Finding peace in the water garden

Vira and Bill Sisolak of Northeast have an oasis in their back yard. In the middle of the busy metropolitan area, they retreat to their garden’s pond for a moment of stillness.

“The sound of bubbling, moving water helps to mask the sound of cars and air conditioners on other buildings,” Mr. Sisolak says. “It muffles city noise.”

Gardening with water can bring an added element to an outdoor setting. From birdbaths and small fountains to waterfalls, ponds and streams, water can give extra sparkle to any yard. It also helps create a peaceful atmosphere.

Installing the Sisolaks’ 10-foot-by-4-foot kidney-shaped pond came about as part of a larger home renovation, says Kevin Winkler, an architect with Wentworth Levine Architect Builder in Silver Spring.

The firm redesigned the kitchen and family room in the house and added a wood deck in the back yard. After those projects were completed, the Sisolaks decided they wanted to change the landscape of the back yard, creating a more desirable view from the family room.

Therefore, Mr. Winkler says, the company created a winding flagstone path with flowers on either side that leads to a pergola, which the Sisolaks added separately. The firm also incorporated the pond as a dominant feature.

“It gives a place to relax and entertain,” Mr. Winkler says. “When you come home from work, it’s a wonderful escape.”

To create the pond, workers dug the shape and put sand in its base. Then a rubber liner was installed to keep the water from seeping into the soil. After that, flagstone was placed on the edges of the pond to match the walkway.

The pond originally was filled with hose water and is usually refilled by the rain. A submerged pump circulates water, which retards algae growth. The moving water, which also flows from a small waterfall on one side of the pond, keeps mosquitoes from the area.

A light in the pond flickers against water irises at night. It also illuminates the water lilies that flourish in the setting. Another floating light, which burns torch fuel, moves across the water, giving more light to the area.

Maintaining the pond is relatively little work, says Mrs. Sisolak, who drains it once a year and scoops out the debris. During the summer, she adds Mosquito Dunks Larvae Killer, which kills the larvae before they become mosquitoes.

“I just sit there and look at it,” Mrs. Sisolak says. “I can do that for at least a half-hour. It’s real easy.”

Chuck Wilson of Vienna enjoys the water feature in his garden so much that he is adding two more ponds to the first 9-foot-deep, 60,000-gallon pond, which was completed this month. The two 4-foot-deep, 3,000-gallon ponds, which are being designed and built by Tilson Landscape Co. in Vienna, will surround a hot tub on 31/2 acres of land. He anticipates that they will be finished in the end of October.

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