All posts tagged Toronto

Give your pond what it wants, a waterfall!

Spring is here and its time to start thinking about your yard again! As the weather improves and winter lifts its icy grip, there is plenty to be excited about. For traditional gardeners, its time to start turning the soil and cleaning out your gardens for fresh growth and new plant material. Find out the best side of canister aquarium filter with several stages. For water gardeners, its time to start thinking about the health of your pond and its fish.

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A great way to improve the overall health and quality of your pond is adding a waterfall that spills into it. Maybe you already have a pond without a waterfall and the water isn’t as clear as you would like? Or maybe you already have a waterfall into your pond, yet its still not as “happy” as you think it should be.. Never the less, adding a waterfall into your pond , or increasing the number of waterfalls into your pond has several positive reactions on the ecosystem.

For starters, adding a waterfall to your pond increases the circulation and agitation of the water. This process is important because the rushing water helps oxygenate the pond, increasing the quality of life for both fish and plants. Another major benefit of a waterfall is the increased ability to filter your pond. A waterfall provides an added source of filtration for your pond. A skimmer system is implemented into the pond, acting as a mechanical filter, which collects the majority of surface debris that accumulates in your pond. The next step of filtration is biological, and takes place at the origin of the waterfall. Once the water reaches the top of the falls it is exposed to layers of biological filtration, introducing beneficial bacteria to your pond, which helps promote healthy growth and cleanliness throughout the system. These added forms of filtration will guarantee a “happy” pond with crystal clear water.

Last but not least, aside from the functional benefits of adding a waterfall, there’s also much to be gained from the beauty and sound of rushing water. Located in the busy Toronto area, we understand how much noise is a factor in your everyday life, and how difficult it can be to escape at times. Adding a waterfall forms a noise barrier between you and whatever else is going on out there. We all have busy lives and finding time to relax and unwind in the city has become an increasingly difficult task. Adding a waterfall provides a soothing backdrop with interesting sights and sounds that can be enjoyed from your very own backyard.

If you’re thinking waterfalls this spring, think Genoscape, the Toronto pond and waterfall specialists! Water is what we do!

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Several different tiers in a waterfalls creates more action and noise within the feature. Stepped falls provide more surface area and turbulence than a straight falls, which aids in the aeration of the pond. By using different shapes and sizes of falls, a number of interesting sights and sounds can be enjoyed from a variety of locations.

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A waterfall creates a lot of activity in the water. This current makes it difficult for algae to form, as well as releases more water molecules; this aeration increases the oxygen content of the water, providing an ideal aquatic habitat for koi and other fish species.

Toronto Pond Constuction

Posted by / February 21, 2015 / Categories: Toronto Pond Construction / Tags: , , , , ,

Winter, go away already!   Nobody longs for the spring more than the Greater Toronto Area pond owner.  There’s nothing quite like the sights and the sounds that a Genoscape water feature provides for our customers.  We love building ponds and pondless features for the great people of Toronto!  Our home base is in Markham, so we are only a hop skip and a jump just about anywhere in the GTA.

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If you would like to speak to us about a feature for your property, please feel free to contact us to set up a consultation.   Stay warm and remember, spring is just around the corner!

Canada Blooms – Wet, Wild and Canadian

Posted by / February 19, 2014 / Categories: Canada Blooms / Tags: , , , , ,

BloomslogoIn my last Canada Blooms post, I explained how the feature garden builders get selected to participate in the festival.  There is a theme for each year that is picked by the Canada Blooms management.  This year the theme is ‘Wild’.  We, the garden designers, must come up with something that fits within that theme.  Our landscaping style has a natural feel so the theme wild wasn’t that far of a stretch for us.

This year, Adam Bienenstock of Bieenenstock Natural Playgrounds, approached me and asked if I wanted to team up with him for a build.  What he proposed was combining our spaces and creating a very large garden that represents a Carolinian forest trail.  He was already working with the legendary artist, Robert Bateman  to promote the newly appointed Robert Bateman Trail located in Toronto.  I thought it was a great opportunity to work with some talented individuals and have a little fun. We, will be in charge of all of the water features found in both gardens.  Needless to say, this created a bit of confusion because we now had to redesign our display to accommodate our newly appointed space.

almanac-logo-white-160x55A few weeks later, we were contacted by Harrowsmith’s Truly Canadian Almanac.  They wanted to write an article on one of the feature garden builders, and they chose us!  Harrowsmith felt that our display, and us as a company, shared their same values.  Our love of sustainability and natural design made us a perfect fit.  The name of the article was titled ‘Wet, Wild, & Canadian’.  Perfect.  That’s now the name of our garden.  Which I might add, sprouted a sigh of relief from everyone I know (my wife especially) because the title “The Inevitable Outcome” that I came up with, was truly hated by all.  Myself included.

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Our revised 2014 Canada Blooms Garden

So here we are, 16 days away from when we start construction of our display, and I couldn’t be happier.  We are working with some amazing people this year and I know that it will turn out beautifully.

Next week I’ll talk about some of the things we have to do to prepare for the show.  We only have 5 days to construct our garden so a lot of components need to be pre-constructed and assembled on site.  This proves to be a challenging endeavour to say the least!

Click here to read a preview of the Harrowsmith article featuring Genoscape!

 Sincerely,

Landscape Joe

Toronto Pond Cleaning & Maintenance Services

Posted by / February 12, 2014 / Categories: Toronto Pond Cleaning Services / Tags: , , , ,

Well here we are, February 21, 2015 and there’s still a ton of snow on the ground.  The high temperature for today was -5C and the last thing most of you are thinking about is your pond.  Well believe it or not, Spring will come, and it will be here before you know it.  I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you about a cleaning and maintenance service that we provide for Greater Toronto pond owners.

We have been cleaning and maintaining ponds in the Greater Toronto Area for over ten years, with great success.  What we do when we clean your pond in the spring is not rocket science by any means, but there is a proper way to do it as to ensure the survival of your fish and to give your pond the proper start up it requires.  We have created a 20 Point Spring Pond Cleaning Checklist that we fill out at each and every pond we clean. This allows us to be efficient while we are conducting our cleaning services and it also guarantees that we don’t forget anything.  No stone left unturned, so to speak.
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We conduct spring cleaning services for many different types of ponds, whether we installed it or not.  During our first assessment of the pond, our customers have the opportunity to request any enhancements they may desire to their pond.  Some of the upgrades we can provide are: installing a skimmer, installing biological filtration, installing pond lights, installing plant pockets, installing an ion gen, adding rock to naturalize the pond, rebuilding waterfalls, adding some drift wood and many more.  Everything that we do is so you get more enjoyment out of your pond!

Our spring pond cleaning season typically starts in the beginning of April.  We clean ponds based on a first come first serve basis so if you are the type who likes to get you pond season started early, you better give us a call soon!  We are always here to answer any questions you may have regarding your pond so please feel free to contact us whenever you like.

 

 

Take Care and we’ll see you soon!

Sincerely,

Landscape Joe