Looking to spruce up your backyard this summer? Create your own tropical paradise by learning how to design, build, and care for outdoor ponds and waterfalls in a free “Ponds and Waterfalls” class, offered by Allan Hancock College Community Education.
Class instructor Raymond Bailey has been teaching horticulture courses at Allan Hancock College since 1973 and working in the landscaping industry since 1957. He currently works as general manager of All Weather Landscape Company in Santa Maria.
In the class, enrollees will learn about pumps and filtration, water use and conservation, pond construction, and pond maintenance. They’ll also learn where to buy the necessary construction materials and how to care for animals living in the pond, such as koi or gold fish.
The class will emphasize the importance of reducing water usage to save money and help the environment.
“The days of having huge lawns are gone. Water is just too precious,” Bailey said. “But we don’t want to have wall-to-wall rock like in Arizona. That’s not something we do in California.”
Bailey said introducing a pond or waterfall into a backyard landscape can actually help conserve water, as can building more architectural elements as opposed to trying to sustain living creatures.
But it’s important to know where to shop: “You can’t just go down to Home Depot and buy whatever you want,” Bailey said. “You have to know where to buy the rock because you have to buy by the ton.”
Also, the kind of pump you use can greatly affect your energy bill.
“You don’t want to buy an inefficient pump that costs $400 a month in electricity to run,” Bailey said.
Other important questions covered in the class include: How many fish can you put in a pond? How big does the pond have to be?
“A lot of people think the smaller the pond, the easier it is to take care of, but that’s not true,” Bailey said.
He said larger water masses take less maintenance because of impacts from sun, wind, and dust.
The class meets Thursdays, June 21 through Aug. 9, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the Allan Hancock College Santa Maria campus, room C31.
Register online at hancockcollege.edu. Click on “Admissions & Registrations” in the upper right-hand corner. Enroll in VOCE 7616B, CRN 11251.
For more information, call 922-6966, Ext. 3209, or visit Community Education in Bldg. S on the Santa Maria campus, Monday through Thursday between 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
This article appears in Jun 21-28, 2012.
