Jan Cassell looks over her backyard pond, an 8,000-gallon paradise for some three dozen fish, countless frogs, toads, dragonflies — and her.
The 40-by-20-foot water feature is surrounded by a variety of carefully chosen trees, shrubs, flowers and other plants, annuals and perennials alike. The result is a natural-looking environment.
“The pond is a sculpture-free zone,” Cassell says. “That’s important to consider: Are you going to have mermaids, birds on a stick, gazing balls? We’ve seen a lot of ponds that are beautiful but are destroyed by the cuteness factor.”
See Saturday’s Style section for more about how she make a man-made pond project into a natural wonder.