We are in the business of designing butterfly gardens, pollinator gardens, and ecological landscapes to support biodiversity.  GJL firmly believes enhancing biodiversity is they key to healthy, resilient landscapes, that in turn provide human health benefits. This post is part two of our series on How to Make Our Landscapes Safer & Healthier.  Catch up on Part One, where we discuss organic …

A familiar, common reoccurring problem in pond and lake management is nutrient loading causing duckweed or algae blooms. The best solution or remedy for these problems usually lays in the overall land management practices. If fertilizer and pesticides are running directly into a water body we identify this as point source pollution, a primary cause of the duckweed or algae. …

All landscapes are considered ‘disturbed’ compared to a natural environment. Some more than others. The challenge is to reverse the eutrophication process in this man-made Earth pond with a half-moon dam. This shallow, half-acre pond was constructed in the mid-19th century by damming the outlet with a poured concrete wall and spillway which discharged into a brook which was buried and …

We received a call earlier this spring from a New Canaan pondowner with a morbid situation. The homeowner was instructed to apply various purportedly natural-source pond cleaning products into the small constructed pond on the property. This pond cleaner cocktail created some unknown reaction, and within thirty minutes, all the fish were belly up. GJL was hired to restore the …

A recently was called to service a large ornamental water garden with a large pond and waterfall. This is a classic example of the value of proper service, including spring start up and monthly maintenance. The photo is a fish, Koi, which was sucked into an exposed pump intake. The filters and pumps were cleaned and biologicals were added to …