Austin Pond Society

Our pond is not difficult to get to and folks in wheelchairs often come to visit my backyard.  I do have crushed limestone pathways to get to the back but they are pretty solid and not deep.  We started building our pond in 2005. Initially we just wanted a pond because my son and I like aquariums and wildlife as well as plants. One day we were just sitting in the back yard and said, “Let’s build a pond!” and so it began. I enlisted help from Ed Hendrickson of the Austin Pond Society and we would go to the local quarries to pick out just the right stones. We put it all together with pond liner, low RPM pump and large Savio skimmer. We finished it all up in 2006. However, we did have to perform a touch up the mortar on the bog shortly after. That was my first mortar job and it was not too pretty.

We have huge planted bog helps to filter the water and we just love listening to the waterfall and watching all the wildlife that uses our pond and bog. My yard is alive with all kinds of pollinators, dragonflies, damselflies and other wildlife that enjoy the many native plants we have. Every month is filled with something blooming and attracting pollinators. I also attract many different birds with feeders, seed producing plants and plants specific to hummingbirds. They enjoying grabbing a drink out of the disappearing fountain in the front yard, our first water feature, but also bathing in the shallow bog.  

In my front yard you will be greeted by an eye pleasing xeriscape that is also a twice verified Wildlife Habitat. We call our 2nd greenhouse, which is also a storage building “The Alamo” since it is constructed of white limestone. Some fun trivia during your visit to our yard Can you count the number of rain barrels we have? Have you ever seen a stone compost pile? And, Ask me about my Gabion Walls.