Thanks for the comments.
It was a lot of hard work, especially for my sons and my wife who did by far the majority of the hard labour (digging). The project fulfilled a few different ideas I had been rolling around in my head for few years, namely a new pond, and one built elevated above the viewing area. This brings the water level more up close and accessible. Kids love to stick their hand in the water (so do some adults), so having it elevated makes hand on access, like hand feeding fish and turtles a lot more enjoyable. The ledge in front of the pond will also act as a bench for sitting, as you can see in some of those pictures.
I wanted the pump and filters to be in their own room and insulated so they would be hidden and freezing winter weather would be more manageable.
As for the courtyard, I have stuccoed many adobe style courtyards for other people (stucco is my trade) and always loved the look of them, and I vowed one day I would build my own. Plus as fishin4cars pointed out, our yard and the neighbours yards are kinda ugly, and the walls block most of that out fairly effectively and yet still allow a good view of the surrounding mountains which are pretty scenic.
And one other bit of home inventiveness we made application of was the paving stones in the courtyard area, they are all hand made. We started making our own paving stones a couple years ago and did a couple areas in the front of our house, but we really put them into good use in this courtyard.
It was a bit of a push to get the pond in this year, but there was a factor that required some sort of action on my part. You see I had left a deep hole in where the pond was going to be and with the cold of winter approaching there was a danger of the frost penetrating below the footing level of the walls and heaving them. If that happen it could, and would, very well lift and crack my nice stuccoed walls. So I was left with two choices, fill dirt into the cavity where the pond would be, and then dig it out again in the spring to put the pond in, or get the pond in and fill it up with water to protect the walls from the cold. I chose to get the pond in sooner than later, I couldn’t stand the idea of filling it in and then digging it out again.
Anyway, thanks again for your comments.
J.W. Thanks for posting that picture of the
Hydrangea. How does it stand up in cold weather? Does it die off completely? Will it climb walls on it’s own or does it need a trellis? My first though was it looks too bushy, in fact when I showed the picture to my wife her first comment was it’s too bushy, but I realize any shrub or vine can be manicured.
One vine I think I will be trying in there is this ivy, but I’m looking for more options.
