This summer sure is flying by, but I guess they all do. I just said last night how I wish summer could last forever… *sigh* But on with this post of the next phase of my koi pond in Studio Gardens. (Studio Gardens is the name I’ve given my garden right outside my art studio, totally original I know. Hah!)

So, the last I’ve updated you on was putting new pavers under the deck to make a nice clean patio for my studio gardens. We only had enough to do half, but that’s a 100% improvement from last year where I walked through dirt and had to pull weeds all the time just to sit down. I’ve got plans this week to go get more pavers. Oh, if you’re wondering if we can’t work a measuring tape, we can. It’s just that I changed my mind on where I wanted to use these pavers… imagine that! You can see that post here. Here’s a photo I took while I was doing some Midnight Gardening. Mysterious, eh? (I love it!)

My husband, who is a Virgo (God love him), wasn’t happy with the waterfall that we had previously. He wanted more splash and noise. I on the other hand, was quite content with the previous one and had my concerns about splashing water and having to use the bathroom more often. But once he gets set on something, that’s it. It will be done (eventually). I have learned this after 20 years of marriage. In order to get my koi pond finished (it’s been years in the making at various stages) I had to comply. Isn’t that the way it goes, you want something done and 15 other things pop up that have to be done first. ugh. Below is a pic from last year. It’s kinda hard to see but it was all flat rock and of course I had plants all over it.

Luckily, we had the rock already from the previous pond we had so we just had to go and buy more pond liner for the big pool that was to be up top of pond (using gravity) and allow water to cascade over the rocks making happy splashing sounds thus making hubby happy. We got the liner, dug a hole, built it up and started arranging rocks. And re-arranging rocks. And re-arranging rocks… I told you he was a Virgo, right? (if you’re unsure what makes a Virgo, go Google it and you will quickly see what I’m talking about) And I’m nothing if not practical, so I let him do it. (I’m a Taurus – patient). Plus, Asher wanted to help and liked placing the rocks as seen in a few pics below.

back view of soon to be new waterfall looking towards greenhouse and art studio

We had to build up the spot with dirt so gravity would help then covered it in new liner

This is the spillway for overflow of water when it rains. It flows into the lake, this hasn’t changed.

Here they are re-arranging rocks and it’s getting dark.

I got Asher to pose for me, which is not easy these days. We’re calling it quits for the night.

Behind the new reservoir will be flat rock he says. Hmmm… we’ll see. This seems to be going on forever. Did I mention that after all this work we didn’t have a strong enough pump to give it the umph he was after? Typical. Oh well, it is pretty and I like it.

The next morning I took a pic from the deck looking down at our handy work.

And here we see where it was left at. It has changed a tiny bit since this picture but not enough for me to go out, take another pic, upload it, yada yada yada… mostly I’ve moved my plants around. We did put mulch in-between a few of the flagstones to see how it looked and how it held up. It did pretty good for the short tern so far, time will tell. We do plan to add mulch into all the cracks. I personally wanted small river rock so it wouldn’t turn into dirt for weeds to grow in and also not run into the pond during rain, but I lost out and I’m not fighting it until I get this thing finished.

You know how doing one thing landslides into 15 other things being done and sometimes first? Oy. Now the Virgo’s plan is to make a narrow walking deck along the lake side of the pond to have a vanishing point and a place for the mulch to stop at. Also to walk around the pond, of course. But, in order to do that another trip to the lumber yard and probably countless hours that he doesn’t have. Will it never end?! I’ve given up on waiting for it to be finished, I’m just working around everything as though this is it. Call it denial, whatever. I’ve moved on… to another project myself! Rustic steps that go down our hill from the front yard (and parking area), follow along my greenhouse and lead to exterior doors of my art studio!

Have I ever made steps before? Nope. Will that stop me? Nope. I’ve already got a lot of it done (with more of this flagstone) but that my friend is another post for another day! Thanks for following along! What summer projects have you got going on? Leave your complaints comments in the comment section 😉

Oh but before I leave, a quick beauty shot of my koi ❤