Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
A table and chairs placed on a deck adjacent to the Dittos' garden provides an inviting retreat.

Mike Salsbury/ The Olympian
Colorful fish and lilies compete for attention in the Ditto family garden pond.

Water WORKS Wonders

Lovingly built pond, colorful fish add enjoyment to Ditto family garden

SARAH JACKSON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published August 11

TUMWATER -- John Ditto is a bit of a pond pro.

"Ponding" -- as he's come to call it -- took over his free time years ago when he first installed a pre-formed, 250-gallon garden pool.

That was before he discovered the science -- and the passion -- that is ponding. He found more advanced filters, pumps, plumbing, rocks, liners, pool plants and -- most importantly -- fish.

Just this spring, Ditto completed his masterpiece -- a 1,500 gallon, 6-feet-wide, 9-feet-long, 4-feet-deep beauty filled today with goldfish he knows by name.

Take Gill, Angelface and Blackie, for example, who can survive not only the winter but warm weather because the pond is deep enough to stay cool.

Centered in the bountiful, diverse garden that he and his wife, Julia, created over the past nine years, the pond lies half-covered in waterlilies and surrounded by oversized river rock and basalt.

Inside, orange, white and black fish move from side to side while a modest waterfall bubbles on the eastern edge.

"I'm really happy with it," John says, standing in the blooming back yard. "I was never happy with it before because it looked like a pre-formed pond."

Nationwide, ponds engage millions of garden hobbyists, according to the Atlanta-based National Pond Society.

Across South Sound, gardeners have jumped on the water-feature bandwagon with ponds, birdbaths, waterfalls and landscaped rivers to add soothing noises and a touch of nature to their outdoor retreats.

Cornerstone Rock and Landscape Supply in Tumwater started expanding two years ago to include more pond supplies.

Today, at its new Airdustrial Way location, Cornerstone Rock boasts a 9,000-gallon, two-pump demonstration water feature filled with water hyacinths, British flag irises and goldfish.

"We've done ponds this size and bigger," Cornerstone employee Amos Waylett says of the company's landscaping niche. "We felt there was a big need in this town, and there was."

More water-feature demonstrations may be in the works down the line at Cornerstone.

"They're so relaxing. Lord knows, after you get off the freeway at night, you need to be able to relax somewhere," Waylett says. "The sound of running water is one of the best ways to do it. It's really soothing."

While Cornerstone sells black, plastic pre-formed ponds for $100, he tries to steer customers toward pond systems with rubber liners, which allow for design freedom, easier installation and more filter options at a cost as little as $1,000 for a complete kit.

John and Julia Ditto created their pond with a rubber filter and fashioned a filtration system with advice from other pondheads online.

John said he learned loads from Web sites such as www.exit109.com/~gosta/pond.sht , a quirky site by pond enthusiast Gosta Lovgren.

"I found sites that were written by chemists," John says. "This guy just understood the practical application of all of the science."

John's basic, biological filter includes a 50-gallon drum filled with lava rocks, which provide surface area for bacteria that breaks down fish waste so plants can use it.

But the oasis in the middle of alyssum, sedums, day lilies, grasses, pansies, dahlias, primroses, wisteria, even bonsai, didn't start out so high-tech.

"I just started digging," John says.

Soon John found himself standing in a deep hole. He added chicken wire and concrete to create a retaining wall-type pool. Over that he laid a rubber liner and began building a garden atmosphere around the water hole.

Setting up the waterfall took a few attempts because, at first, the water was too shallow.

"It was a high-pitched sound and I find that obnoxious," John said. "You want it to be soothing."

Creating the perfect pond also meant temporarily storing goldfish from the previous pond in a canoe, where they actually had babies.

"They thought it was romantic," John jokes, adding that Julie, the garden designer, and their kids Jessica, 12, and Jeffrey, 16, helped tremendously.

"It's a real team effort," John says of Julia. "It's what we do together. It's what we talk about."

"My husband loves his fish," Julia adds. "Every morning he's out there with the fish. I think it's kind of his quiet place."

John and Julia, after completing many backyard landscaping improvements, worked on the pond from Mother's Day to Father's Day this year.

Julia says the backyard adventures will continue.

"It's an ongoing project," Julia says. "It is very nice to come back here."

John said he's repeatedly rearranged the rocks around the pond, another benefit of a custom-made pool that he's surrounded with benches for relaxing and watching the fish.

"It can be a continuing art," John says. "Once you do it, really, they're very low maintenance."

Sarah Jackson writes for The Olympian and can be reached at 360-704-6871 or olyjax@yahoo.com.

Books, Web sites

- "Water in the Garden: A Complete Guide to the Design and Installation of Ponds, Fountains, Streams, and Waterfalls" by James Allison

- "The Living Pond" by Helen Nash, M.J. Girot, Helen Nash

- "Outdoor Water Features: 16 Easy-to-Build Projects For Your Yard and Garden" by Alan Bridgewater, Gill Bridgewater

- Pond enthusiast Gosta H. Lovgren offers a layman's site at www.exit109. com/~gosta/pond.sht

- National Pond Society: www.bandd.net/nps

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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