When we arrived in our Houston-area home, we knew it was only a matter of time before we got a pond. We had come to love the sounds, plants, and wildlife associated with a pond, and wouldn't be without one for long. It took a few months, but by the following spring we engaged a local pond-building company to install one for us. About the same size as our small patio pond back in Pennsylvania, but with a waterfall and bog filtration, and all-around more professional installation than that simple pond I built many years ago. The pond project came complete with a plant package that included two waterlilies and a variety of marginals suitable for planting in the filtration bog and along the stream; we promptly supplemented this assortment with some additional purchases, so that the pond is already home to quite a few plants. Which is a good thing, because it is also home to several fish, so the plants serve the important function of cleaning up fish waste and keeping the water clear. In the weeks following the installation of the pond, we added a patio area immediately in front of it, and borders all around – the pond-plopped-in-a-lawn look isn't what we were looking for. We planted some small pennisetum grasses right behind the stream area, looking for air-blown movement to complement the watery movement. Somewhat to my surprise, those grasses grew FAST! By mid-summer, they were quite tall and formed a solid wall behind the pond. That really helped to give the pond its own "room". The photo above was taken in early November, about six months after the waterfall started splashing. It's fun to have a set of pets outside, to complement our warm-blooded ones inside. Unfortunately we had a minor tragedy along the way: We're on our second batch of fish, after learning the hard way that those chloramine chemicals in tap water really are deadly to goldfish. Leaving a hose running to top off the pond was a bad move, and killed both the originals and all of the offspring they had produced. We promise to be more careful with the new ones (fantails, shubunkens, and a small koi) that took their place. So far, we're quite pleased with our pond. The sound of water greets us every time we open the back door (and those fish greet us when we take a few steps further to the edge of the pond). Dragonflies and damselflies are drawn to the pond too, and add more movement to the garden. Equally importantly, the pond gives us a reason to be outside, and so has really accelerated the process of transforming a bare lawn into a lively garden.
Currently growing in our waterfall pond
Currently growing alongside our waterfall pondMore impressions of the waterfall pond area
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Last modified:
November 10, 2019 |
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