In the Spring of 2004, after spending the winter watching HGTV and saying, "we could do that," I got the bright idea of eliminating our mowing time, by creating a garden path on the inside of the fence of around a quarter of our yard. Every year we've added a new garden area and/or feature.

My water gardening experience started that same year with a 20-gallon insert I bought as a fountain kit at Kmart. I knew nothing, except the sound of running water would create a more peaceful atmosphere in my "outdoor room."

We submerged the tub into a small triagular-shaped garden next to our patio and relaxed to the soothing sounds. I even placed floating plastic, can you believe it, plants in the water! Secretly knowing all along that this was my way of easing my family into what I really wanted -- a pond with real plants and fish.

Since everyone enjoyed the fountain -- especially the dogs, they thought this was their own private drinking fountain -- it wasn't hard to convince them that a small pond wouldn't be much trouble. Aside from digging the whole, it would practically take care of itself.

We got the smallest pond kit available (60 gallons) -- for those of you who "pond", it's the Tobago model -- and settled into pond life. We got four fancy goldfish fish and two plants with the kit. We expanded to eight fish and I bought a few more plants. Soon the pond looked like the photo above.

Everyone was really happy with the new feature. I took care of if, cleaning the filter once a week in the summer, and we even bought a floating heater for the winter to take care of our newest family members.

The following summer I discovered a small fish swimming in the previously mentioned 20-gallon fountain. We figured it got there off one of the floating plants that I routinely took out of the pond and put in the fountain to help keep it clear. We were so excited, figuring we must be doing something right, if the fish were happy enough to breed. Three more babies survived that summer (the other fish tend the eat the babies when they're very small, and since they have them by the hundreds, that's really not a bad thing).

The original fish were growing bigger and bigger (our biggest from nose-to-tail tip is almost a foot long), so we decided in Spring 2006, that we needed a bigger pond. We upgraded to the Trinidad, a 240-gallon preformed pond. And the fish couldn't be happier, and I do mean HAPPIER! Last summer they increased their "school" to over 30 fish!!

We also added a waterfall, more water plants and a whole lot more landscaping around it. Ponding is very addicting, but I couldn't recommend it more. It's great for kids too. They can learn a whole lot about the environment from a backyard pond. Like watching the frogs that show up every year. Where they come from, I don't know, but they always show up. Last year we had tons of tadpoles, but the fish ate most of them. (Thanks fish!) If you do it right, and take proper care, you'll have your own little ecosystem with prime seats right off your patio like we do.

Yes, it takes work, about an hour or so per week, maybe 1 1/2 during August, but it's very rewarding. As the season progresses, I'll get more into caring for the pond and pond life, specific plants, etc. But for now, here's some photos to enjoy, including how it looks right now.