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Water Garden: Surburban Refuge by Natalie W. Criss When Sandy and Pat Deangelo moved into their current Greenville home nestled in a quaint, middle-class neighborhood, the couple’s young children were relegated to the backyard. Dominated by a trampoline, a tree house and toys, the Deangelos focused more on safety than aesthetics. Eleven years later, they have reclaimed this space and transformed it into a playground, of sorts, for adults. Doing much of the work themselves, the redesign is, in Mrs. Deangelo’s words, “the product of buckshot planning and sweat. Our goal was a beautiful, functional, low-maintenance place where we could enjoy resting and gardening.” The result is a serene outdoor refuge featuring several garden spaces, including flower and vegetable beds. The most prominent element by far is the water garden. Showcasing a striking koi pond and dramatic waterfall, this feature spans roughly one-third of the total yard. The water garden is also the most recent addition to the redesigned space, completed almost a year ago. Mrs. Deangelo explains, “Our nephew, Brian Westoby, designed and built the pond. After working a summer job installing water features, he came to us and said we ought to put one in the back, so we hired him. That was last summer,” she reflects, “and it looks like it has been here for years. This is definitely our favorite spot in the whole yard.” Westoby, a junior at Mississippi State University, delivered a beautiful product using unique and practical materials. The basin for the nearly four-foot-tall waterfall is actually a plastic cattle feed bucket. Filtration for the pond is enclosed in a large plastic storage container purchased at a local discount store. The biological bacteria bed, essential for providing fish with a healthy environment, was established using sponge hair rollers submerged in the filtration unit. While unorthodox, all of these elements perform quite well and are, of course, completely hidden from sight by layers of landscaping granite topped by Arkansas sandstone. Other components that are kept out of sight, such as the pond liner, filters, pond lighting and the pump assembly for the waterfall were either purchased locally in the Delta or online. Surrounding the pond are lush water plants. Selecting the plants from a local nursery with attention to color and bloom time was important, Mrs. Deangelo explains, “because we wanted our yard to be beautiful year-round and the pond provides much of our spring and summer color. The first to bloom are the water lilies, then the cannas lilies and water hyacinths. In the late spring and summer,” she continues, “the swamp iris and Louisiana cane continue to bloom, and the cattails mature and turn colors in the fall along with the trees, which we planted when we moved here. It is especially beautiful at night when we turn on the pond lights.” According to Mrs. Deangelo, upkeep of the pond is minimal, requiring only routine cleaning of the filters with a quick squirt from the garden hose and the removal of debris with a net during the fall. When the weather cools in the winter, the fish hibernate safely at the bottom of the four-foot-deep pond. “The fish practically take care of themselves. We have about 30 Japanese koi and one bream,” she laughs, “and we haven’t lost one yet. My son caught the bream and put it in the pond.” The koi feast vigorously on specially formulated food purchased at the local pet supply store, and the bream eats crickets — at least for now. “If that fish starts eating my koi,” she says gesturing over her shoulder, “it’s outta here!” <...HOME...>