I wanted a peaceful and relaxing backyard so a big Koi pond sounded appropriate.
I know enough about ponds to understand that 99 percent of all pond builder's only
regret is that they didn't make the pond larger, so I simply designed the largest pond
that would barely fit.
We started with a blank dirt backyard so anything goes.
The plants and trees near the pond
were chosen to be clean, so as not to deposit leaves into the pond.
Of course if you have a pond, you need a bridge. If you have a bridge, you
need a path. A path has to go somewhere so I lead it to a small plateaued
second patio in the extreme rear of the property. The last seven feet of the
yard slope upward four
feet high so two retaining walls will make for tiny patio, accessed
through an arbor, and not providing a well-defined boundary at the back wall of
the yard.
The other design consideration was no rear lawn to mow. I didn't want a tiny
patch of grass so it's all brick, concrete, plants, or water.
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