Link: http://www.californiawaterscapes.com

As the population increasingly works to do its part to go green, it is all the more important that the things we put directly into the environment are as green as possible. Specifically, things such as ponds, waterfalls and streams. In the past, water features used to be laden with toxic chemicals in order to keep the water clean. These chemicals were detrimental to the environment, poisoning plants and animals alike. Pond installers (including California Waterscapes) fought long and hard to find a way to maintain ponds and water features without harming the environment. The result is the use of safe, organic substances that still upkeep the water feature while not putting harmful chemicals into nature.

In addition to the use of organic compounds, water features are now built to recycle water. Both of these factors have allowed water features to be more natural than ever. They have become friendly to birds and fish alike, allowing them to thrive in these “natural” habitats. Even the pumps have become energy-efficient. This gives the owner optimum enjoyment of their water feature without the worry of excessive energy usage. The green benefits, complimented with the ease of pond maintenance, have made water feature installation more popular than ever!

Link: http://www.californiawaterscapes.com

Our Design Center, at 2727 Foothill Blvd, La Crescenta, hosts our annual Koi Festival on the weekend of November 15 and 16. As part of the festival there is a KOI Giveaway which you can take advantage of by mentioning this newsletter when you visit. (Some restrictions apply, of course, but this is the real deal: free koi for your pond or aquarium.)

This is a fun event for parents and the kids, and a great way to pick up a really unusual Thanksgiving or Christmas gift!

The Design Center is open from 9am through 6pm both days.

Mark Your Calendar!

We have another sale (without the koi giveaway, but with other great stuff to make up for it) coming up Thanksgiving weekend, November 28 through November 30, so mark your calendar for that one, too.

See next week's newsletter for more details!

Link: http://www.californiawaterscapes.com

The surveys are in and the results are clear: owners of backyard ponds, koi ponds, waterfalls and streams are happier and get more joy out of life than before they added a water feature to their yard.
Families with a natural backyard pond tend to spend less time with the television and more time outdoors enjoying the sounds of the water and the endless fascination that koi or golden carp provide. We hear this over and over again:

"We love our pond!" and "The whole family spends more time together than we ever did before."

It isn't so hard to understand. The sound of a stream or river has long been known as one of the most soothing sounds in nature. Deep down, we associate running water with life; a relic of prehistoric times, when water was literally a matter of life or death. Plants flourish around a natural pond, like the ones installed by California Waterscapes throughout Southern California. They help clean and oxygenate the air and are part of the natural filtration system that nature has used for thousands of years to create clean, fresh, sparkling water. Healthy plants and water attract friendly wildlife like beautiful orange dragonflies, butterflies and birds. Fish take their place in the natural ecosystem and nibble on algae to keep themselves fed.

Urban Stress vs. Backyard Bliss

Freeway driving, constant traffic noise, the price of gas… there's plenty of opportunity in day-to-day living in Southern California to elevate your stress level. There are times when you just don't want to hear another meaningless "Have a nice day!" But at the end of a busy work day and a disagreeable commute you can drop the jacket in the living room and step out back into an oasis of quiet and calm, sit, relax, enjoy being closer to nature and far from the urban jungle.
It's a certainty the news from your backyard pond beats anything on CNN, and it's surprising how quickly you find you hardly bother with television at all. In its place, wonder of wonders, is a new thing: conversation! So many of our customers tell us how they've rediscovered the lost art of happy chit-chat, the kind of family talks that the last fifty years of broadcasting have almost made extinct.
The rhythms of nature are slower, more relaxed than the busy back-and-forth of city life. We need to connect with those rhythms, not once a year on a too-short vacation we can barely afford, but every day, every weekend.
Our customers have told us. Being home is a whole new experience when the backyard stream is laughing and the koi swim over to greet you by the side of your own piece of nature, right in your back yard.