The Ultimate Yard for Animal and Nature Lovers

when life seems overwhelming with it the new list  and responsibilities I find the best antidote is   spending time outdoors in nature even though we  don't all live in rural areas it doesn't mean   we can't create something special right in our  own backyard the yard that you're looking at   right here is obviously spectacular believe it  or not is in the middle of a densely populated   converging area in fact if you stepped away from  northern bull any busy route 20 groom Island New   York what's happening everybody I'm really  excited about today's show because I get to   hang out with two of my favorite people from my  childhood talking about Luca Gabrielle create a   family friend but what's really exciting is what  these two are able to build using nature and a   little bit of elbow grease um I'm pretty excited  because you're going to see an amazing backyard   we're going to give you some really cool tips  about how you can create work with nature print   your own paradise in a suburban setting man this  is really amazing come on back good fortune my   life has been all about action which still holds  true but now I pour all that time and energy is a   wildlife conservation education and the pursuit of  knowledge this is camp 10 I'm really excited Luke   Gabriela me and I've been here once before but you  guys have done so much more work now guys David   Friends of the San lien for I don't know almost  more than 40 years there you guys can fantasize   definite but what's really cool is Luke you know  Luke and I have a lot in common that I didn't   really realize until I got old enough to hang  out with them and that being nature you you're   a nature freak and you know a milk ray and Sun is  your business you've been working when you got to   talk to us a little bit about what we're going  to see in a man I want the Grand Tour bro well   back in the 50s when my dad and grandpa started  the business you couldn't get Rock so what they   did is they went up into the mountains and they  bought the land and since then we've been moving   entire rock ledges into landscapes on Long Island  Connecticut upstate New York and now we're doing   Tennessee and Florida as well and we moved the  entire rock ledge into the landscape and build it   into the topography and change the entire flow of  what was here in this particular landscape there   was nothing but a wooded area and disclosed when  we started no way but so that's kind of the thing   that gets me excited man about what you got to do  so many times you trying like people get into this   zone of working against the landscape but you guys  have a different approach let's say you've been in   my backyard right and you got he got me really  excited about the possibilities in my backyard   about being able to filter out my big pond and  create a stream and so forth but you're going to   when you go into a customer's home or you go into  a project you kind of you guys are architects I   mean this is like a serious endeavor you don't  just start digging holes you look at the the   natural landscape and see how you can work with it  well what we first want to do is we want to decide   what on-site assets you really want to showcase  one of the reasons why we chose this piece of   property is because it had a 10-foot great gain  if you have a flat landscape then you have to   create a great change so you want to decide what  trees you want to say what things you want to   showcase how you want the landscape to connect to  the existing landscape and then also how you want   to use it what we like is to connect into the  landscape so we create stepping stones this is   landings destinations that get you into the garden  now just like a simple thing like the bamboo here   that can be you draw that family will grow on  site and there's also a farm next door that has   a bamboo grove that's ticketless so this gets  me pumped because I know a lot of you out there   watching are you're going to be blown away when  we really get into the intricacies of what you've   done I love how you know the pond comes right up  to the foundation of your home so I mean basically   you're looking right out into nature nature is  surrounded you you know and you said earlier you   wake up in Paradise yeah every day yes pretty cool  this guy and the CCC imagine beforehand and he's   talking about yeah what'll happen yeah well that's  that's another cool thing then you're essentially   it's you know you're a bit of an architect but  you're also more of an artist and nature is kind   of your palette you know the veteran estimator  and so but now talk to me a little bit about you   know your mindset going into this this area here I  mean you're just a waterfall like that everything   looks like nature it was here but we brought in we  brought in some massive rock ledges to hold this   grade and it's got reinforcement behind it we're  holding about a 10 foot elevation change with the   rock the entire gardens built on top of rubber  so we're able to control the water and we're able   to bring the water right up to the foundation  of the house and create the illusion like the   house was built on the edge of its pond so that's  that's great you know so this is a line pump yep   or rather completely hidden you see what I mean  like so he's taking some man-made materials but   he's completely hidden them you know I mean he  got marginal plant here and everything performs   a function is that right all the plants remove  the nutrients out of the water and in a high   oxygen environment you have decomposition very  aggressively so you need those plants to remove   that so you don't get anaerobic buildup on the  bottom and sediment okay and then you have to   circulate the water so that you have the oxygen  and you have sediment removal so you have clean   water and a healthy eco sweat me ask you this but  this one is pretty clear right now please let the   plants help out now do you guys have do you guys  actually do any kind of you like nothing about no   UV so natural that's it so I mean as far as you  know guy do you know if you have like a turtles   or have a lot of bio bio waste and you know I've  used UB sterilizers in in a large pond that I had   when I lived in Las Vegas but here to be able to  use no power in that way is so incredible and that   this is just you know you got your aeration right  the waterfall provide aeration right surface that   retention and then the plants are giving back an  official so provide agitation to the bottom really   if you had small fish they wouldn't disturb the  bottom sediment and the sediment could potentially   build up so you have to have underwater  circulation but with this rich large they   wherever I feed them they agitate the bottom the  sediment gets lifted up goes into the circulators   and it goes get the moves in sediment systems well  you know what you have something interesting just   up here and it's a nice walk to the area so I  wanted to be Miriam and talk about that as well   this is amazing there I love this place you just  need to get luke some turtles he says he's had   turtle but they always walk out of the pond and  go into the wetland so you know but that's another   thing that you were talking about really quick you  know in Long Island you guys have raccoon was one   thing that I took away from hanging out with him  the last time if she designed the pond to where   raccoons he understands the habits of a raccoon  and you said that speak legend raccoons don't like   to really get in the water they need a beach entry  right they're not efficient swimmers okay so they   need a place the corner their prey or they need a  way to ambush okay so our ponds are designed with   edges and overhangs like that landing stone that  we were handing on go six feet got under the pond   so the fish have plenty of room to get away from  predators we do get Osprey that come through yep   and you get the blue herons and we put a couple  fishing line over the top so if the Osprey comes   in he'll hit the five pound test he gets annoyed  he flies or watching he gets a fish every once in   a while in nature but you know that's the other  thing look at this guy's I mean you've actually   you know I think in some way when you create a  backyard habitat like this you actually don't   mind losing a fish every once in a while because  you breathe more he later you're bringing nature   in it's so cool you got a little fire pit they  hang out but on top of a general frog hanging   out but all right so this is really interesting  guys and this is giving me a lot of ideas for   camp Kenan this is what you needed your place  yeah okay I know somebody maybe I can get this   guy down and we'll do a fill we'll do a whole  build video I would be really great but okay so   explain to me what's happening here with this  whole system you said a stream is actually the   best kind of filtration you can have right well  what you want to do is is get a lot of oxygen   okay into the water so as it's running and moving  and cascading you're getting the high oxygen that   allows the microbes which break down waste and do  the purification to colonize the area if you shut   off the oxygen the whole ecosystem all that falls  apart so that's very important for the balance of   the ecosystem but also you do have fish waste you  have leaf debris and other types of sediments that   pull into the pond and need to be removed when you  have larger fish populations so in this particular   area we dug up a very large hole we put in a 50  by 50 rubber liner we went down seven feet put   in containers that are reinforced plastic and  those containers allow the water to percolate   up from the bottom through two feet of gravel  and then enter the stream and when the water   diffuses like that it enables the water to let  the let the sediment drop to the bottom and the   clear water comes on the top and the volume  of this is so large that it doesn't need to   be addressed except that every five years get out  of it you pump it out every five years so that's   sick because I think a lot of people are under  the impression that having something this large   is a lot of maintenance like a lot of work and  it scares them away so you know you didn't grow   up doing this right now okay so you can come out  here and maintain this stuff and you don't really   feel like it's a big deal pleasure to be out here  and clean because it feels the maintainence yeah   any things itself gotcha and and so like say every  five years what would you have to do like what is   the maintenance to remove the sediment buildup  and this is essentially a large bio filter is   that what we're talking well it's it's not really  filtered we're not trying to filter anything what   we're doing is just letting the physical suspended  waste dot just drop the bomb gotcha okay all right   now normally that would be on the bottom of your  pond okay and a lot of ponds people empty you see   people make a living they go and empty their pond  they clean it out they take the fish put them in a   pocket or they have filtration systems that need  constant weekly care and emptying gotcha what we   did is we make a very large separation area that  doesn't need to be done regularly gotcha so it's   if you put in a small one it would need to be  taken care of more often or not but it's 50 by   50 gotcha so it's not something that you have  to deal with so what would you have to do man   so we we have a cover over a ball which is that  square stone over there and you take the cover   off and underneath that is the cap we remove  the cap and just drop in a submersible sump   pump okay and we attach it to a fire hose and we  fertilize the bamboo basically with the sediment   yeah so we're recycling you taking the fish waste  you're recycling and using it for other things so   we're going to use the fish waste with a new back  area to actually fertilize the growing vegetables   that were going to going to grow that's amazing  right now we're physically removing it and using   that waste for fertilize gotcha and then you know  as the stream kind of meanders its way down this   goes to the waterfall right it runs all the way  down better the bridges you have all your mature   oak trees you have your mature laurels which are  hundreds of years old all still intact with the   stream flowing only through it so it looks really  it's been he looks like he's been here because   everything else was here and the stream that was  constructed as if it were natural and what's funny   guys this is just his backyard now you got to  remember this is a business and you've done I   mean you've been to the Dominican Republic you  build thing and build things in Florida you go   all over the country Tennessee to build you know  people want some of his artistry in our backyard   and my goodness man you have done some pretty  big project well if the client is looking for   something with that sense of realism right to  do that you need to build a certain scale if we   tried to build something like this with little  rocks that you would put off a dump truck yeah   it would look like a pile of little rocks that you  put off gosh well it's you know it's relative to   what you're building where do we flow to next  man I want to see some more of this amazing we   can walk down towards the house now okay and  you can see some of the other pond our access   let's check it out he's so official aspect yeah so  professor so one of the most important things that   we try to do when we're developing a landscape  is really making a connection to the house and   how people are going to use it in my in my house  I'm always out in my garden so instead of having   a staircase that goes down to the pond we built  this large bridge that connect the landscape   right to the entrance of the house while every  morning would come out going up some really men   and I like I like how you even use I mean are  these telephone poles these are most of Timbers   and they should last about 100 to 150 years from  the landscape okay so when we built this we have   I beams underneath it and rebar going across but  the locust Timbers or the ornamental aspect that   also if you're walking the timber comes up above  the profile yeah and the plants that we knocked   into it so you're not going to just as your mind  as we want all increased rodent individual visual   barriers yes if you are kind of like the Long  Island mr. miyagi with a there's you know is   the end of Japanese accent he looks like me but  that's that's a circle like you know this is truly   amazing another really interesting just little  details you know the marginal plants but then   you know your cellar and completely watertight  right remember is what's called yarn it's just   amazing you know I love being immersed by nature  that's you know on a smaller scale you know some   people would say it's a large scale my backyard  but um I really love water gardening connect again   yeah and and you know it it's just this amazing  feeling of being surrounded by nature about you   know always I always feel like nature I'm going  to get a little ethereal and I don't do drugs but   I'm going to get a serial man it's like being  in a charitable anka commit and now it gets a   comfort and so what you'll being here I just feel  so at peace and so it sounds and we're on a main   road man every once in a while you hear a dump  truck but otherwise this is truly a sense we're   in the middle of you know I mean Long Islanders  and a bourbon purview so you to come have it   being connected to the house we come out here in  snowstorm we come out here and when it's cold yes   to see what the waterfalls doing that's really  cool man yeah that's amazing and the fish you   know the metabolism drops and they kind of tuck in  right but the the water always keeps running and   it always keeps changing that's really cool man I  am super in love with this it's bamboo staircase   and fall are we going to make our way over to that  that's what I will then I'll wait but look at how   thick that look good I mean that is incredible and  that's an illusion though well this is the thing   when you when you're building gardens contrast  is a very important aspect so the contrast of   the wood going into the landscape to the bridge  the contrast of the bamboo in the rock and in it   the area we change from the natural rock ledge to  stack stone and when we built this stacked stone   wall it's three feet thick and we incorporate a  planting pocket so right away we could get plants   in it even though it's only five years old it  looks like been there forever and then we left out   pockets to put the treads for the bamboo staircase  Oh Jojo and maybe at some point we might switch   the wood out and and do blue stone cool but right  you know it would tread you let me ask you because   I'm sure some of the folks watching I get a lot  of people that just love animals love to build   habitats for the animal you know how did you get  into this I mean obviously your dad did it grandpa   grandpa grandpa and dad did it I grew up doing it  and the gardens that we did when I was a kid were   smaller but then as grandpa dad and I were working  together you have more manpower and power so we   were able to get machinery and start to enlarge  the scale then we had somebody asked us to do a   garden in Rock Senta no one on the street we did  it for seven years and if you can put a big show   garden in Rockefeller Center then at that point  that just move things to another level and people   saw that we were able to do this real large scale  type work it always takes one big break you know   that's how it is with whether it's show business  or gardening business you just get that big job   and then you're known for being able to handle  something that had the notoriety that also had the   clientele this is a minimum and then the Florida  work started through a friend oh right on well   hopefully I can get you guys back down to Florida  then I'll jump in and learn some things I'll work   with you man because I love getting dirty and I  just love the creative aspect of all this so what   do we what what we have here man I mean obviously  the pond this is a big part of our ecosystem cool   because what we did here was we put 300 feet of  intake tubing and then put gravel on top so we   moved water through it and it gives a place for  the microbes to colonize and really this is what   purifies the water and keeps it healthy and when  we talk about this bio filtration a little bit   this is a bio filtration at the simplest concert  form because we're not doing any kind of removal   or any kind of maintenance to it okay we are just  moving water roo-roo gravel that can colonize the   microbe very cool and the fish help are in the  water yeah turn the water cool I can call them   back here on gravity we're going to complete  it guys over here look out there then they go   come this guy's got man again it's like out of  the waters good tickles another round of them   that's me and our Japanese Cory what are there  all different kinds of koi and goldfish besides   that they do if they really do churn up the water  and it you'll come up and let you pet them okay   snapping fingers this competitive chorus bought  it would allow that I mean [ __ ] is awesome man   you know I don't think we get fish enough credit  how do you feel better you're healthy they have   a nice slime coat you know that is really cool  yeah when we're out here they know they're safe   right so they're very comfortable but when we're  not out here they disappear they're the stones   they can swim under the stones we're standing on  they can swim under the bridges they can go under   other overhanging structures so they can all you  come out here and think that there's not a single   fish here are two I'm telling you I'm going to  get you some turtle for you and just got to get   from Turtles we got to figure out how to secure  them in place okay if you close off any section   of this and the fish can't come in then the  ecosystem right was there part of the ecosystem   is me I just build I just build a turtle proof  fence around the hole and I'd be good man like   whatever this is incredible I got to introduce you  to my buddy crocodile Kyle I think he's going to   really like you and we could get you building a  naturalistic crocodile ponds where you know that   would be different right why not yeah anyway to  get this guy back down to Florida look at it man   logo z-bo and then it just we can't land or a  whale and we work our way back back to our area   Oh with all this I just you know the thing guys is  the detail it's so impressive and I think it can   be overwhelming sometimes when someone fever yeah  they think you know this is out of range for us   what would you say to somebody who has a passion  for this and wants to get involved and wants to   start it you know small projects can be just as  beautiful right the only thing is that most of   the small projects need to have foundations that  are Mustad are as important as the big project   okay so just because your projects small doesn't  mean you can build it on dirt everything here has   massive foundation and everything is structurally  supported right down below the crosswalk so you   can see how stable everything is actually some of  the foundation we left expose holy reference you   can kind of see right behind you that we just hit  it with the plants gotcha but it enables you to   see the structural support and then the ornamental  finish that goes on very cool eventually we're   going to actually have naturally filtered swimming  holes that I'm coming back to take a dip in that   because that's been a dream of mine you know we're  doing a really cool series on the channel swimming   with I swam with my big lizard I swam yeah I swam  with a big Python but I want to I want to create I   would love it if I could take my existing pond  that you've seen and filter it to where I can   get underwater photography that I can swim with  these Turtles and you told me that's not out of   the realm of possibility it's very doable you know  and that's not even a major type undertaking well   you really have to figure out how you're going  to intake the water okay and then create an area   that's big enough to remove the sediment not to  think of what your your waste load is and then   build something proportionate to that are there  you go I'm going to keep on making videos and keep   on asking for support for my patreon supporters  yeah there you go we'll get some amazing   underwater photography but Luke Gabrielle it's a  lot of fun hanging out with you guys and you know   we continued on where you right back up at the top  of the stream so I'm going to I'm going to walk   around and enjoy this place and I hope you guys  like this and maybe it's giving you some ideas   of what you can do at your home and if you're  interested in seeing more of Luke's work what's   the website meant you can go to our company name  ii m IL my last name cray KR u ye at sun.com there   you go we'll throw a little graphic up see you  guys later I'm going to enjoy this quick [Music] you

Channel: Kamp Kenan

Views: 3,045,670

Keywords: Kamp Kenan, Kenan Harkin, Reptile, Lizards, Crocodile, Alligators, Iguana, Turtle (Animal), Tortoise, Animal (Film Genre), Animals, Wildlife, funny video, conservation, Snake, python, How To, cute, feeding, Education, science, nature, pets, dangerous, dinosaurs, Zoo, baby turtles, Florida, animal planet, bmx, wilderness, Snake Reptile, endangered, breeding, terrapin, Sulcata, Rare, Wild Animal, venomous, kamp, kenan, reptiles, alligator, lizard, turtle, zoo med, Yard, Habitat, Landscape, Garden, rock garden, oasis, pond

Id: bUvPoQbSf1g

Length: 25min 24sec (1524 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 25 2017