Lakefront Dreamscape

By Bruce H. Soileau, Consultant to Pavestone Company

?EUR??,,????'?????< Images courtesy of Pavestone Company

 

The thought of owning the ultimate lakeside retreat may conjure up visions of a glamorous home on the edge of a bluff overlooking a peaceful lake, enjoying a cup of morning coffee while relaxing on the deck. The homeowners can listen to the birds chirping and take in the beauty and tranquility of the surrounding trees, blue skies and glistening water before them.

But regardless of the view, having easy access to the lake from their lakefront home is essential if they plan on enjoying the use of the lake and yard for entertaining and family activities.

Keeping the deer away from the plants was accomplished to some degree by creating tiered walls, limiting access to the plants by the wildlife. Much research was done to find plants that were deer resistant, and some that were thought to be resistant turned out to be just another feast for the hungry deer.

One family found and purchased such a dream home recently on Lake Tanglewood, a private gated community located a few minutes south of Amarillo, Texas. The homeowners knew that before they could get maximum enjoyment from their new lakefront home, it would need a lot of work. The first task was to totally remodel the 3,700 square foot home inside and out. Once this was accomplished, the owners decided to hire local Krause Landscape Contractors, to design and landscape their yard. Having worked with Krause Landscape in the past, the homeowners had firsthand knowledge of their capabilities and knew that they would be a perfect fit for this project.

The primary objective for the Tanglewood landscaping project was to create a nice area for entertaining with a functional and aesthetically pleasing way to access the yard and lake from the home, which sits at the top of the steep incline. When asked about the complexity of the project, Tommy Davis, Senior Landscape Designer for Krause, who came up with the design said, “I think that other contractors and architects will appreciate the level of difficulty after seeing some of the before/after pictures of the project.”

Most of the excavation and hauling of materials down to the job site had to be done by hand. All of the retaining wall blocks, pavers, sand and building materials were offloaded at street level, then hauled down to the backyard one skid load or scoop at a time.

Working next to the lake in November weather was a minor challenge compared with having to figure out a way to keep the multitude of deer from eating newly planted vegetation, shrubs and flowers used in the landscaping. Wild deer are rampant in this neighborhood, so Krause had to keep this in mind when designing the landscape. The wild deer and turkey are so plentiful in this area that workers were sometimes delayed in getting to the jobsite on time because deer and turkey were blocking the road leading to the home.

There was an existing cinder block retaining wall next to the lake that was not visually appealing, so Paverscapes installed a wall cap unit on top so that the top of the cinder block could not be seen from the house or the yard. It really beautified the wall and gave the owners an area between the seawall and the yard to actually walk around on level ground. Paverscapes collaborated with Krause on the layout and design of the tiered retaining walls to get the curvy effect they were looking for, without having one overpowering 20 foot tall retaining wall. The tiered wall conformed to the existing landscape and provided terraces for planting areas and walkways to break up the mass of designing around the grade change from the house to the lake.

One of the biggest constraints was the steep embankment behind the house, which only gave the construction crews one way in and one way out, limiting the size of equipment that could be used for excavation. The lake was nearby as well, giving the workers very little room for maneuvering equipment and limiting design options.

The wall was constructed with Anchor™ Diamond Pro Stone Cut® Retaining Wall System manufactured by Pavestone Company, in a new color called Canyon Blend.

Maintaining a regional Texas panhandle theme was important to the homeowners, so protecting the existing structures proved to be another challenge for the landscaper. Krause worked carefully with the natural surroundings, managing to keep the existing trees while incorporating the original set of steps, stonework and retaining walls that were there into the new design. The lakefront dream became reality.

This project proved to have many concerns that would hamper the landscaping team, but Krause and Paverscapes overcame all of these challenges working as a team, and created a landscape that is the envy of the neighborhood.