March / April 1996

Here's a little slope out back where the kids would slide down on their snow vehicles of choice in winter. It would just kind of sit there the rest of the year. It was off the patio and formed an incline that was treacherously slippery in rainy weather. Mowing it wasn't difficult, but there was exertion involved to be sure.

The kids grew a little older and demanded a steeper slope for their snowy escapades. The treacherous hill was finally tamed by a landscape-timber landing with steps down to the back lawn. But there was still that corner that would be perfect for a small pool spilling over a collection of rocks down the incline to a larger pond at the bottom. We even got estimates of what it would cost to have such a landscape feature installed.

Alas, that project is still on the "to do" list.

Water features almost never fail to fascinate me. They add so much texture to the garden, their noises blending beautifully with the gentle rustling of trees and shrubs. Water plants are another whole area to be studied and appreciated.

One fascinating water garden I saw a few years ago isn't even outdoors. Bob Steinbach of Elgin Community College designed a closed system with water circulating through a tank of tilapia fish in the base of a greenhouse, pumped up to a canal system running through the greenhouse and back to the fish tank. The plants in the canal filtered the fish waste and used it as fertilizer, returning fresh, oxygenated water to the tank below.

That system illustrates the cyclical nature of water gardening. In the landscape, that turns into environmentalism. Toads need water to repeat their life cycle, but they in turn become voracious insect feeders in the garden nearby. Fish provide fertilizer and keep algae from growing. They even consume mosquito eggs that may be laid on a pond surface. And to keep them alive over winter, good pond gardeners install a bubbler to keep ice from forming on the surface-and keep a source of water available to wintering birds.

Our cover story isn't meant to force you to add a pond this year. Ponds can be expensive, laborious and a nuisance to clean if placed too close to a large tree.

If you're like me and just pine for one, enjoy the beautiful photography and visit ponds-there are many around, and this summer two major pond walks will occur.

Perhaps we will receive contest entries based on water gardens-several of last year's winners had water in their gardens. We thoroughly enjoyed doing our contest last year and spent a great deal of time trying to come up with a new theme for 1996. In the end, we decided that gardening in small spaces was the right mix-big gardeners can designate a small portion of their garden while those with small spaces to begin with can start on a level playing field. Look for the contest announcement on page 10.