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THE POND: A COOL IDEA
By Mary Reid Barrow | Correspondent
MARY REID BARROW PHOTOS | SPECIAL TO THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Gwynn Trinder, above, says she sometimes gets lost in the tranquility of the pond she and her husband had built in her Virginia Beach backyard about a year ago.
ON ONE OF THE HOTTEST DAYS of the summer, the air around Gwynn and Jay Trinder’s serene backyard pond was cool and calming. Trickling water moving over two waterfalls was like a backyard air conditioner pumping away, though the sounds were musical and pleasant. Or could it be that the sight and sound of moving water just made one feel cooler?
The Trinders built the pond in their Bay Colony yard in Virginia Beach just a year ago, and already it is a great draw. Grownups, seeking respite from the heat and the chaos of daily living, enjoy it.
The Trinders’ children, Cole, 10, and Carr, 6, and their friends love playing around the water and the critters that show up to be near the pond, too.
Bullfrogs, green tree frogs and toads are attracted to the water source. The family has seen lizards, birds and more hanging out around the pond. A garter snake has found that the pond – with all of its frogs – is a great dinner table and hangs out under a rock. Butterflies flit into the shallow areas for a sip of water, and birds love that spot, as well.
“In the snow last winter, the pond froze over – all but a little puddle,” Gwynn Trinder said. “And we had about 30 robins there.”
The wildlife is important to the Trinders and their children. “We lived in Montana five years and used to be surrounded by wildlife,” Trinder said. “We needed something to keep us connected.”
The pond was the answer for their new surroundings. It’s always been said that a source of water is the most important thing you can offer to attract wildlife to a garden.
That was one of Trinder’s top priorities when she approached pond designer Shawn Lemke of Beach Groundworks in Virginia Beach. She told Lemke that she wanted a pond to draw wildlife into the yard. The pond design began with an idea that was customized as the building progressed.
By the end the pond had evolved into an area about 20 by 15 feet. It holds 4,000 gallons of water, which circulates via two pump systems.
Two streams and waterfalls, one big where the water tumbles and one small where the water trickles, are the main features. Pond depths range from less than an inch where butterflies hang out to about 3 feet where the fish swim.
Water plants include papyrus, elephant ears, hyacinths, cattails, lotuses, and zebra and corkscrew rush.
Trinder said the pond isn’t nearly as difficult to take care of as she expected it would be. She believes the secret to easy maintenance is a good filter system.
Basic maintenance chores include adding natural beneficial bacteria to help purify the water, scrubbing off algae that grows on wet rocks that are not deep enough for the fish to feed on and hosing off the pump filters.
Though the pond looks beautiful, it is an integral part of a much bigger backyard that adults, children and two big dogs enjoy. A deck and patio, also built by Beach Groundworks, a butterfly garden, a large wooden play set and a big green lawn where kids and dogs play are all part of the Trinders’ outdoor landscape.
The pond is sturdy enough that the children can even race boats down one of the waterfall areas.
An overturned toy race car rested on one of the bottom rocks, not far from where a huge bullfrog tadpole also rested on a rock. Small koi swim among the plant roots along with a couple of local freshwater sunfish, and a red-eared slider, about the size of a small saucer, swims around the pond and hides under ledges.
“All the kids in the neighborhood love it,” Trinder said. “They all come in and catch the frogs. It’s like science class around here.”
She especially loves her pond in the early mornings and evenings.
“I sit out here and listen to the sounds,” she said. “I get lost in it.”
Mary Reid Barrow, barrow1@cox.net
The pond attracts all kinds of wildlife to the yard as well as the Trinders’ two children, who love to play around the water and race boats down the waterfall.
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