A Visit to the Water Wonderland of Larry Carnes

by Nina A. Koziol

Whenhe was in high school, Larry

Carnes excelled in natural science classes. “But I never thought I’d follow it as a career,” said Carnes, owner and president of Reflections Water Gardens in West Dundee. But he did follow his passion, joining the green industry not long after that.

Since founding his company in 2010, Carnes has created award-winning water features for small residential sites, sweeping suburban high-end properties and commercial entities. His latest—and massive—project is a commercial property in Bolingbrook, which has 600 tons of rock and boulders and eight pumps that run 1000 gallons of water per minute.

“When I started off, I didn’t want to do little stuff—I have a hard time building small projects,” he said. He was at the site in December wrapping up phase two of the project with his crew while the temperatures plunged and snow was falling.

His dedication to clients is obvious after a homeowner texted him, worried that his koi might freeze. The client’s contemporary pond faces the entryway of a midcentury modern home. “We did a quick visit,” Carnes said. “His driveway snow wasn’t melting—he has an ice-melt system with a boiler in the basement that also heats the koi pond. The good thing is that all our filtration is in the basement and the pond was doing good, the fish were happy, and the water was still 50 degrees. Even though it was on Christmas Eve, we still take care of our clients.” And it shows in his work. His projects have garnered several ILCA Gold Awards and many kudos from industry peers.

Getting His Feet Wet

Carnes grew up near Barrington and studied landscaping at Harper College. He started his own business after work-