Backyard Makeover: Convert A Pond To A Backyard Oasis

Welcome to the 294th Metamorphosis Monday!

In 1999 Liz who blogs at Infuse With Liz and on her garden blog, Sit With Me In My Garden, added a pond to her backyard. The pond eventually grew into a much larger scale project that included a creek with extensive plantings.

Liz and her hubby, Dan enjoyed the pond for many years but in spring of 2009 they decided they were ready for a change. The pond, creek and surrounding landscape had reached the point where it required a fair amount of work to maintain.

Dan and Liz came up with a great plan and Dan got to work filling in the large hole left by the removal of the pre-formed pond.

Fill in Pond To Create New Patio

 

Liz and Dan were able to do all the work themselves with the help of their garden tractor. Liz said, “The John Deere garden tractor with its mini front-end loader has paid for itself with all the projects it’s done for us.”

Replace Pond With Fountain and Flagstone Patio, Garden Makeover 02

 

Job done…hole all filled in!

Replace Pond With Fountain and Flagstone Patio, Garden Makeover 03

 

One of the keystone pieces to making over this area of the backyard was going to be a water feature, a big, beautiful fountain weighing in at around 880 lbs! Before the fountain could be assembled in its permanent location, Liz and Dan poured a 5-inch thick cement pad foundation. After it was inspected for quality control by the resident canine inspector and found acceptable, 🙂 it was time for the next stage: assembling the fountain.

Replace Pond With Fountain and Flagstone Patio, Garden Makeover 04

 

Using their trusty garden tractor, Dan placed the base of the fountain in the exact spot he had pre-measured and planned for it to go.

Replace Pond With Fountain and Flagstone Patio, Garden Makeover 05

 

Once the fountain was assembled, it was time for the moment of truth…would the water flow? It did! (For more information about this beautiful fountain and the manufacturer, be sure to visit Liz’s blog linked at the end of the this post.)

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Liz and Dan surrounded the fountain with a stone wall, creating a wonderful courtyard.

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In 1999 Dan and Liz built a flagstone patio in their backyard. The patio was extended with this transformation, making the new courtyard a seamless addition to their previous design.

Replace Pond With Fountain and Flagstone Patio, Garden Makeover 08

 

Next Liz and Dan brushed very finely crushed stone they called “Diamond Dust” into all the little crevices and gaps between the flagstone pieces. The crushed stone/dust was sprinkled with water which helped it to harden.

Ready to see the “After?”

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Beautiful! Truly a backyard paradise! Love the gazing globes Liz placed in her backyard…do you see the clear one there on the right? It looks like a big, beautiful bubble left by the garden faeries who must surely visit this lovely garden!

Backyard Makeover, Pond Become Flagstone Patio With Fountain

 

Liz divided up her existing Hostas and they are flouring, filling in the area around the courtyard beautifully. Liz also stained two benches for this outdoor “room.” They provide the perfect spot to sit and enjoy the view and music of the fountain.

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Liz and Dan created this amazing garden paradise all by themselves working in the evenings each night over a period of two months. They spaced the work out to avoid overdoing it and injuring their backs with all the heavy lifting that was needed to complete this project.

Backyard Makeover, Pond Become Flagstone Patio With Fountain

 

Do you have a large project to do in your home that keeps being put on the back burner because it feels so overwhelming? The secret is to just start. Plan the project and then…start. Work on it for an hour or two each day and eventually you’ll be where Liz and Dan are today, thrilled with the satisfaction of a job completed and ready to be enjoyed!

To see additional photos and read more about this wonderful backyard transformation, check out Liz’s post at Sit With Me In My Garden

Replace Pond With Fountain and Flagstone Patio, Garden Makeover 10

 

Looking forward to seeing what you’ve been working on!

 

Met Monday

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In order to link up, you’ll need to include a link in your MM post back to the party so the other participants will have an opportunity to receive visits from your wonderful blog readers.

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Only link up Before and After posts that are home, gardening, crafting, painting, sewing, cooking, DIY related.

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Comments

  1. Ah…to have a yard that size would be wonderful…so much space to dream!

  2. Susan, thanks for hosting, and sharing Liz and Dan’s beautiful outdoor space. That was quite a project!

  3. Definitely a gorgeous backyard oasis…I could sit out there for hours! Thanks for the party!

  4. What a beautiful garden addition and transformation! Thanks for sharing it Susan 🙂

  5. I would never want to leave that oasis! Stunning!

  6. Yes, stunning! This is something I wish we had done when we renovated our landscape (even had utilities added to accommodate). Oh well (no pun intended), I can live it vicariously through those featured on beautiful blogs like this. Thank you for sharing, and for hosting us, Susan. Now, I need to get back to work on readying things for my barn sale that I’m sharing a preview of this week. It’s a fun project! Have a great week.

  7. Liz’s garden is amazing! Thanks for the party and have a great week.
    xx,
    Sherry

  8. Wow what a great outdoor space. I love the sound of water because it is so relaxing. Thanks for hosting!

    Shannon – bohemianjunktion.com

  9. Wow. That is one huge wow. We’re at the point where we’re deciding whether to move or renovate on entire backyard. This is very inspiring. Looks amazing and like a delightful place to spend time.

  10. Susan,
    Liz’s yard is amazing!! Thanks for sharing it with us!! Thanks so much for the party!!

    Hugs,
    Debbie

  11. That is a gorgeous transformation! Thanks so much for sharing it with us!!!! And thanks again for hosting your wonderful party! XO

  12. Oh Wow! This is a gorgeous transformation. That fountain is stunning! Thank you for sharing this, Susan and Liz. laurie

  13. What a gorgeous outdoor space!! Thanks so much for hosting Susan!

  14. Oh Susan thank you for the feature- I am honored! I look back on this and am amazed at all we accomplished.

  15. I can’t believe they did that themselves! What an oasis! Thanks for the party Susan~

  16. Gorgeous space and Thank you so much for the party! Have a great week!
    Leslie

  17. Amazing backyard! Thanks for the party! Happy Fall! Melissa

  18. What a gorgeous lawn transformation! Thanks for hosting again this week 🙂

  19. Susan,
    As soon as I saw the fountain,
    I knew this was my friend, Liz’s second blog!!!
    Her yard is gorgeous!!!
    It always amazes me the amount of work,
    talent and creativity my fellow blogging friends have!
    Always inspiring ideas at Metamorphosis Monday!
    Thank you for hosting each week!!!
    Fondly,
    Pat

  20. Beautiful garden makeover! Her yard is truly a garden oasis in every sense of the words. I love every bit of it. Thanks for sharing all their hard work and the beautiful end results!

  21. Thanks for the party Susan! I think Liz’s patio(s) is bigger than my whole yard. It is gorgeous!!!!!

  22. Absolutely stunning! We took out our pool last year and hope to do something similar someday. Thanks for hosting and have a glorious fall week! Jane

  23. This is a beautiful makeover! Thanks for sharing the beautiful patio and fountain.

  24. What a wonderful make-over, Susan! The fountain reminds me of some that I have seen in France! Have a great week!…hugs…Debbie

  25. OUTSTANDING!! What a beautiful project and the enjoyment now and to come!! We are DIY’s, too…we salute you!!! franki

  26. Carolyn Price says

    Beautiful, just breath-takingly beautiful! It looks so tranquil! A fabulous Met Monday share!!

  27. pam ~ crumpety cottage says

    Very pretty! I love the sound of water fountains. I imagine that area is truly an oasis for them. And I love all the background trees. Now, Liz and Dan, are you available for other yard projects? 😀 (I promise to feed you – I’m a good cook.)

  28. Love the new garden. It looks great! Thanks so much for hosting.
    KC

  29. Love the yard! Thanks for hosting another fun party. Have a great week.

  30. Wow that is amazing! Absolutely gorgeous,and so tranquil! Thanks so much for hosting!

  31. So beautiful! they sure did an amazing job…Cx

  32. The fountain looks gorgeous and the yard is so beautiful!
    Thanks so much for hosting a wonderful party!

  33. That is a beautiful backyard transformation, and the fountain is gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing and for hosting this party, Susan!

  34. Speechless! Thank you for sharing this! I love to be introduced with great gardening blogs filled with inspiration!

  35. Absolutely beautiful! They did such an amazing job! Thanks for sharing Susan and thanks for the party!

  36. Wow! They did an awesome job — love that glass ball! Thanks for hosting and for sharing that beautiful yard, Susan. 🙂

  37. Thank you for sharing such an amazing transformation!! Lovely party! Have a great week. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

  38. Gorgeous yard and fountain. What a lovely place to sit. Thank you for hosting.
    Have a great week.

  39. Just gorgeous. What a tranquil place to sit and read a book, water is so calming.
    Thank you Susan for sharing Liz and Dan’s garden.

  40. What a beautiful makeover. Magazine worthy.

    Madonna

  41. What an incredible project!!!

    Lovely couple did a great job.

    TY for sharing, Susan.

  42. Liz and Dan’s new outdoor space is GORGEOUS! I love that they did it all themselves. Great teamwork! Thanks for sharing and hosting, Susan!

  43. Wow…such a beautiful space Liz and Dan have created. Thank you so much for sharing their project and for hosting. Hope your week is great!

  44. woowee! I sure would love to sit in that garden and listen to the water trickle….thanks for hosting and sharing

  45. What a wonderful patio! Thanx for the party Susan.

  46. I love Liz and her blog…will be going over and reading all about the fountain and gorgeous patio that surrounds it…a magnificent yard….Thanks for hosting Susan..have a wonderful week!

  47. Simply amazing!!!!
    Thanks for sharing the progression with us.
    I cannot imagine such a large scale project in our
    yard without professionals. I am so impressed!
    Just perfect.
    🙂
    Alison

  48. Susan, thank you for sharing Liz’s fountain adventure. I visit both of her blogs but only met her recently, so I wasn’t around during her transformation. It is so lovely and lush! I like how you show projects of others as well as your own. It’s all such good stuff! Thank you for hosting Met Monday again today. More good stuff. 🙂
    Blessings!

  49. Thanks so much for the party.

  50. thank you so much for posting this in, its come at a very comely time for me as Dh and I are pondering on what to do with our pond. We’ve had enough of the maintenance of it and it requires lots here over summer, and so when I read this post, I immidiately told dh, and we think that this is what we’ll do too. Maybe not the carzy paving, but we will brick pave and add a few benches and voila a gorgeous brand new sitting area!

  51. I love this patio, and the fact that they did it themselves and that the vision was their own makes all the more special.

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