January 22, 2019
Last October, Northland Neighbors magazine featured a cover story with the Young family standing in front of the iconic Riverside Waterfall. It’s a popular destination for taking photos and walking along the Briarcliff Trail – thousands of people admire this magnificent attraction every year. While the waterfall will always be the icon of Riverside, there’s a new cascading waterfall right around the corner.
The team at Good Earth Water Gardens recently constructed a series of waterfalls in the median of one of Riverside’s newest subdivisions, The Palisades . Developers John and David Barth have created a spectacular neighborhood with breathtaking skyline views.
David reached out to Good Earth Water Gardens after he’d seen one of our articles in Northland Neighbors. Many developers are reluctant to install water features. But the beauty of moving water is a signature touch in many Barth developments.
After discussing Dave’s vision, we developed a list of expectations – and a list of challenges. He wanted to use large boulders, some weighing more than 6,000 pounds. But he still wanted the waterfalls to be visible from the road. Dave also wanted the stream to curve and turn, but the median is only 25 feet wide. The feature also had to be low maintenance and run during the winter.
We were excited to take this challenge and run with it. After some brainstorming, the Good Earth Water Gardens team came up with a plan that met these standards. Here’s what we did:
During construction, we faced some obstacles. The cold snap and snow in early November were a surprise. Although we welcomed warmer temperatures, they also created lots of mud. This slowed our progress. Then, we hit solid bedrock at the bottom of one of the reservoirs. This required jack-hammering and sawing to get to the required depth. And then there was a big leak behind one of the largest boulders. But we powered through, keeping our eyes on the water feature prize.
Finally, in early January the waterfalls in the median were complete. But we weren’t done yet! We installed a series of fountains towards the back entrance of The Palisades. We also added another fountain feature in a cul-de-sac at Thousand Oaks.
These big commercial features are exciting. But Good Earth Water Gardens enjoys working with individual homeowners, too. Whether it’s installing a small entry fountain, creating a backyard pond oasis, or building an impressive waterfall for an entire neighborhood, we’re passionate about water features. The sights and sounds of water bring beauty and relaxation to any environment.
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