Filling in the Pool

When we bought our house, we inherited a large, above-ground swimming pool. We did not need the pool and did not want to maintain a pool, so we had it dismantled. When the pool was removed, we were left with a very large "circle" of clay and sand. We used to joke that it looked like an alien landing pad, as if a space ship had landed in our backyard, burning up the earth below. We knew we would have to do alot of work to cultivate the garden that we had envisioned.

The first year after we had the pool removed, the soil quality was so poor and the only thing that would grow were sunflowers and native grasses. Every time it rained, a huge pool of water would collect in the circle due to the fact that the soil contained so much clay.

We realized that we would have to build raised beds and haul in alot of rich soil/peat moss/ mulch/etc. And that is exactly what we did-- the second year.

We dug out quite a bit of clay (in the flower beds) and then filled it in with soil. We designed the flower beds to complement the circular shape left behind by the pool. We planted grass around the raised beds. My husband created a vegetable garden, which sits adjacent to the circle garden. This photo shows the final layout (minus all the flowers and shrubs that now fill the garden).

And since we were digging out the clay, we decided to dig a little more and put in a fish pond-- during the third year. We used a "natural filtration system," which relies upon the double-tier pond you see in the photo. Water from the big/bottom pond gets pumped up to the small/upper pond, which is filled with lava rocks. The water is cleaned by the lava rocks right before it flows back into the large pond.

During the fourth, fifth and sixth year, we slowly added flowers, shrubs and even a small dogwood tree that I got from the Pittsburgh Garden Swap.

Now, in our seventh year, the circle and vegetable gardens are amazing. We have planted many plants and shrubs that attract butterflies and birds, including bee balm and a large butterfly bush. I am lazy-waterer, so I've planted a lot of things that don't require regular watering. We have also added a bird bath, a bird feeder and a birdhouse, which was taken over by a very loud bird, which my family nicknamed "Bossy Bird." And our beloved fish have gone on to the big pond in the sky, SO, we filled the pond in with canna, grasses and elephant ears.

Over the years, the soil has settled in the raised beds, and I have been thinking that I should probably dig out some portions of the flower beds and fill them in with more soil...but, I'll have to see how much energy I have this spring.

-Renae, Pittsburgh