Basalt and Pepper
Ever since those delivery guys from the patio furniture store broke my lovely, but apparently delicate, fountain and I had to replace it with something else they had on their lot (less because they refused to refund my money and more because I was anxious to install my fountain), I have been less than thrilled with my garden fountain situation. I had a wandering fountain eye right from the start and occasionally tripped across the internet looking for something better that might catch my eye. I had a concept of what I wanted, but thought I should be patient and leave something to occupy myself when project activity slowed. As I am now within sight of the finish line on the deck the door and the laundry room, I began thinking it was time to refill the project tank with my fountain project. I actually figured it would take me some time to find and take delivery of what I really wanted this time. I was determined to be patient since there was nothing wrong with my existing fountain other than that I was not happy with it.
While out in Borego Springs the last time, I saw a fountain I liked. It was a series of stone columns that were bored so that water came out the top, washed over the sides and then dripped into the pebbles around the base, where it disappeared. I was intrigued. I did some research and discovered that there is an entire and increasingly popular form of fountain called a pondless fountain. It is used in waterfalls as well as fountains and it uses an underground reservoir that has a large sump with a pump and a form of water catch basin to gather the water that flows through the pebbles and then recirculates it. It is a very slick approach to creating a very natural looking water feature that, when you think about it, it is anything but natural. Water does not just appear and disappear on a continuous basis…but it sure looks nice with the stone and pebbles as the only visible elements, sure do look natural.
At first I thought it would be very cool to buy an old mill stone and have it drilled. The world had gotten there ahead of me and there are all sorts of mill stones, some over a century old from old mills that can be made into fountains. What I was less impressed by was that millstones work best when they are laid and drilled flat, creating more of a horizontal fountain where I wanted a vertical fountain. Through more intensive internet research I found one company with a cool name called Blue Thumb that specializes in all types of natural stone fountains. I was avoiding all the resin faux stone fountains, of which there are many, so Blue Thumb looked perfect. For some reason, someone has decided that the best way to do a natural fountain is to have three vertical elements. I have no idea where that comes from, but it is quite prevalent. I want one vertical element and the more I saw the trio approach the less I wanted to follow that path.
There are several types of stones used most often for this sort of fountain. By far the most plentiful is basalt. Basalt is an igneous rock, which is to say that it is formed in a volcanic environment. It is popular for this use because it is formed in columns through a quick-cooling process of lava comprised of large amounts of magnesium and iron. There are several types most available (at least out here on the West Coast). There is Grand Coulee, Gold Creek and Red Bluff. I liked the look of the Red Bluff rock the most. It comes from Northern California around Mount Shasta where there is a lot of volcanic activity. It seems basalt represents about 90% of the volcanic rock on earth and I think its safe to say that if you are making a stone fountain, using local basalt is the most eco-friendly approach. The stuff comes out in the perfect shape of what you would want for a columnar fountain and you just have to quarry it by slicing off as much of the sausage as you wish. It is available in lengths from 2-12 feet and can probably be even longer if you are so inclined.
When I went basalt column shopping I knew I wanted something bigger than three feet and smaller than six feet. Blue Thumb, for some reason, had 40” columns in a full fountain kit with all the plumbing needs. The cost was about $4k, which struck me as the high side of reasonable. I was prepared to transact, but then I stumbled on another site called Cascade Stoneworks in Washington. There they offered a 5’ column (15-18” in diameter) fully bored and with all the plumbing including an automatic refill valve (think toilet tank ball cock). This they had available for $1.5k. So, I started to look for the loophole and asked for pictures of the columns from both (Blue Thumb would give me a 4’ column for that price). The pictures looked amazingly similar in terms of the basalt. there was some difference in the plumbing parts, but after talking those through with the Cascade people they gave good rationales for their choices. I saw absolutely no reason to pay 2.5X for a fountain that was identical except one foot shorter. In other words, I thought the price difference was worth the risk and the likely wait. The freight cost was about 60% through Cascade, so I was certain I would be waiting a long time for my fountain. The order went in earlier this week.
Today, in only two days, a pallet with a 1,400 pound Red Bluff basalt column and all the fountain fixin’s arrived on my driveway. Handy Brad has looked at me askance as he puts in hour after hour on tiling the deck to meet my impatient stare. I explained to him that since it took four weeks to get a simple door ordered and delivered, I had no idea this would arrive so quickly. I have promised him that we will not work on the fountain replacement until later. But I have a secret weapon imbedded in the situation. I have told Handy Brad that he can have my old fountain and I can tell he is excited by that prospect. When I told him we would not undertake this until summer, he said quite plainly that it would be completed well before that.
I will refrain from telling you more about all the neat ways that this basalt column fountain will improve the look and feel of our Cecil Garden. I will focus instead on just one aspect of the improvement, it will allow the fountain to operate continuously unlike the two hours per day on a timer I had the other fountain operating. That alone will add the Feng Shui that will make my garden basalt and pepper through and through.