Further pondering the pond



Sorry, there are going to be a lot of pond posts from here on in—at least until it's done. Today, the third and final pond guy came over—half an hour early and I supposed I ought be ashamed to admit we weren't up. Hey, it's the weekend. Brian (shown above, in hat) used to work with the pond company of Western New York, Masterson's, but he has broken away to run his own landscaping company—no nursery, no showroom, just the creation and servicing of mainly ponds.

We both liked him: he is a young, down-to-earth guy who seems to really love making water features. Most of the ones he has made are natural stone-lined ponds and waterfalls. He uses flatish river (creek?) stones with rounded edges; nothing is pre-cast. It seems clear that the pond will take up at least two thirds of the bed it's destined for, but I think the hydrangeas, bulbs, rearranged perennials (that will fit), and, particularly, the very strong background of the vines will balance that.

Chris C. comments—rightly—about the size and formality of the space, but I've seen plenty of ponds in spaces just as small or smaller than ours. City people have to make it work. Also, I think the paved surrounding area makes it easier to see what's going on in the water. Hopefully, something will be! My husband is anti-fish, but I think the movement and color are necessary. I'm going to have to move many of the plants out soon. I hope I can dig up the Orienpets without incident. There are also some daylilies that I really like, though I'm normally not a huge fan. (Things are breaking ground, just in time for the next big storm.)

I understand the comment feature isn't working too well for certain browsers; Safari and maybe others hate Blogger. Why is that? How annoying. I apologize and thanks for your attempts to comment!

The Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by this morning as well. They're always on our block—I guess they know what sinners we are.

Comments

Carol Michel said…
I'm looking forward to seeing more posts as you make decisions and actually start building the pond. It might inspire me to have my own pond someday!
Unknown said…
I just reread your posts and I can't figure out whether you've already made up your minds or not. Any hints? (Or at least when we'll find out?)

By the way, I giggled about the Jehovah's Witnesses. They come by here all the time, but I never considered that they might know what a sinner I am. I figured it was more that they know what a sucker I am and that I'm too darn nice to shut the door in their faces entirely. lol.
EAL said…
We have not made up our minds but will notify the winner of our miniscule job--not exactly a plum!--in a couple days.
I swear I don't think your blog likes me. The word verification is still a red X half the time and I give up.

My pond experience is probably a bit jaded. I have seen too many hideous volcano piles of rocks with water pouring down from them that are completely out of context in flat suburban yards.

Perhaps without the volcano influence people in Buffalo can do a better job of creating natural ponds that have a better sense of place.
EAL said…
Well I've struggled with wv too on many blogs. Maybe a different browser, if you have one?

Have no fear, we would never hane anything over-the-top.

My husband is deeply conservative, design-wise (not politically) and we're both after a natural look. You'd be surprised at how a small pond can fit in even in a space with lots of pavement like ours.

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