Pondering My Pond (and Rocks)

In my front yard, just below the old stone wall, is my beautiful goldfish pond/water garden which my son and I built in the spring of 2000. Never an easy job, it was made even harder by the fact that I live on the side of a mountain. Once we dug the initial hole and the plant shelves around the edges, it was necessary to construct a retaining wall along the back and a concrete edge along the front. Luckily, there is a wash beyond our pasture full of wonderful rocks that replenish themselves every time we have a hard rain. My son made many trips filling the back of his truck and piling rocks at the site. Once construction began, I realized how important perfection was to him. Each rock was selected individually for its specific place in the wall, forms were meticulously built to pour the concrete, and scaffolds spanned the hole to provide access for him to work.

Needless to say, work progressed at a rather slow pace, but eventually it was finshed and filled with 1,000 gallons of water and a couple dozen comets. In 2002, he decided to add a cascade into a smaller sub-pond above the original to provide "water music". This smaller pond would then empty into main pond via a waterfall. Once again, perfection took over and time moved slowly, but the finished product was well worth the wait.

As the years went by, the fish multiplied, we landscaped the surrounding area, and Rich continued with his rock getting. He has added stone walls above the smaller pond and stone walls to form tiers for planting behind the pond. For 10 years now, there has always been piles of random rocks, waiting to be worked into the project. Although I often think how nice it would look if all the debris required for a work-in-progress could finally be cleared away, I have come to realize that some projects are just not ever "finished". And I think that's OK...

Visit my "old" website and read all about this project. My Pond