Zove Brings Sustainable Technology into the Mainstream

The Philadelphia-based designer and installer shows homeowners the beauty and benefits of properly constructed and maintained features.

By Lisa Armony

Ponds were not part of the game plan when Alden Zove launched his suburban Philadelphia-based Cedar Run Landscapes as a landscape design and installation firm more than 30 years ago. When customers began asking him to maintain their backyard water features, however, Zove, a Water Garden News 2010 Pond Builder of the Year honoree, discovered a pleasurable and profitable niche.

Alden Zove, owner of Cedar Run Landscapes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a Water Garden News 2010 Pond Builder of the Year honoree.

Adding pond building to the Cedar Run Landscape’s extensive list of services, which includes hardscape and patio design and construction, lighting installation and lawn maintenance, was a successful marketing strategy. Zove said he takes great care to ensure that each of his nearly one dozen employees is trained in the full range of services he offers, turning the company into a one-stop shop for the complete outdoor-living experience.

“We advertise separately all the different features we can help customers with, give them material about the other services and invite them to tour our facility so we can open a conversation about all we can do for them,” Zove said. “If they have a pond, we talk about landscape installation. If they’re interested in permeable patios, we show them how we do rainwater harvesting with patios, or the lighting they can enjoy in the evening. Then we bring up water features and show how they enhance their experience even more.”

Although interest in water features is growing in his area, Zove said many people remain unaware of how ponds can enhance the aesthetics and relaxation values of their homes or the infinite design options available.

Adding pond building and installation to his services proved successful for Alden Zove. Click here for slideshow.

“Some people think of ponds as a kind of cracked concrete vessel full of algae, mosquitoes and dead leaves,” he said. “We’ve been trying to show the public and perspective customers that that’s not what a pond is.”

Building demonstration ponds in supply yards and restaurants and inviting community groups to host meetings at the company’s 2.5-acre facility represent just some of the ways Zove tries to correct that misperception. The company’s street-front entrance features a “living billboard:” An 11-foot-by-16-foot pond ecosystem with streams and waterfalls cascading down a 6-foot hill of natural stone. The site often serves as the background for photographers, especially around the holidays.

“We show them properly maintained and constructed water features, how we can integrate that into their property and how it can be a point of enjoyment,” Zove said. “Seeing simple ponds that are easy to maintain is a big breakthrough for many consumers. When people see water features that are attractive, easy to care for and stimulating, they realize it could be a hobby they could be involved in and successful at.”

Students at Montgomery Elementary School help plant the carnivore bog.

“We started out with older children moving rocks and boulders and finished with kindergarten kids dressing up the edges,” Zove said. “It was just incredible watching their faces light up as they explained to their parents how the entire system works, what rocks they put in and what their roles were in the construction. I think the crew and I had more fun than the kids did.”

Zove reported expecting growing interest in outdoor living to drive pond and water feature sales for the foreseeable future, but conservation initiatives -- something the trained horticulturalist remains in the forefront to promote -- soon will account for an even larger share of his business, particularly as Philadelphia takes major strides toward sustainable stormwater management. The city recently began basing the sewage portion of commercial water bills on the impact of the customer’s carbon footprint rather than the size of its water meter. Zove said this move could result in area businesses paying up to $7,000 more a month for their water bills as well as encourage them to implement sustainable practices.

With similar initiatives for residential customers likely to follow, Zove, who partners with the Greater Philadelphia Sustainable Business Network to promote environmentally conscious practices, said he is well-positioned to capture this new market. Armed with his facility’s own rainwater harvesting systems that store water in underground cisterns and use it to fill ponds or cultivate nursery stock, Zove said he is ready to bring the technology to area residents.

“Right now in the city of Philadelphia, reducing one’s impermeable footprint is a socially conscious decision but not an economical one,” Zove said. “That’s going to change, and that’s were rain barrels, rain gardens and the like will be more important and viable. It’s very exciting, and I feel like I’m on the cutting-edge of something that’s going to explode.

“When people come to my showroom and understand that they’re sitting on 3,000 gallons of water that goes into the pond, they realize it’s not a far-fetched concept, but one that’s simple and rewarding to do,” Zove said. “That makes me smile.”

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Zove Brings Sustainable Technology into the Mainstream

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