By Sarah Willis


The Ellis project provided an ideal canvas for the artisans of Environmental Design Landscape Contractors to showcase their work. Located in the rolling hills of High Park, the project was presented with Landscape Ontario’s Dunington-Grubb Award in the 2000 Awards of Excellence program, and also received first prize in the Special Interests: Water Feature category.

     The particular challenge offered by this 150- foot long site was that the topography featured a total drop of 24 feet. This change in elevation was accomplished abruptly by two steep slopes, each 12 feet high, separated by a 40-foot piece of flat land, featuring a swimming pool.

     “It was the client’s wish that the pool be included in the plan somehow,” says Koos Torenvliet, of Environmental Design. “So we came up with the idea of a water feature that cascaded down one slope into a pond formed from the existing pool, and then down the next slope into a small collecting pond flanked by benches.”

     “The plan called for the construction of two rock faces 12 feet high,” explains Torenvliet. “But because the upper cascade fell into the old swimming pool, we had to build a waterfall that was 15 feet high, with three feet submerged — it was huge.”

     The two rock cascades were the major part of the work, says Torenvliet. Sourcing, trucking, offloading, storing and bringing back excess rock took up the bulk of the project’s time and bud­get. Because the waterfall was supposed to look established and natural, Torenvliet used local lime­stone that had been dragged into farmer’s hedgerows and had weathered naturally over the years. “I gave the construction crew an idea of the effect I want to create with the stone and left it up to them to make it work. Building the cascades was a time-consuming 3-D puzzle.”

     The owners asked that the waterfall be designed so there was a cascading effect, rather than the water dropping straight down 12 feet. They wanted to enjoy the subtle effects such as the muted sound of softly falling water, detailed splashes and small planting pockets within the cascade. After experimenting with a wooden bridge across the pond, Enviromental Design settled on a natural bridge created by a large flat slab of stone. The slab was about 20 feet long and three feet wide, so Torenvliet braced it with with reinforced steel before placing it across the pond.

     The area is very shady with a canopy of large trees hanging over most of the site. Torenvliet says the husband favours woody plants in the landscape, while his wife prefers herbaceous material, so the garden was planted with a compromise.

     “Because they wanted the garden to look well-established immediately, we used large trees to create an instant forest around the water feature,” says Torenvliet. Mature weeping white pines, and weeping nootkas added to the lush woodland feel of the area, while variegated Japanese maples added delicate colour and texture to the planting. Herbaceous material included lots of ferns and shade tolerant groundcovers.

     The Dunington-Grubb Award is intended to recognize excellence in the landscape construction industry. The design, workmanship and attention to detail exhibited in the Ellis project are all deserving of this prestigious award.