The LIFE AQUATIC

With a koi pond, a waterfall, and an ultralush landscape, a Midwestern backyard is transformed into a tranquil oasis for both people and wildlife.

- MIRANDA CROWELL

The showpiece of this Des Moines backyard is the rectangular koi pond, which features a variety of aquatic plants plus a potted elephant's ear sunken into the water. The plants survive from spring to fall but are removed before the winter freeze sets in. A pump-powered waterfall cascades down pieces of flagstone, lending a relaxing soundtrack to the yard.

Some prospective home buyers are wooed by a move-in-ready kitchen or expansive picture windows.

For Mark Vander Linden, the selling point for the Des Moines house he wound up buying was a simple koi pond in the backyard. “I just loved the serenity of it,” he remembers. Twenty years later, Mark and his partner, Jarret Einck (art director at Better Homes & Gardens), have taken that serenity and expanded upon it, creating an idyllic retreat for themselves and their little family of fish.

The project required Mark (below on the right with Jarret) to dive deep into the world of aquatic gardening. With help from pond-supply stores—thepondguy.com.com is a favourite—he learned the essentials of maintenance: vigilantly removing leaves, laying netting to protect koi from predators, and placing a floating heater in the water each winter to get the koi through Des Moines’ frigid temperatures. (See page 88 for Mark’s complete list of tips.)