Ponds create an oasis of tranquility in the yard
BY BRETT JOHNSON Scripps Howard News Service

Juan Carlo/Scripps Howard News Service Jacquie Lovell feeds her koi and goldfish by hand in her backyard pond.

These days, chances are Chevy Chase would offer the pool to Bill Murray and savor the pond himself, foregoing getting wet in favor of a great view.

Forget mud, algae, stench, insect hordes and occasional sightings of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Today's ponds are often elegant backyard beauties, offering cool, quiet, refuge from the day's toil or a little splendor on what used to be grass.

As such, waterscaping is an in-demand yard feature. In addition to ponds, it includes all sorts of offshoots and accoutrements, including water gardens, waterfalls, stone paths leading to islands where you can stick a table and chairs for a sumptuous summer outdoor feast at dusk, and even lilies, fish and turtles to liven up things. The arrangements range from the grandiose to whatever fits into a cramped space.

Jacquie Lovell of Ventura, Calif., had a pond redone in her yard three years ago and can't say enough about it. A pump that circulates water seems to soothe her soul.

Juan Carlo/Scripps Howard News Service Koi and goldfish are among the many decorative elements in Jacquie Lovell's backyard pond in Ventura, Calif., including six different types of foliage that adorn it.

"I hear my pond," she said, "and it is just so delightful and relaxing. It really is a piece of paradise."

Lovell, a retired schoolteacher, said her pond is about 15 feet long, 10 feet wide and 3 feet deep. She stocks it with about a half-dozen koi and some 18inch-long goldfish.

One of her favorite things is feeding them; she says they give her fingers kisses before they get their sustenance.

She counted several white lilies in bloom and a smattering of purple flowers around the pond; in all she has about six different types of foliage adorning it.

"I end up working in the garden ... and time flies," she said, as if she were in the middle of it at that moment.

It cost about $6,000 and is worth every penny to her. Every day is different, she said, alluding to the wondrous interplay of sunlight, water and color.

She has a sunroom to take in views of the pond.

"It's the best," Lovell said. "Everyone should have one."

Randy Nations knows that, too. About two years ago, he stared out the back of his Simi Valley, Calif., home and saw grass - "really, the whole backyard was in sod," he recalled.

A thought hit him. Since there was grass underneath, why not put in a pond?

Nations, a 58-year-old engineer, went out, got three books on ponds and read them all. The idea grew, perhaps better than the grass did.

Now, his backyard features a 25by-13-foot pond. He has a threetiered waterfall; the middle tier splits into two waterfalls and the third one into three separate spouts.

A rock-and-boulder-lined walkway leads to a wildflower garden.

Flowers and plants adorn the pond as well. Nations has three different types of water lilies, a pygmy papyrus, a fern, a Mexican garlic plant and geranium vines. Numerous birds come in for baths.

At different times of the year, they'll see whites, purples, pinks, blues and yellows in and around the pond. It can be heard throughout the house; it's "destressing," Nations noted.

Other times, it becomes a "real activity center," such as when the Nations barbecue out there and family and friends gather.

Nations is very happy with how it turned out. He only has two regrets, the first being that he wishes he had a bigger piece of property.

The other? "I wish I had done this years ago," he said.

At the Losey residence in nearby Newbury Park, Calif., they went over the moon - over the falls, if you will - on the concept.

Their yard proves you don't have to be part of the tour to be a star. There, two waterfalls trickle off the hillside. A stone-lined riverbed meanders across the lawn. They have upper and lower ponds. Stepping stones lead out to an island amid all this.

Almost nightly in summertime, they sit out there and eat dinner.

"It's just like a retreat," said Sally Losey, a 67-year-old office manager.

It cost them roughly $60,000 over a three-year period. It was her husband, Jim, who came up with the idea of the river.

As with others, they have a variety of plants and flowers; bougainvillea hangs over the waterfalls.

They also have koi and four turtles. The latter get chicken, turkey and ground beef - "when they're not hibernating, they get hungry," Sally explained.

The setting also attracts wildlife, including raccoons, quail, mourning doves, egrets and herons.

It's nice to have wild animals around, Sally said, except when the egrets and herons go after her fish, and the raccoons dig up plants and grasses as they go after grubs.

She now has bird netting over the ponds to deter them. But it's a minor quibble. Losey likes what she sees.

The backyard, she said, functions almost as an additional room; they've lived in the house since 1966. The kids are gone and she spends a great deal of time basking in backyard moments.

"It's what I do," she said. "It's kind of my hobby."

Hers and others. If you have a yen for some water magic right outside the door, see where the imagination can go.