond that is fed by two waterfall streams. Also included in the installation was a center patio and pergola with stone columns, and a second patio with a 40-inch diameter natural gas fire pit. COURSE By Brian Hoagland, Hoaglandscape, Inc. 22 LC DBM O U R S Changing

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