As many of you, my longtime watergardening friends, know, we moved from Florida to Texas this year. The house in Florida closed this week so now I am ready to get the new backyard in shape! There is a concrete patio out back followed by a deck that was poorly stained (not by us). I think this is a difficult area as the transition from patio to deck is a couple inches off. My idea is to remove existing deck and build a new one over the concrete and straight out, one continuous deck. Also to add a pergola structure over the area where the concrete patio currently is. There is a massive crape myrtle in the middle of the backyard and the branches spread maybe 25' across. Since this is one of about 3 trees in the backyard, it must stay. It does block the view of the future pond site, but we just have to work around it. I'm thinking about building in a bench on the far side of said deck on a lower level than the main deck, or else build one step down the entire exterior perimeter of this new deck. It's tricky since the yard is sloped. There is a swingset/fort in the sunny corner of the yard that I think should be relocated to the side yard, right outside the kitchen window. It's sort of leaning right now and needs to be fixed, so why not move it? The pond could go in the side yard, but I think it would make sense for it to be off of this deck, the main feature of the outdoor space. Our neighborhood was designed with all driveways behind the homes so there are no cars parked in front yards. There is a very nice alley behind the house and the new fence has a matching electric gate so the entire backyard is utilized. Some homes have their fences going around the edges of the driveway, but I like the way ours is. Here are some photos to help explain all of this!
This is the view of the back porch from the left of the driveway.
This is looking from the driveway over to the swing set.
This is looking at the back porch from the swing set. There used to be a hot tub on the deck and the heater was natural gas powered. They converted the gas line directly to the grill. It was nice that they left it for us (probably too much hassle to move!). Maybe the new deck could go around this crape myrtle.
This is the side yard where I would like to relocate the swing set thing to. This stretch of yard is maybe 30-40' long and about 15' wide.
And last, here is a direct view of the spot where I would like the pond. From the other side yard!
Now, here is where I need help.
1. Can the new growth at the base of the crape myrtle be cut?
2. The yard is sloped, and although it doesn't rain as much here as it does in Florida, when it does rain there is a lot of run off due to the clay soil. It's not very absorbent. Do we need to build up some top soil to "level" out that one corner of the yard, or do we work with the slope? There is an in-ground sprinkler system that is fairly new that needs to be kept in mind. Also, the alley behind the house is brand new concrete, so we could incorporate some type of overflow to drain onto it. Some of our neighbors with pools have done this.
3. I would like to have a "natural" looking pond like Karen Jenn or Indiana Karen. My space out there is maybe like 15'x30'. Is it possible to pull off a waterfall without a really long stream? Should we set the pond a certain distance from the fence to allow for planting shrubs and or small trees? Maybe a stream could originate by the side yard (point of view from last photo) and go down the slope into the pond?
4. any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks for taking the time to read my rambling!
