Benefits of Natural Swimming Ponds

My family and I were looking to do something different with the hillside portion of my landscape. It was nothing other than native grass, difficult to maintain, and really just lacking any backyard appeal for the size of landscape that I have. We were leery of Colorado landscapers. One company wanted to remove and or move existing shrubs and plantings to move in equipment (for some reason, they refused to use the readily available open space). Other companies refused to itemize their quotes and tell us exactly what they were planning to put in our backyard (to me it seemed like they didn’t want the customer to see how the amount of product lined up (or didn’t line up) with projected costs). I basically just halted the process and waited an additional year to move forward on the construction of a pond. When I did move forward it was with BR&D.

I found BR&D from Aquascape. They came highly recommended, and seemed like a good local company to partner with. When I first met Brett (Owner) and Tyler (Senior Foreman) at my home, I was extremely relieved at not getting a lofty sales pitch. They were much more interested in what they could carve out in my landscape, what I would be happy with, and actually went into detail about the maintenance involved in the various options we talked about for about an hour and a half. I hired them on the spot, and I couldn’t be more happier with the results. The company is very detail oriented. Tyler is a perfectionist. There was always a senior member of the company present on my project; everyday, without fail. The products that were used, were as promised, and the installation of those products was checked, double checked, and checked again, daily, until closeout of the project. We do a lot of landscaping ourselves and hence was pretty much in the landscape on a daily basis while the pond construction was in progress. Rather than get annoyed at that, BR&D seemed to get more excited about the project and used the time to give us tips, and further explain details of remaining phases of construction. My pond has run consistently without fail for a year now. That includes through the winter where temperatures dropped to around -20F in my area. I am the only person in my neighborhood that has had a pond running consistently through fall, through spring, through summer, and completely through winter.

I’d also like to point out that communication with the company has been nothing short of A+. This is a busy company, but they make you feel like you’re their highest priority when you have an issue. The company has responded to my queries on weekends and times that I would consider outside of standard business hours. One thing I’ve never heard from BR&D is “it’s your fault”. This company has never accused me, the customer, of doing anything in an effort to remove themselves from a situation. They have simply addressed all of my concerns – in some cases in less than 24 hours. As a new pond owner I’ve definitely made mistakes, but BR&D, have offered encouragement, and education on how to keep a stocked pond thriving, without any attempts to sell services. They turned a rather large useless portion of my landscape into something spectacular. They are into the art and science of what they do; the group deserves good clients, that are serious about what they want to build. I would highly recommend contacting and contracting BR&D for your landscaping needs. In my experience, they are a rarity in Colorado.

Joseph Lawson