The Owner of Backyard Tropicals will be the person who:

1. Comes to your home or business for a free estimate.

2. Conceives and Designs your Project.

3. Personally hand picks every stone for your project.

4. Personally builds your project.

5. Treats your home and project with respect.

6. Will stand behind the work. And always be there to winterize or maintain your pond, plantings, or water feature.

When I Build your project I:

1. Design it specifically for your yard and your tastes. I truly never build the same thing twice. There is no " ok, we'll give you a two ton waterfall" Buying a pile of skidded up rocks and piling them up at your home is not my idea of artwork.

2. Unless we're building on virgin ground, we build on a bed of compacted crushed concrete. Ever see a pile of dirt a year after its been in your yard ? It's half the size. How big do you think it will be a year after the guy who cuts lawns for a living ( and I'm sure does it well ) puts his two ton of rock on top of it. We build for beauty and longevity. We do a lot of redo work of poorly built waterfeatures and ponds. It's embarrassing. I am proud of every feature I've built and know they are there to stay.

3. When we build on flat ground we will back your feature with a mortared cinder block wall, rebarred in. A water feature should be properly supported structure. Not a pile of dirt that will either wash away or rot the fence it's built against.

4. I believe in overkill. I expect to build it stronger than it should ever have to be. It really doesn't make it more expensive or time consuming to do it right. You just need to care. Making a few extra pennies because you bought cheap materials is no way to build a business. Charging a fair price and doing what you say has worked quite nicely for me, thank you.

5. I have the same person working with me every day. I know what he can and can't do and he knows my high standards. An uncaring person off the street corner that you can't even communicate with is not what you pay for.

6. I Use only professional grade materials like, 45 mil EDPM liner, Correct efficient Pumps (not only is a sump pump from Home Depot not going to last, it's going to use twice the electricity as the right pump) Schedule 40 Plumbing, Geotextile underlayment and the same piping that is used on in ground pools. 

When you choose to spend your money on a pond or waterfall or other landscaping project it is not something you must have , like a roof or driveway. It's something you've chosen to do to improve your life. It should be as close to a maintenance free piece of artwork as possible. And I expect to make it such.

Don Woodruff

Owner, Backyard Tropicals inc.