December 6, 2009
For several years I have wanted to have a waterfall and pond in our backyard. A friend who has a pond and waterfall told me they are quite a lot of work and suggested looking into a pondless waterfall. Well, the next issue of the Calgary Horticultural Society newsletter arrived and there was a Saturday morning seminar being offered on pondless waterfalls by Ron Jones from Ananda Landscapes so I registered myself and my husband in the seminar, which was held at the site of a pondless waterfall that Ananda Landscapes had developed in the Edgmont area. I was impressed by the waterfall and my husband and I had several discussions about it and decided to contact Ron and invite him over for a consultation. During our lengthy meeting with Ron it became clear that I was not interested in a pondless waterfall but a pond and waterfall. Ron had a gentle way of developing a relationship with us and did not pressure us or use hard-sell tactics and demonstrated great patience.
Ron had one of his design consultants contact us and she listened to our needs and wants with great care and guided us in the creation of the design. Her first drawing was stunning and we could not quite believe that our backyard would look like that. We studied the drawing for a few days and it occurred to us that the shed in our backyard would stick out like a sore thumb. Shannon came by again and we discussed possible changes and a few days later there was a new design that was even more stunning than the first. The quoting process was managed with great care and honesty.
The work on Ananda’s creation began after Thanksgiving of this year (2009). A crew of 4, 5 and sometimes 6 young men began the work. Since we do not have a back alley, it was not possible to use a bobcat and everything had to be dug by hand. What a job! Every time we looked out at the crew they were smiling, laughing, joking around and sometimes “boogying” to their music. They were reliable, they took pride in their work, and they were good natured. Ron has high expectations of his staff’s ability to build rapport with the client and they did not disappoint him. It was a pleasure to see them every day. Around the middle of November they wanted to finish off their day’s work and it was getting late and it was dark. We had barbecued our dinner and had finished eating when the last crew member was about to leave. He had worked a long day and then came over to help my husband clean up the barbecue tools and cover the barbecue. Another day one of the crew members took a bag of compost from me and put it into our barrel. They were all so caring and kind.
Our pond and waterfall, complete with lighting, pergola, new seating area and newly edged beds, will be ready for the spring. The remaining landscaping and planting will occur in the spring of 2010 and we are looking forward to living in our backyard next summer.
I noticed on one of Ananda Landscapes’ trucks that Ron was awarded the “Business Ethics” award in 2008. There could not have been a more worthy recipient. We now have a beautiful waterfall and pond and even more importantly we have made several new friends. We hope that we may have the opportunity to share our backyard adventure with others through a seminar that Ron may consider giving at our home.
Geraldine Dyer
Calgary, Alberta
