Creativity with Ponds

Here's where your creative instincts kick in. This is where you make your pond your own. Basically, it's landscaping, but with a pond it can really become an artistic endeavor.

Sandstone, bricks, slate, field stone, crushed bricks, stream pebbles, mulch, you name it. Let your imagination be your guide. And that's just the beginning. Once you get a base down then you can start thinking about how you want to work in flowers, and plants. You can integrate annual flowerbeds with perennial beds. That way you can add something different each year for variety and still have the "permanence" of the flowers that come up year after year. In the perennial beds for example you could plant some early spring blooms like daffodils, and then in the same bed plant mid summer and fall bloomers to keep the color going. Of course there are so many different varieties of annual flowers that you'll never run out of ideas for your annual beds.

Maybe you like the little ceramic figures that can be set in among the plants. The garden centers have loads of that kind of stuff. You can even get a ceramic toad or two if you like, but I'll guarantee you that you will have plenty of real toads around your pond.

As for lights, the garden centers and places like Lowes and Home Depot have great selections of yard lights. You're sure to find something just right for you. The new solar powered lamps are especially nice for use around water because there is no wiring needed at all.

Robert Dorrance has had a pond for the last eight years and would like to share his experiences with you. You can read other articles and download my free e-book, "How To Build A Beautiful Backyard Pond at http://www.Backyard-Pond-Guide.com

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/features/2008/10/11/a-garden-good-enough-to-eat-91466-22008222/cid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNG5hvK4m0vg7lUlrLBkn2tQL3AqcwA bgarden/b good enough to eat/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWalesOnline,nbsp;United Kingdomnbsp;-/font nobrOct 11, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1“Basically, edible blandscaping/b is a way of growing flowers and vegetables together in a way that looks beautiful and is good to eat. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20081012/ART08/810119863/-1/ARTcid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNEWuLq--axEs8Zu2VOz7TyoNN663AToledo area women redesigned their yards to suit their families/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fToledo Blade,nbsp;OHnbsp;-/font nobr18 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1In one area of the bgarden/b, she has easily personalized the blandscape/b by painting everyone#39;s names on the larger rocks. #39;It#39;s a great stroll down memory lane b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20081011/LIVING02/810110304/1084/LIVING02cid=1256338608ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNHvHMKa8-gFr3zocc3UZD1BsfhY8wHome and bGarden/b Calendar/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fIndianapolis Star,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Collect seeds from the prairie habitat and native flower beds to use in home blandscaping/b. Instructions on how to collect seeds will be given by naturalists. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.star-telegram.com/home/story/964322.htmlcid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNHAUmWVMNMT49k_ztyX-8S5Kg2NRwNeil Sperry: For unusual blandscaping/b areas, try a creative or b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fFort Worth Star Telegram,nbsp;TXnbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Neil Sperry publishes Gardens magazine and hosts Texas bGardening/b radio show 8-11 am Saturdays and Sundays on KRLD/1080 AM. Reach him during those hours at b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2008/10/11/features/doc48efbe0c76aac520203711.txtcid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNHOHBTMoSH0ZnwjF6CB8beIU01DhAMiriam Jabour in the bGarden/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fVicksburg Post,nbsp;MSnbsp;-/font nobrOct 11, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b but small animals that love to munch on some of our favorite bulbs can disrupt our blandscaping/b endeavors. Nothing is more upsetting to a bgardener/b than b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/gardening/urbanharvest/6054107.htmlcid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNHDuhlPFkaa7XS5a-eu_VSTW2lBjgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=c7ZKCfo1nlUJimgurl=www.chron.com/photos/2008/10/12/13471485/260xStory.jpg width=80 height=64 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Houston Chronicle/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/gardening/urbanharvest/6054107.htmlcid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNHDuhlPFkaa7XS5a-eu_VSTW2lBjgGrow great salads/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fHouston Chronicle,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobr13 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Learn about bgardening/b classes, community and school gardens, farmers#39; markets, organic blandscaping/b and more at www.urbanharvest.org./font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://beaconmedianews.com/%3Fp%3D2111cid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNHOFf4wMvk8OWrW2Lbmbw9rFLogHQFashion bGardening/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Foothill Weeklies,nbsp;Californianbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b I decided to warm things up by inviting my “bLandscaping/b Queen” to help me the next day, in preparing the proposed rose bgarden/b for planting. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.mydesert.com/article/20081011/COLUMNS38/810100341/1067/lifestyles11cid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNHXVh4rLJhOb-2sBMaBYu-GzPBDogbGardening/b by community/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Desert Sun,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 11, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1“Developing Guidelines for HOA Utilizing Desert bLandscape/b” presented by Tess Anas of Summit HOA at noon. “bGarden/b Club” presented by Robin Pokorski of b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/382349_garcal09copy.htmlcid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNGc3THQ-OKZPqK4A0goWvhi87vTgAbGarden/b Calendar/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSeattle Post Intelligencernbsp;-/font nobrOct 8, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Oct. 18, 9 am2 pm -- bLandscape/b and bGarden/b Design Consultations: Miki Wade, experienced bgarden/b designer from Olympic bLandscape/b and Irrigation Co. will help b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101108/lif_342559079.shtmlcid=0ei=H8_ySLCAKY_u6gPPoszABwusg=AFQjCNEZBH2T3vnoCYg5FVO2VzHVePATNwHome and bgarden/b briefs/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fFlorida Times-Union,nbsp;FLnbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1With a little help from the Reflections of Nature bGarden/b Center, you can brighten your fall blandscape/b with native wildflowers. James Loper will discuss b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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