The 2009 Austin Pond Tour was this last weekend, July 18-19. It was my first time going on the tour, and I'm so glad I set aside time for it, though I didn't get to go to all the ponds, just mostly ones on Saturday. Such beautiful water features across Austin! I was most impressed. Some were engineering feats, others were just plain huge, and still others kept the "Keep Austin Weird" motto fully alive. I took hundreds of pictures of the gardens I visited, which is way too many for a blog, so I'll give you a highlight. It's still a lot of photos -- sorry!
I really appreciate the Austin pond owners opening up their yards and giving us all so much of their time to let us visit their ponds. I think every yard was incredible, and though I can't show all the pictures here, nor did I get to visit every home on the tour, I truly wish I could share a glimpse of all the wonderful yards we saw. The night-time shots, as expected, didn't turn out, but if I could share with you the wow factor presented by those ponds, I would.
I found that I was particularly drawn to the owner-built, whimsical ponds, so you'll see more pictures of those in this selection.
These last photos are all from one home. Believe me, I'm not even showing you half of the cool stuff at this place. :)
Wave goodbye! Thank you again, Austin Pond Tour home owners and volunteers!
Meredith:
Thanks so much for sharing your highlights of the Austin Pond Tour. I was hoping to go on the Sunday tour and missed out. Now I don't feel quite so bad having seen your great photos. The Laptop Gardener
I can't believe I missed it this year. It looks like there were a lot of ponds I haven't seen before. Your coverage was excellent. We have six ponds and ours tend toward the more natural look complete with catfish and perch to go with the Koi and gold fish. However the whimsical ponds looked really nice as well.
What a great tour! Thanks for sharing. I would love to have a pond, but I don't think I'd have the time to care for it. -Jackie
Hello Meredith,
That looks like it was very fun to see all those ponds and water features. That snake was very big, I actually think they are NOT gross. It's the spiders that creep me out.
Nice tour!
Rosey
Hi Meredith,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment on my woodpecker post. They sure are entertaining, and so sweet :)
The pond tour looks like it was a wonderful day. So many gorgeous ponds, and your photos are fabulous.
Thanks for sharing that.
Oh my word! These are INCREDIBLE! Can you say "envious"! I am so envious of people who have the know how or the money to invest and install such gorgeous ponds! I LOVE them and have admired them from afar for so long. Well, I can dream. And I'll dream through your eyes and pictures. Very beautiful Meredith! It looks like a great tour!