You may have seen our Summer of 2010 front page poll question asking what you're planning for your outdoor project over the summer. One of the poll questions suggests installing an outdoor water feature as a possible project. If you're like me you probably thought that a water feature takes too much time and maintenance to bother with. That's what I thought until we walked through a local home show a year ago.

The first display that caught our eyes as we entered the convention center was a trickling waterfall flowing into a small 8' by 11' pond lined with pebbles and providing a home for some small bright orange Koy and Sarassa. I mentioned to my wife within earshot of the contractor displaying the work that the water would become murky and green, and the fish couldn't live through the harsh New England winters. After speaking with the contractor for awhile, we took some brochures and a DVD to look over. A few months later the contractor was digging a hole in our dismal backyard landscape.

We decided on the smallest pond the contractor offers, a small 8' by 11' pond, layered into varied depths of 3' in the deepest end directly under the waterfall, to about 1' to 1 1/2' in the middle, and about a half a foot in the shallow end. The shallow end empties into a pump basin from Aquascape containing a net to catch debris and a brush filter in front of a pump, which sends the water back to the waterfall via plastic tubing. The waterfall is actually a large Aquascape filter basin, raised above the pond some 3 feet. The waterfall empties back into the pond over some cleverly stacked boulders that create a surprisingly natural look and sound of flowing water. Underneath the entire structure is a rubber pond liner with pond and river pebbles lining it, and larger rocks and boulders creating hidden caves for fish to swim through. Buried into the rocks are various aquatic plants, which are vital to the health of any fish in the pond. In fact, the fish and the plants thrive off of each other, providing a virtually maintenance free ecosystem.

We were so impressed with the addition of the water feature in our back yard that we landscaped around it, adding a stone patio, a stone bench, and lots of stone and plant landscaping. We've moved our relaxation time out next to the trickling water fall and away from the indoors. We're glad we added the feature and I wanted to write about it here as an option for our readers; not all landscaping has to be lawn, decks, or patios. We'll add photos and technical details in an upcoming posting; in the meantime, consider an entire new ecosystem in your back yard! We guarantee that you'll be amazed and look on for hours!