Pictures of a naturalized pond!

[duchess15]

I posted this over on the catsite.com as well. Some had requested pictures of my pond, so I thought I'd post some pictures here as well. This all got started because I of what I found in my pond yesterday. :lolup: Well, following my thread of what I found in my pond yesterday I decided to scan a few pictures since I hadn't saved them to the computer. Good thing my scanner still works!
I have some before and after pictures and I'm still amazed at how far I've come. It was a lot of work, but I think it was well worth the effort.
If you can imagine, when we first had the house built there was nothing out there! I have slowly transformed it over the last 4 years and am still doing so now. I need to go out and take updated pictures.

This is how it looked when I first built it..I had bought a preformed liner...

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/Pond.jpg


Here it is a little more developed...

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/Fish006.jpg


It didn't always have its pretty days...I had problems with the mulch always getting into the water and I thought my liner had a leak. I really made it too small and wanted a much bigger one to attract more wildlife such as hummers, butterflies, frogs, toads, lizards (I'm still hoping for one of those), etc.


Here are a few from the backyard and we have one of those huge ugly satellite dishes, so instead of yanking it out, I put plants all around it and am having coral honeysuckle grow all over it so I can attract more hummers and it will be great for nesting birds.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/Satellitedish.jpg

Once I got the plants in the ground

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/Satellitedish2.jpg

One of a general view of the backyard

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/Backyard.jpg


One of the side of the house when I first started

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/Fish007.jpg

One of what it looks like now...although I even need to update this one, I have put weed fabric down and a border so all that grass is now covered with mulch

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/Backyard2.jpg

This is our front yard

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/FrontYard.jpg

This is in the middle of the process....

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/rebuildingpond.jpg

And lastly....the finished product...it took me many months! I just took the old liner out and dug the hole about 5 times the size and put in underlayer and then a liner that was not preformed that way I could shape it the way I wanted and I needed a shallow area to put rocks in so the birds could get to the water. I also have a little waterfall, but I don't think you can tell in this picture. It is run on solar energy.

One view...

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/RemodeledPond2.jpg

And this is my favorite view...

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/pchan27/RemodeledPond.jpg

There are so many benefits of having a pond and other plants in your yard. I am in the process of making a little side patio to be able to sit out there. I have even grown my own plants and put them in the ground. It's just such an experience to grow your own and see them do so well.
I hope you enjoy the pictures!

[neetanddave]

:clap: :clap: Nice job! Except for the dreaded honeysuckle, that's my arch enemy... :lol2: Oh, and the Snake... :shocker: I would have to move.

[Iluvroses]

:hearthrob: Nice! I want a pond!!!!!!!!!!!

[duchess15]

:clap: :clap: Nice job! Except for the dreaded honeysuckle, that's my arch enemy... :lol2: Oh, and the Snake... :shocker: I would have to move.

I have no problem with the coral honeysuckle. It is a vine native to Texas, NOT invasive and is very beneficial for hummers and nexting birds. I love that vine!
I live in the city! I don't get snakes! :flail:

[LokisMum]

Love the pond - and I love honeysuckles too!

[Anakat]

Great pictures, I like your pond they do add a lot of interest to a garden.

[Steve]

Wow, marvelous work! Your waterfall runs on solar? Wow! How many gpm does it run, any idea? You are doing marvelous things.

Your froint looks just spectacular as well. Must be nice driving hiome to that. Well done, Duchess! The Official Steve Stamp of Approval! (LOL, shut up, Neet!)

I love it, keep us posted.

[duchess15]

Wow, marvelous work! Your waterfall runs on solar? Wow! How many gpm does it run, any idea? You are doing marvelous things.

Your froint looks just spectacular as well. Must be nice driving hiome to that. Well done, Duchess! The Official Steve Stamp of Approval! (LOL, shut up, Neet!)

I love it, keep us posted.

Thanks! It was tons of work, but I think it was worth it. I am in the process of replacing some of the plants up front. We got so much rain over the last two months it killed them.
My little snake is still in there! He's so scared, he won't stay out long if I'm out there. If he sticks around and gets to big, I will have someone come out and put him out where he has more room.
The front yard is done mostly by my mom. So that's all her hard work! She takes care of the roses and the trees, and I take care of the backyard.