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What they’re actually talking about is sitting beside the water feature in their own backyards. More and more St. Louisans are becoming passionate about their ponds. On the weekend of June 23-24 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day, you can see what all the fuss is about at the St. Louis Water Gardening Society’s Pond-O-Rama. During the two days, 49 society members will open their water gardens to the public. Included on the tour will be some of the most beautiful and dramatic private gardens in the Greater St. Louis area. As much as possible, gardens that are in close proximity will be shown on the same day. Sites in both Missouri and Illinois will be available on both days and society members will be on hand to answer questions and give advice.

Tickets for the Pond-O-Rama are $15 per person and include membership in the St. Louis Water Gardening Society for the remaining half of the year. Tickets are required for adults only. Children 17 and under are free.“It’s a wonderful chance for people to see what other people have done,” says Joan Woelfel, president of the St. Louis Water Gardening Society.

Many of the water gardens on the tour border on the spectacular. One features a 35-foot waterfall that crashes onto a rocky landscape, while another is a backdrop for a model railroad. There’s a garden that incorporates a children’s playground, highlighted by a zip-line that crosses a waterfall. Probably the most elaborate water feature involves a network of streams, ponds and waterfalls, all of which funnel into a lushly landscaped swimming pool.

Not all water gardens are so elaborate. What draws many people to water gardening, says Woelfel, is the ease with which they can embark on a backyard project. “People are learning that they can dig a hole, put in a liner and start a water garden. It’s not something that has to be horribly expensive. A lot of it they can do themselves.”

As the interest in water gardening has increased, materials have improved. “Ten or 20 years ago, (pond) liners were thin and they got holes in them. Now, they are thicker. Pumps have gotten much better and there are skimmers to help clean the gunk out of the pond,” she notes. “A lot of people start off with a small pond. They fall in love with the sound of the water and the wildlife the pond attracts. Eventually, they’re sorry they made it so small and they make it bigger.”

Often water features provide a way to dramatically beautify a difficult landscaping situation. In Woelfel’s case, a grassy slope at the end of her driveway became more and more difficult to mow. Her brother-in-law, landscape contractor John Nies, designed a garden for her backyard that included a waterfall and stream beginning at the problem area, encompassing her deck and ending in a small pond.

“I did all the other landscaping he suggested but I held off on the waterfall and stream because they were more expensive,” she recalls. “Finally, I bit the bullet. From the first day they dug the hole and some water got in it, the water feature began to attract wildlife. I began to hear frogs and toads singing. Now birds come and take baths in the shallower parts of the stream and butterflies drink from the tiny pools where water has splashed out onto the rocks. I can sit on my deck and hear the sound of the water. I have goldfish. Koi come up to me and expect to be fed. A lot of people mention the word ‘paradise’ when they talk about their water feature, and I agree with that.”

Where to Get Pond-O-Rama Tickets

Pond-O-Rama tickets are available at a number of locations throughout the St. Louis area. They are $15 per person and include a trial membership in the St. Louis Water Gardening Society.

*Locations in Missouri include: Ace Hardware, Des Peres; the Best of Nature Water Garden Centers, Webster Groves and St. Peters; The Bug Store, St. Louis and Kirkwood; Crabapple Cove Nursery, Oakville; Eureka Feed Station, Eureka; Frisella Nursery, Defiance; Hartke Nursery, Olivette; Hillerman Nursery and Florist, Washington; Kirkwood Material Garden Nursery, west St. Louis County; Kirkwood Material West, Eureka; Kirkwood Material Supply, Kirkwood; Pets Plus & Water Gardens, St. Charles; The Pond Guys, St. Peters; Sugar Creek Gardens, Kirkwood; Summer Winds at Timber Creek Nursery, Ellisville; Sunset Plantland, south St. Louis County; and Walter Knoll Florist in St. Louis, Webster Groves, Ballwin and O’Fallon.

*Illinois locations include: Effingers Garden Center, Belleville; Fetters Landscaping & Garden Center, Troy; and The Garden Kingdom in Glen Carbon.

*Tickets also can be ordered by mail from the St. Louis Water Gardening Society’s website, slwgs.org. Discount tickets are available for garden club members and other groups purchasing 10 or more tickets. They must be ordered through Alice Gibson, 618-876-1628 or alice2942@charter.net, or Ted West, 314-842-4484, deartedw@aol.com.

The St. Louis Water Gardening Society

Founded in 1990, Members vary from those simply interested in learning more about water gardening to those already having a water feature in their own backyard. It also includes retailers who sell water garden plants and landscape contractors who design and install them.

The group meets on the third Tuesday of each month, January through October from 7-9 p.m. in the Beaumont Room at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and welcomes visitors. Programs cover a wide range of topics related to water gardening and include an “Ask the Experts” panel discussion. Plant swaps take place at meetings. Dues are $20 and include two tickets to the Pond-O-Rama.

Funds from the Pond-O-Rama will be used for the society’s ongoing volunteer commitment to the design, planting and maintenance of the water lily ponds in front of the Jewel Box in Forest Park.