Getting rid of a good thing: Saying goodbye to the stock-tank pond
I’m consciously unponding*, and people are freaking out — friends, family members, attendees at a recent Garden Spark talk, and even our young exchange student. By freaking out I really mean expressing disbelief (“I can’t believe you’re getting rid of your pond!”), disappointment (“Oh no, I really liked the pond!”), concern (“Are you sure?”), and consternation (“But it’s what you’re known for!”).
Everyone is right to feel this way, of course, and I’ve experienced many of those feelings myself over the past month as I mulled pulling the plug on my stock-tank pond and then began the process. But the one feeling I haven’t experienced — so far — is regret.
And yet, look — the stock-tank pond truly was beautiful, the centerpiece of my backyard garden, a focal point from multiple vantage points, and a source of pleasure during the warmer months. So why did I do it? Why did I suddenly decide to erase the feature that many of you associate most closely with my garden and with Digging?
Hell if I know.
Reducing maintenance, simplifying for an eventual sale of our house (someday, not imminently), water conservation, boredom — I’ve offered various motives to my puzzled friends. But none seems quite right. Sure, the pond required maintenance but no more than many areas of my garden, and less than some (I’m looking at you, oak sprouts). And yeah, a pond isn’t something most home buyers want, but a stock-tank pond can be quickly dismantled, and we’re not planning to sell anytime soon. Yes, the pond did require topping off every week in the heat of summer, but then again regular garden plants also require water. And how can one be bored with a beautiful, visually cooling pond?
Maybe I just needed a change. Maybe I needed a risk. Maybe I had a perverse desire not to be constrained by what my garden had come to be known for. Whatever the reason, I felt the need to shake things up. And where better to start than with the earliest designed space in my garden?
For the backstory and lots of before-and-after photos, here’s the genesis of the circle garden and creation of the stock-tank pond in a series of 8 posts. Wow, I was such a do-it-yourselfer 10 years ago! And whoa, my blog posts used to get so many comments! Memorieeeeees…
- Going in circles: Designing a circular lawn, February 2009
- Work in progress: The circle garden, March 2009
- Stock tank pond in the works, May 2009
- Stock-tank pond inspiration, July 2009
- Filling up the stock-tank pond, July 2009
- How to make a container pond in a stock tank, July 2009
- Creative paths & paving patterns for the garden, March 2010
- Sunburst stone path around pond, May 2010
Change brings risk. Risk of failure, risk of regret, risk of wtf was I thinking? But hey, if a world-famous designer like Piet Oudolf can rip out his iconic wave hedge and unceremoniously run it through a shredder, I can risk removal of my own little stock-tank pond.
While the stock-tank pond may have been the most iconic feature of my garden, I bet most readers could name a few others: Moby the whale’s tongue agave (gone but not forgotten), and now replaced by a new agave; the succulent cinderblock wall; steel pipe and culvert pipe planters; the blue wall. Did I forget anything?
As my friend Cat told me in the early stage of letting go of the pond, “You don’t have to hang on to something if it isn’t serving you any longer. It’s okay to let go of something good.” I knew this, of course, but it was good to hear it. And maybe it’s good for you to hear me say it. Don’t be afraid to start over, to try something different, to risk a new thing that others (or even you) might find less compelling than the old thing. Gardening is always, always about the process.
I’ve been writing about and photographing my stock-tank pond for more than a decade. I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten an email, blog comment, or Facebook message from a reader thanking me for inspiring them and showing them how to make a stock-tank pond of their own. As my pond makes way for something new, I’m happy to know that other Digging-inspired ponds are out there, delighting their owners with the starry blooms of waterlilies, the darting flash of goldfish, the cooling splash of water, and the swooping of dragonflies.
Carry on, my ponding friends! If you’d like to leave a comment, I’d love to hear if my pond inspired you to make one and/or what you love most about your own stock-tank pond.
*A hat tip to my friend Lori for the Paltrow-esque description.
__________________________
Digging Deeper
Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!
All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I love this. I am wondering, after your description of reactions, if I’m the only one loving this? And WHY do I love it, and is that something I need to explore if my reaction is so beyond the norm?
I thought about this for awhile and came up with several foundations for my reaction. In my twenties, my brother suddenly passed away during the pregnancy of my first child. After this, I knew my own strength. But some years after that, I worried that my strength and resilience were dwindling into desperation for homeostasis and self-protection – a desire to not have to face that sort of shock again. Was I becoming too comfortable and inflexible? The removal of a long-standing pillar of your garden is the willingness to ride with change and recognition that garden beauty is abundant. A practice in plasticity (ironic as that word is).
Something else came to mind. We scurry around our gardens, fretfully trying to control nature. Plants that should be ‘bulletproof’ die, hail and drought and winds and floods happen. Sometimes it feels good to cause that chaos with our own hand.
I recently heard on a podcast that (Ernest Hemingway? Google is not helping me in my forgetfulness here) moved his artwork in his home every two months or so because we become blind to the most wonderful things that stay right in front of us if we don’t change them up. I was more surprised by your change of wallpaper in your lovely entryway than the removal of your pond until I recalled this.
(“Conscious unponding” is the best.)
Kate, thank you for your thoughtful and deeply personal comment. I’m intrigued by your suggestion that sometimes “it feels good to cause chaos with our own hand.” And yes, it’s easy to become blind to what’s right in front of us. In my case I think I tend to obsess about what’s right in front of me – ha! Anyway, no regrets yet about the pond or the wallpaper. 🙂
Hmm. Its just that I coveted your pond. I have two now, not very pretty because they are of the taller stock tank variety due to hungry raccoons. You are, of course, “allowed” to change your landscaping.. sometimes dramatic changes are just what you need to do, but I will miss your pond photos.
Thanks, Cheryl. I’ll miss seeing the pond too, I’m sure, especially when I see those of my friends’. I’m thinking specifically of Cat at The Whimsical Gardener, Lori of The Gardener of Good and Evil, and Jenny of Rock Rose. And as Cat helpfully pointed out to me, if I ever miss the pond too much, I can always put one back in.
Wow. You have every right to change anything you want in your garden. After all, it’s your garden, not mine or anyone else’s. I enjoyed seeing your stock pond though, and I will miss it.
Thanks, Laura. I’m sure I will have moments of missing it too.
Change is good.. Transformation is good.. How great, to choose to be free, from what no longer offered peace and enjoyment. Looks like fun times for you..
It’s true: the pond no longer gave me that sense of peace and contentment. I’m not sure why, but I do love changing things up.
When I cut down our pear trees last spring in the front garden many people had the same reactions you are getting. I had various reasons for doing it – one was too close to water line, wires; I bought the wrong variety and tried to love it over the year but it only made the yellow jackets happy; I needed a change. It took a long time for me to decide to do it, and after I did it opened up the space for so much more sunlight. Then everyone was like, “oh thank God you took them out – your yard looks so much better now.” (Uh, thanks?) Can’t wait to see what’s next in your garden. 🙂
In my experience, nothing upsets people more than seeing a tree come down, even if it’s badly placed or the wrong kind of tree for that spot. Well, of course, trees take a long time to grow, and we should value them. But sometimes removal is the best choice for the rest of the garden, which also deserves to thrive. Good for you for having the courage of conviction, Jen! I’m glad it worked out so well. Hopefully my little change will too.
Above should say years… it was a feature for 9 years. Too fast to comment here. 😉
🙂
I love that you gave yourself the freedom to go with your gut. When are gut-based decisions ever wrong? I fully understand wanting something new after 10+ years–heck, in my case, I get antsy long before I hit the 10-year mark. I applaud you for going through with this. You have wonderful memories (and photos), and they will always be with you.
“When are gut-based decisions ever wrong?” Now you’ve got me thinking, Gerhard! I’m sure I’ve made a couple or three crazy gut-based decisions over the years. But I don’t think this will be one of them. It was time for something new.
To me, it is like moving the furniture around. Do I see a crevice garden in your future?
No crevice gardens here, I think. My garden is too shady.
While I also loved your stock-tank pond, I can appreciate your desire to shake things up. Sometimes you just need to do something big to get yourself out of a rut, even if it’s a pretty comfortable rut. I look forward to seeing how the space evolves.
Thanks, Kris. I keep coming back to the idea of simplifying, simplifying, simplifying. Anyone who has a no-lawn, full-on garden is probably a maximalist, and I am. But as I get older I am planting more shrubs and removing plants that require too much maintenance. Maybe the pond is one of those things.
I don’t have anything near as lovely and dramatic as your pond was but I can assure you I move things in my garden often. I can’t think of anything (that can be moved) that hasn’t been moved. I can’t believe it has been 10 years that you had that pond. Time does fly. I know what ever you do will be fabulous. I can’t believe you missed a good shopping opportunity for a big pot or did you spurge on a specimen plant for that big beautiful pot?
Neither, Lisa! I already had the pot, but the agave that was planted in it was getting too big, with too many pups crowding around the base. And I didn’t need to splurge on the specimen plant for it either, happily. I’m transplanting a beautiful variegated whale’s tongue agave that Austin blogger Jennifer Brown gave me when she relocated to New Zealand a couple of years ago. It’s outgrown a smaller pot and needs to be given more of a spotlight, so this is a perfect throne for it.
I love this post so, so much. Congratulations, Pam!! Doesn’t it feel great to say ‘I was just tired of it!’ That’s how I felt when I moved from my last home. SO MANY PEOPLE said ‘omg – why? Aren’t you going to miss it?’ and you know what – 2 1/2 years later, I’ve never regretted my decision one single day. I think we all crave a bit of ‘newness’ sometimes. And it might be as simple as a new haircut, a new plant, a new garden design, or an entirely new home. I remember relishing the thought of moving somewhere new, of actually getting lost (vs. knowing every single street in my hometown, every single plant in my garden ,etc.) Predictability can often turn into monotony. Good for you. I can’t wait to see what magic you create!!!
Thank you for this, Rebecca. I’ve always known I have a restlessness about homes and gardens and have yet to live in one and think, as so many do, “This is it — my forever home.” I like changing things up too much. What’s interesting to me is how invested other people can get in our choices, which can be validating, even gratifying. But if it makes us second-guess ourselves when we want a change, then it becomes unhealthy. I think when you put your garden in the public eye and essentially celebrate it day after day through your photos (as we garden bloggers do), it encourages a sense of permanence for your readers, even if you don’t feel that sense of inevitability yourself. Of course permanence in the garden, as in life, is just an illusion, and it can be freeing to embrace change.
Is there somewhere in your garden a smaller (accessible) pool for wildlife?
Yes, I have a small fountain with a dish-style top for birds or other creatures who want a drink or a bath.
well, why NOT? the pond was great, of course, but you never lack for equally excellent design ideas, just the space to include them all at once…so BRAVO, I applaud your bravery and look forward Now, For Something Entirely Different! 😉
…and suddenly I hear a can of spray paint and a bench calling me: baby steps, baby steps!!!
Thanks, LCP. And yes, grab that spray paint and get after that bench!
“Let everything that needs to go go. Let everything that needs to come come.” ~Tosha Silver
A serenity and acceptance to aspire to. Thanks, Kathryn.
I know just how you feel Pam ! I had a gazebo demolished , and I’ve redone every bed in my garden probably 5 or 6 times in the 25ish years I’ve lived in this house. My impetus is usually to create room for more plants –if you have a small garden all that real estate is precious. Happy I got to Fling there and see it in person before it bit the dust !
Change is good! I’m glad you and the other Flingers got to see the pond too, although spring was not its best season. But trust me, you would not have wanted to tour our gardens in July or August, when Austin’s ponds really come into their own. 🙂
Wise woman, that Cat. As the Aggies taught me, pruning stimulates growth, and you just pruned that stock tank right off! I look forward to the evolution to come. Our back yard is in flux as well, after installing a new fence and retaining wall, and removing a thicket of hackberry and ivy along the fence line. Right now everything is in a post-construction mud pit stage and, man, change is hard sometimes! I admired your stock pond but I can imagine the work it needed to keep it looking that beautiful; I had a planted aquarium once. You still have your disappearing fountain, right?
Yes, I do, plus the pool of course, so there’s plenty of cooling water for me and for the birds. I will miss the pond dragonflies though. Good luck with your own deconstruction and garden evolution, Caroline!
Ok, ok, I take back my “nooooo”. I am glad I got to see it at the Fling. Yes there are many iconic parts of your garden that you have written about over the years. Your succulent cinderblock wall was immediately bookmarked before we moved to SC. (No still haven’t done it, but still looking for a good place for it). I really do get the need to change things up. I look forward to seeing more of the new garden design. You have always been an inspiration with your gardens.
Haha, thanks, Janet. 🙂 I did have a hot minute in which I considered taking out the cinderblock wall too, but it’s still there (for now). I’ve made a few simplifying changes to that patio as well, you see. 😉
I celebrate with you the energizing possibilities that come from change, and I can’t wait to see where this choice takes you. When we decided to dismantle our landscape company and sell the home where we raised our 4 kids with its lovely English Tudor cottage and 5 acres of glorious gardens (and 3 ponds!), I was blindsided by the good folks who tried to talk us out of it. It seemed many wanted us to continue living their dream (!!) and maintaining what must have appeared to them as quite a bucolic life. Like you, we opened our gardens and home frequently to our community. They were well known and much enjoyed. One day, a well-intentioned friend stopped me in the grocery store and leaned in with horror in her eyes. “You can’t sell Erinshire!” she rasped into my ear. “You ARE Erinshire!” At this point, I had had it. Like you, I had agonized over why we wanted to do this, why we were propelled toward this change. I still wasn’t sure. But in that moment, I gained a bit of clarity. I looked her steadily in the eye and said, “I’m not f—-ing Erinshire. I CREATED it. And that force will be going with me.” That was a life-changing moment for me. We sold and moved to a dilapidated stone bungalow on 3/4 of an acre and I had never felt more energy to re-envision and rethink. So when the time came for the BIG change to the little freeway garden, I may have cried as I stood in what was soon to be MY asphalt backyard with the Mopac traffic whizzing behind me, but I had a certain confidence that what created Erinshire, what created Wit’s End, was coming along with me.
Baby steps of release and revisioning often prepare us for the next leg of the journey, I learned. And besides, they are rejuvenating! So. Happy new garden space! I printed this quote and put it on my fridge as we put Erinshire up for sale. I still wasn’t exactly sure of all the why’s. I just new that part of the journey was closing. The quote traveled with me to the fridge at Wit’s End. Twelve years later, it’s ragged and wrinkled, but it’s still where I can read it every day.
“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” —Buddha
Enjoy this moment of clearing tired space for something breathing new life!
Thank you for sharing this, Cynthia. You’re absolutely right. We are not our gardens. They are a reflection of us at a certain point in time. Your wonderful new Libre garden is well named!
Oh! And the fish are doing great!!
Yay, thanks again for welcoming them into your pond! They must love it, with all that new space to explore.
Isn’t that a main principle of gardening: That it’s ever changing and never finished?
Yes indeed!
Oh gosh, I loved all the above comments. So true, all of them. I started reading your blog, one of the first for me, not too long before you moved to this location. I remember feeling the loss of not being able to read about the previous garden, but it was immediately obvious that you took advantage of time in the “think tank” (pool) to begin creating a wonderful new space. I’ve somewhat fallen away, lured by the immediacy and brevity of Instagram but your blog is almost the only one left on my My Yahoo page as Yahoo ended its support of that wonderful feature and other blogs fell away as that feature has withered on the vine. I loved your stock tank pool and then you did the wonderful sunburst pattern around it and I loved it even more. And if you had a stock tank pool, I didn’t have to do one myself though the possibility was there and rattled around in my brain every new garden season. Now I, too, can let go of that – thank you, Pam! For a year my brain wouldn’t let go of the idea of painting my concrete block shed next to the back of my house black – “Vintage Frame” – the color that I used on the foundation of the bigger wooden shed nearby. Finally this fall I dug in my heels and started, using a roller and brush and wishing constantly that I had bought a paint sprayer. It took a few weeks but I never regretted starting it. Now every time I look out the kitchen window I smile and enjoy the new view. Congratulations on moving into a new phase in your garden. Enjoy every moment of the new view!
Barbara, it’s so true — these ideas rattle around in our heads until we feel compelled to take action, don’t they? I’m glad your shed-painting idea worked out just as you envisioned. I hope my pond re-do will too. But either way, the idea had been rattling in my head for some time, and I knew I needed to try it. And if I’m not enthused about the initial redesign, it’s easy enough to rethink it again.
Thanks too for being a long-time reader. 🙂
Somehow I missed you being on the program in Waco. Hope I get to see it. Good topic!
I’m looking forward to it, Don. And yes, there’s a lot to see on their program!
Ah, I’m a bit sad to see it go! You inspired me to get one of my own, as well as my own Moby and blue bottle tree. I can’t wait to see what you’ll make me want next! 😉
Seriously, the pond sometimes feels like too much, but when it’s looking good, I adore it. Right now, it needs it’s pre-spring clean up desperately.
Last fall, the largest and prettiest of 7 native live oaks in my back yard, predating my home, died from oak wilt (coming underground from a neighbor’s yard). After removal, it’s stunning what a difference it makes. As I ponder whether I will lose the rest, despite treatment, it has saddened me, but also excited me by all the possibilities.
It’s like starting over. What will I put there instead? Should I build the greenhouse/shed in that location (I’ve been trying to figure out where I could put it for years!. And now, you make me realize that moving the pond to a different location or eliminating it is also an option I’d never considered.
Thanks for jogging me out of my set ways.
Vickie, I love your musings here. I too have had a few tree losses since we moved in 11 years ago. It’s devastating when you lose a major tree. But then you start to see the possibilities. For me, with such a densely shaded yard, suddenly to have some sunlight meant a few flowering perennials were possible. I’m glad you’re seeing the possibilities for your yard too. And I’m flattered that my pond — and Moby and bottle tree — inspired you to add similar features to your garden. Enjoy them! For sure late winter is the pond’s most unflattering season, but soon you’ll have waterlilies blooming again and dragonflies zipping around. Or you’ll decide on something else that you’ll end up loving just as much. 🙂
I simply can’t believe your stock tank pond was over 10 years old! As they say, change is good. But it really was a lovely pond. I have the teeniest of stock tank ponds now. And I like the fact that I can easily dump out the water and move it (which I’ve done twice since we moved to Houston). I can’t wait to see how your area turns out. Simplify before a move is good planning.
Thanks, Jean. I brought my old 2-foot tank with me from my old garden too, although now it’s a planter. Those little ones are definitely easier to move!
You go girl! I got similar reactions from my social media followers one autumn when I let a red banana (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’) freeze and die. They couldn’t believe I wouldn’t try and save it and offered so much advice on what to do. Nope. Bye-bye. It’s your garden, the only one you need to make happy is yourself.
Words to live by. Thanks, Loree.
This change brings back a lot of memories for me, too! When we lost our stunning Doublefile Viburnum one winter, it let us build the rock wall and new driveway because it had been right where we wanted to put steps. We would not have done it with out the shrub’s death, but now we have quite a list of trees and a hedge that have to go. We get tired of an idea that seemed brilliant 20 years ago but our tastes, weather and energy have all changed. I look forward to watching your new space as it develops and continues to change.
I remember when you built your rock wall and new driveway, but I’d forgotten it was made possible by the death of the viburnum. Change brings opportunity. And you’re right that over the years our tastes and energy level — and now the weather! — change too. A garden is an ephemeral art form, changing not only from season to season but disappearing entirely without the gardener. It simultaneously makes you live in the moment and think ahead to the next season.
Change is inevitable, so why not embrace it? :^)
Or even cause it! 😉
Oh, yes, personal gardens have to keep us constantly inspired and filled with future plans, so I’m with you on this, Pam!
Onward and upward!
Sounds like it was the right thing to do, for so many reasons. I liked the stock tank, and I’m glad I had a chance to see it during the Austin Fling. But I like the new treatment of the space, too, and I’ll look forward to your photos and descriptions of that part of the garden as you re-create it.
Thanks, Beth. I’m having fun planting the new space.
Choosing change is the best kind! I will admit I was worried that something bad had happened that required the pond to leave. So choosing to change because you want to is always great… And your plans for the area sound wonderful! I can’t wait to see what new things you come up with!
Nope, nothing bad! Probably whatever goes in instead will never be quite as beautiful as that pond was, but that’s OK. It was time for a change. And change is fun!
Wow! I am loving this change.
The best gardening advice I’ve ever followed was that if something wasn’t working, even if it’s a lovely plant, change it. It’s so freeing to know that it’s okay to trade one good thing for another good thing. Our garden has to inspire us. Great job following your instincts. Oh, and thanks for the plinth idea…I’m borrowing it.
Thanks, Michelle! Oh, and borrow away. 🙂
[…] Taking out the stock-tank pond opened up a partly sunny spot in my shady garden. You can bet I wasn’t going to let that go to waste! Inside a new circle of diminutive ‘Micron’ hollies, which echo the form of ‘Winter Gem’ boxwoods at the entryways, I planted pollinator-friendly flowering perennials and annuals. […]
Hi Pam,
Sorry to ask a question from a long time ago- but I wondered if you can remember roughly how many of your 120 Agave ovatifolia pups you planted up from your old plant survived and grew? Did you keep many? Can you imagine the space needed to grow them if all of them had survived?! 🙂
That agave is a wonderful plant and not one that you could commonly find in the UK and from reading your posts its not that common in the US too. Its one on my wish list- so was immensely jealous when I saw all your pups! If only I was in the US!
PS Any help for our pollinators is a great thing in my mind- and its always at the front of my mind when selecting plants for my garden. Im enjoying watching our leaf cutter bees which have just appeared in my garden. I look forward to seeing how your new space evolves- its always nice to have a new project to work on!
Hi Owen. I’m always happy to reminisce about Moby and the pups. Of the 120, I kept 6 for myself, and I’ve lost two since then. So I still have 4 of them growing in pots. You’re right that they get big, so I will keep them in pots for probably several more years, maybe giving away one or two as they become larger. Hopefully I’ll have one or two just the right size to replace a mature agave in my garden the next time one blooms.
Nearly all of the 120 that I potted up survived the initial couple of months, at which point I started giving them away. Here’s a blog post about the giveaways.
Agave ovatifolia is actually very common and easily found in nurseries here in Austin. I’ve also seen it growing in Dallas and San Antonio here in Texas, as well as in other states like North Carolina, Arizona, California, and Portland, Oregon. What a pity it’s not easily found in the U.K., but it looks like Plant Delights Nursery will ship to the U.K. While they’re sold out of Agave ovatifolia right now, it says their next batch will be available on 9/25/2020.
Hello,
What about turning the inherited swimming pool into a pond?
Nope. It’s the only thing that allows me to be outdoors in a Texas summer.