Published: April 26, 2008 10:36 pm         

Accenting yards

Landscaping is worth the time and thought it involves

No matter what season it is, there is always something blooming in Elaine Eudy’s yard.

The front of her home is accented with a water garden. All different kinds of flower beds wrap around her home, and another water garden sits in her backyard.

Eudy has a bed of roses, a strawberry patch and a row of irises in her garden. The entrance of her backyard features a white arch that reads “God Bless this Garden.”

“When you Iook at gardens, surely you’ve got to believe in God when you see all those flowers,” Eudy said. “It is so relaxing.”

Eudy agrees that every garden tells a story. Her yard features a vintage lawn mower, handmade bench, an old pump, a chair that belonged to her mother and a John Deere plow that belonged to her family’s store growing up.

Eudy has spent 10 years working to make sure the landscape surrounding her home is eye-catching. She frequently spends time outside perfecting the area when weather permits.

Her most prized possessions are her two water gardens.

She and her daughter put in one in front of her house featuring a lighthouse, fish and ceramic frogs. A larger water garden in her backyard features a ceramic boy who is fishing along with several fish and water lilies.

“It’s something I wanted to do when I retired,” Eudy said about her landscape work.

Diane Welsh and her husband, Tac, also have a water garden in their backyard.

“We drew up our plans for our backyard pond after researching and studying other ponds,” Diane said. “We knew that we wanted two levels with three waterfalls. Then we met with a pond installer who agreed that the design would work.”

Diane said the tricky part was leveling the water, and keeping a balance between the fish, plants and water.

“Once you get it balanced, it’s minimal work,” she said.

Plants used in the water garden include yellow and white water lilies, yellow and white water iris, with ground vegetation filling in between the rocks around the perimeter to give the pond a natural woodland setting.

“A weeping cherry tree along with a bronze blue heron was added in the final touches,” Diane said. “The pond is the home to a few frogs and Koi fish. The pond, fitting naturally into our landscape, has given us many hours of enjoyment when we sit on our patio.”

Joe Scheidler, owner of Springcreek Landscaping and Nursery, said many prefer water gardens because they are focal points for landscape.

The sound of water flowing is relaxing, he said, and water is a magnet for life.

“It attracts all kinds of animal life,” Scheidler said.

Water gardens take regular maintenance, he said.

“Too many people put them up and walk away from them,” he said.

Water gardens can also be expensive.