The year was 1999, and my brothers and I had a big task ahead of us: somehow convince my parents to fund and help us build a water garden at our house.

Okay, truth be told, my mom was on board —  it was really my dad we had to persuade.  I went into high-gear research paper mode, checking out all of the related books I could possibly find from the library and building out compelling argument backed up with a project plan.  Had it been a school assignment, I’m sure it would have been graded A+.  My brothers and I presented the idea to our parents;  our phenomenal presentation was met with, “We’ll think about it.”  Dang it.

Since the “ask for permission” strategy didn’t exactly work, we transitioned to Plan B: “ask for forgiveness.”  That’s right — we started digging while my dad was out of town on a business trip.  Accounts differ based on who is telling the story, but by the time he returned, the 10×15 hole was somewhere between 3-10 inches deep.  My dad’s options were to fill in the hole or bail us out and help us finish.  There may have been a few choice words going through his head, but he’s an awesome dad, so we got our water garden.

That water garden started an obsession. My mom and I have an annual tradition of going on the Kansas City Water Garden Society tour and I’ve been dreaming of having one since I bought my first house in town.  Late last summer, my husband and I put down a deposit on my dream: a water garden complete with waterfall, stream, and pond.

When I told Kevin and Diane at Swan’s Water Gardens that I wanted to be their first installation of 2018, I was thinking it would be March or April.  You know…spring. Much to my disappointment, we were told that they reserve March and April for clean-outs, and installations begin in May.  I’m an adult, though, so I waited until we left to throw myself a pity party (and drown my sorrows in a glass of wine while scrolling through water garden pictures on Pinterest).  I set a countdown timer on my phone for May 1st, 2018 at 9am and spent the next 5 months trying to distract myself with gardening magazines, plant catalogs, and other strategies to get me through winter.

Then the long month of February came, and I broke.

February 15th, 2018:

(For context, at this point I’d watched 45 daily YouTube videos from Greg Wittstock of Aquascape showing some amazing water gardens.)

Email from Sarah to Swan’s:  “Hey…getting excited!  Just wanted to make sure you’ll come out before you start the install so I can go over a couple of design questions.”

Response from Swan’s to Sarah: “Yes, Kevin will definitely be out there ahead of time to go over everything with you.  Have a great rest of your winter!”

(Sarah: Ugh.  Don’t remind me.)

February 28th, 2018:

(I had now watched 58 daily vlogs and added additional water garden videos to my daily YouTube watch list.  I was spiraling.  It was bad.)

Email from Sarah to Swan’s: “Hey…I know you said you normally reserve March and April for clean-outs, but if you have a lull and want to get started on ours early, I wouldn’t complain!”

Response from Swan’s to Sarah: “We could do it tomorrow before we start clean-outs next week.”

(Sarah: Wait, what? Tomorrow?  Uh…yes!)

________

At 8:30am on Thursday, March 1st, the dream team pulled up at our house to start the first of three full days’ work on the project.  We covered a few design details, and then it was time for me to step back and let them work their magic.  So let’s get to the good stuff: pictures of the water garden build!

First, the required “before” shot:

The team got to work right away, and with a little extra help from a Bobcat, they had made good progress on the hole by lunchtime.  Thank heavens for equipment — I can’t imagine how long it would have taken to dig 100% by hand with all of the tree roots and limestone in the ground.

By the end of day one, they had begun rocking in the pond and digging out the split stream to go around the maple.

Friday (day two) brought less visual progress as they continued the detail work of rocking in the pond, building the stream to pond waterfall, and starting work on the split stream.

I don’t think I have ever been so excited for a Monday morning.  The team arrived with the rock they needed to personalize our pond: a bridge stone and flat stones to create fish caves.   I couldn’t imagine they would be able to finish that day, but sure enough, they did!  The result is absolutely stunning.

Our water garden starts with an initial 3′ waterfall into a 17′ stream that runs beneath a stone bridge, then splits around a small island with a Japanese Maple before emptying into a 10’x15′ pond.

(Keep in mind, these pictures are before I’ve planted around the water garden, and it will look more natural at that point.)

Pictures just don’t do it justice, so I recorded a quick video tour in case you’d like to get a better look:

I ordered a number of plants during Bluestone Perennial’s sales in February, and I plan on using many of those to naturalize the pond when they arrive in April.   I also want to incorporate a few evergreens, though I’m finding I have limited options when it comes to what will grow in the shade of black walnut trees.  I’ll make sure to post pictures as I get this area planted — stay tuned!

Do you have a water feature at your house?  If not, do you dream of one?