Ponds are a little passé, but waterfalls are, well, wow.

“Ponds have become a little bit a thing of the past,” Joe Stevens, owner of Stevens Landscaping of Yakima, explained Tuesday at State Fair Park. “They’re high maintenance. But people still want water, so now you’re seeing the falls that empty into a pit and the water is chemically treated.”

At home, Stevens still prefers to stock his two ponds with more than 100 koi. But he and other landscaping companies are eager to show off all their designs at the annual Central Washington Home & Garden Show, which starts Friday at the SunDome.

Officials from Central Washington Home Builders in Yakima saw that the landscaping exhibits were big draws last year at a home show in Pasco, so they decided to add to the allure with more square footage of foliage, falls, decks and related outdoor accents.

Watch for the bigger and better landscaping tent this year.

That’s not all the beefing up in store for this year’s show. One of People Magazine’s 2003 “50 Most Beautiful People” will be doing carpentry work on the “Do-It-Yourself stage.

That would be Andrew Dan-Jumbo, the carpenter on TLC’s interior design makeover series “While You Were Out.” He’s due to appear later this month in a show called “Take Home Handyman,” also on TLC.

Raised in Shoreham, England, a coastal town near London, Dan-Jumbo attended St. Martin’s College of Art & Design before moving to San Diego, where he did a lot of surfing and some modeling, according to his promotional material.

He also studied graphic design and, with his brother, co-founded Eurotek, a commercial and residential construction company that specializes in historic restoration and new home development. Like anyone with any star power, he’s been on Oprah.

The Nigerian-born entrepreneur isn’t the only big headliner this year, noted Carly Faul, executive officer of Central Washington Home Builders.

“This is the first year we’ve brought in three national talents,” Faul said.

Though he didn’t make People’s “Most Beautiful” list, Ed Hume will demonstrate how to pretty up your garden, thanks to some 42 years as an on-air gardening personality. Hume will explain how landscaping increases home values.

Add to the line-up the Carey Bros. James and Morris are nationally recognized building, renovation and maintenance experts. They’ll be talking about bathroom remodels, including ceramic tiling and laminate flooring.

If do-it-yourself isn’t your style, there will be hundreds of exhibits featuring retailers and contractors eager to take on the job for you.

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.

source : www.yakima-herald.com By LEAH BETH WARD