1987: The Pond

I was reading the paper one Sunday morning and came across an article about ponds. Easy to build, they said. Dig a hole, line it with plastic, build a little rim of rocks, and there you are. I showed it to Craig and said, "Let's do it!" We did.

Pond Here's how it looked when we first finished it.

Ponds really do look best when placed in a low spot where water would naturally collect. Our yard slopes all the way, so we needed an illusion. Taking a hint from the ponds on the hillside of Zilker Gardens, we built up the ground behind the pond and planted a screen of glossy abelias. Now, although there is a low path behind the pond, I think it looks comfortable in its situation.

We got water lilies from a nursery, aquatic plants from the pet store, half a dozen goldfish, and a pair of bulgy-eyed black monk fish. The two monks unfortunately had the habit of toddling slowly around the very edge of the pond. They fell prey to Norma's cats within days.

The six goldfish thrived, however. At first, Craig used to feed them, but I persuaded him to stop. I was worried that we'd have a lot of mosquitoes, and I wanted the fish to eat them instead of fishfood. This seemed to be the way it worked. Between the fish and the frogs who soon joined them, there were no mosquitoes whatsoever.

Pond

The fish multiplied until I stopped counting them. The frogs were even more numerous. Perhaps you have read in the history of birds about the sad end of the fish: a great blue heron ate them all. The happy fishies in their day:

Fishies

When we built the pool, the frogs deserted the pond and started laying eggs in the pool, much to Craig's chagrin. It wasn't good for the frogs either, since Craig cleaned out the eggs as fast as the frogs laid them. The frog population cratered.

I blamed the snakes. But although the snakes certainly ate as many frogs as they could catch, I have come to think it was the lure of the pool and the wasted eggs that caused the frogs to all but disappear. For a while. Good news! They are back.

For some reason, the frogs have returned to the pond and are laying eggs there again. And they are now almost as numerous as they have ever been. It may have something to do with the fact that Norma's cat has taken to guarding the south edge of the pool.

We are talking about reviving the pond. It is silted in and slumping. We think we might dig it out again, maybe even make it bigger. Craig wants to line it with concrete this time, and we plan on a nice tile pipe or tunnel for the fish to hide in when the heron comes around.

The great heron debacle is described in the history of birds and in notes following the bird list