The Front Garden | The Side Garden | The Water Garden | The Back Garden
The Water Garden
The pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata) in full bloom at the water's edge.
A view of the water garden from the patio.
The upper pond serves as the biofilter for the lower pond. A recirculating pump feeds the small waterfall. Several large flat rocks have been positioned as stepping stones to allow people to cross the stream.
The lower pond on a rainy winter
day.
In the foothills behind Montecito and Santa
Barbara there are many natural ponds and creeks. We attempted to mimic nature
in building our pond.
Much of the sandstone in our pond came right off of our property. Several
truckloads of sandstone were also brought in from a friend's lot on Ortega
hill (about a half mile away). Using native rock adds to the natural look
of the pond. The water garden is actually composed of two ponds connected
by a stream. The upper, smaller pond serves as a biofilter for the lower
pond. It contains several aquatic
plants including water hyacinth (Eichhornia
crassipes), duckweed (Lemna minor), spike rush (Eleocharis
montevidensis), parrot's feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) and
water clover (Marsilea quadrifolia). Water enters the upper pond
from a small waterfall. The water makes its way around several natural stepping
stones to a stream that feeds the lower pond. The lower pond is roughly
oval, about 16 feet long and 10 feet across. The pond is 2.5 feet deep where
the water enters from the stream. It becomes gradually deeper, reaching
a depth of three feet deep at the deep end. It was important to make the
pond at least this deep to keep the raccoons from jumping in and eating
the goldfish. The lower pond contains the water
lilies, a Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis
dulcis), a water hawthorne (Aponogeton distachyos), water hyacinth
(Eichhornia crassipes), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
and many snails and goldfish. Submerged plants help to keep the water clear.
We have used Canadian pondweed (Elodea candensis) as a submerged
plant. There are several marginal and bog plants at the edge of the pond
including pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata), Japanese iris (Iris
ensata), siberian iris (Iris sibirica), yellow flag iris (Iris
pseudacorus), Louisiana iris (Iris fulva), and cardinal flower
(Lobelia fulgens). The pond is very attractive to wildlife. The day that we
added water to the pond, the frogs moved in.
Building the pond | Dividing water lilies
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