VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY -- The Natural Perspective

The experts tell us the rain is over for the season. We suppose that’s a

sure sign you’ll find this Thursday’s paper soaked in the driveway. But

for the purposes of our column, let’s assume the experts are right.

According to the National Weather Service, big changes lay ahead with

weather that’s going to shift more rapidly than a politician’s views in

an election year. They say that due to global warming, we’re headed for

an extended drought.

In these times of added stress to the environment, our thoughts turn to

the native plants and wildlife. We worry about their survival. How to

best translate that concern into action is where Vic and I head in

different directions.

My solution to the drought is to add a beautiful pond and stream to the

front landscaping, using a recirculating water system. The birds and

other animals that use our yard need fresh water.

I explained my scheme to my beloved spouse, naively thinking that I would

enlist his aid in this noble endeavor. Vic pointed out that I already

have three birdbaths in the backyard and one in the front.

Where he sees a surplus, I see an imbalance. An imbalance that, in my

mind, is best corrected by the installation of a waterfall, shallow

bird-bathing pool, flowing stream and, finally, a goldfish pond in the

frontyard.

A big goldfish pond.

Coffee cup in hand, I led him into the yard and outlined my plans,

thinking that my vision would translate into action on his part. You’d

think after 25 years of being together that I would have known him

better.

Vic harrumphed and used the lame excuse that he had to go to work,

leaving me alone with a shovel. Big mistake. I know how to use the shovel

and am under doctor’s orders to get more exercise.

I set about removing the Korea grass that had overgrown our preexisting

fake stream, which was installed years ago by the original owner of our

house. The stream is actually a dry well that acts as a water catch basin

during times of heavy rain.

That’s another problem with the climate changes that are to come. The

shifts in weather will be more dramatic. If we’re not having a drought,

then we’ll get too much rain for the ground to soak up at once.

Day by day, I slowly peeled back the grass, uncovering a lovely stream

bed of cobblestones. With tape measure and level, plus a lot of hours of

contemplation between digging stints, I laid out the pond and determined

where the waterfall and stream should go.

I wanted a waterfall that would fit naturally into our landscape. I

wanted an auxiliary pond shallow enough for the birds to use, and a main

pond that was deep enough that frogs might be tempted to use it. This

meant that I needed a free-form system rather than a convenient,

prefabricated plastic shell.

Slowly the waterfall, stream, and two ponds took shape.

I’ve heard you can install a pond in your yard in a weekend. Yeah, right,

maybe if you’re Martha Stewart and you have Norm Abrams and his crew to

help.

I suppose Martha would be out there making her own water by combining

hydrogen and oxygen. Maybe Martha would have had the common sense to make

a small pond rather than the lake I envisioned. I wanted a pond large

enough to function as a miniature ecosystem, one that would survive

nicely on its own with only a small pump to recirculate the water.

After looking at my pond outline, Vic thinks it’s large enough to have

its own climate, but he’s prone to exaggeration.

Now that I’m part of the way through my wonderful wildlife habitat

enhancement project, I have some advice for those of you who are tempted

to follow in my footsteps.

Don’t buy your plastic pond liner before you’re finished digging the pit

for the pond. It’s going to take more liner than you thought.

Don’t buy your pump until you fill the pond with water and determine the

volume of the pond. It’s going to hold more water than you thought.

And don’t think your husband is going to become excited about every home

improvement project that you think up. But I’ll bet the wildlife that

uses our yard will appreciate it.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at o7 vicleipzig@aol.comf7 .