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Area ponds focus of annual tour

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The Hill Country offers a breathtaking landscape complete with lakes, hills and wildlife, but for some Cedar Park and Leander residents, they need look no farther than their back yard to find nature's beauty. This weekend they'll share their back yards with others in the area.

The Austin Pond Society's 14th annual Pond Tour features six local residents' backyard splendor on Sunday, July 20. The tour, which runs Saturday and Sunday, is self-guided and raises awareness of the joys of water gardening, said Heather James, co-chair of the event.

Of the six local ponds, three have been previously featured as part of the tour, while the other three are new. “This is the most we've ever had on the tour from Cedar Park and Leander,” James said.

This year's largest pond, a five-year-old, 25,000-gallon pond complete with waterfall, stream, koi and lilies, is located in Leander and is new to the tour. The smallest pond is 350 gallons.

This year's tour features more than 47 ponds at 28 locations throughout the Austin area. The tour on Saturday features ponds in the South Austin area, while Sunday features North Austin ponds, James said.

A bus ride is planned for Saturday's tour, due to ever-increasing gas prices. The $25 air-conditioned ride is scheduled for the Saturday tour, but was canceled for the Sunday tour due to lack of interest.

“We just didn't get any interest for the Sunday bus option. I don't know if it's because the north ponds are clustered so closely together so there's not a huge amount of driving [or what],” James said.

The tour of the north ponds includes 15 locations with most of them clustered around the Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock area, while the south tour's 13 locations are spread out. “The south ponds are more spread out on the south side, but still very doable,” said James.

The tour attracted between 1,500 and 1,600 people last year and is just a way to show different professionally built and do-it-yourself ponds. James said the purpose of the tour is to “educate people and share what we believe is a very fun hobby and show people how they can transform their outdoor living spaces and make [their] ecological own little world.”

Of the money raised from each year's tour, half the proceeds go to a charitable organization - this year it's Zilker Gardens - and the rest goes back into the society's program fund.

The tour is Saturday, July 19, and Sunday, July 20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The price is $12.50 per adult in advance or $15 the day of the tour. Children under 12 are free with a paying adult. The bus ride is $25. Tickets can be purchased at Hill Country Water Gardens, Emerald Gardens, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center or by visiting the society's website at www.austinpondsociety.org.

The Austin Pond Society (APS) meets the third Monday of every month at the Zilker Botanical Garden. The meetings are free to the public and offer information on a variety of pond topics. APS offers information and discounts to members as well.

E-mail jennifer@hillcountrynews.com

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