Almaden Resident

Cover Story

Photograph by Kevin White

Watering Hole: Charlie Liu sits by his backyard koi pond that features a filtration system called a Bakki Shower, which is patented and made only in Japan.

Pleasing Ponds

Peaceful waterfalls and koi ponds create tranquil back yards

By Joanne Griffith Domingue

Charlie Liu knows no matter how busy his day, there is a quiet, peaceful spot waiting for him in the backyard of his Almaden Valley home.

Liu is among a growing segment of Bay Area residents who have a koi pond and waterfall, surrounded by cool stones.

There, Liu enjoys admiring his fish--about 18 of them--from rocks specially arranged to capture the best views.

At one point, Liu had more than 50 koi in his pond, but he donated them to the Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden club. He hopes there will be more space for the remaining ones to grow larger.

In the Japanese and Chinese cultures, the koi fish, a type of carp, is considered lucky. Koi can live 30 years if kept in a healthy environment, he says.

Srinath Unnikrishnan and Chuck Cottam also have koi ponds. Unnikrishnan comes home and heads for his pond. He doesn't read there. He does "enough of that at work." He just unwinds. "The best part is the relaxing sound of the water," said his wife, Deepa Menon. It is "so peaceful. It has become a focal point of our life."

Cottam feels the same. His pond is "so restful. I come back from a hard day and this helps," he said. "I love waterfalls."

Garden water features are becoming increasingly popular in area back yards. "They are definitely catching on," said Mel Bretzke, of the San Jose-based Advanced Landscape Systems, which designs and builds ponds. "They create a nice, relaxing atmosphere. People are sticking around home more and like the setting."

The Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden Club hosts its 15th annual Pond Tour on July 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Six ponds will be featured on the tour, including Liu, Unnikrishnan and Cottam's ponds. This is the first time Liu's pond will be open to the public. Liu, who has attended the tour for the last four years, say he is excited to finally have his pond showcased. His is the only pond in Almaden Valley to be included in the tour. Cottam's Sunnyvale pond was featured in last year's tour. Both Cottam and Bretzke are docents for the pond tour.

A Bigger Pond

Liu first joined the Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden Club in 2002 when he lived in Milpitas. He had a smaller pond in his back yard then, and when he moved to Almaden Valley, he saw it as an opportunity to build a larger pond.

His pond holds 12,000 gallons of water and is more than 6 feet deep. A deck covers half of the pond to keep the water cool and prevent algae production. It also protects the fish from local heron and raccoons, he said. Large, jagged rocks and a brick wall surround the other half of the pond. The latter keeps dirt out of the water.

"[My wife] is so tired of my ponds she doesn't say anything. She just says 'do whatever you want,' " he says laughing.

Liu said he suspects his pond was chosen for its unique filtration system and polyurea finish more than for its landscaping.

The ponds chosen each year have different strengths, weaknesses and unique ideas so pond enthusiasts can get different ideas.

Liu's pond uses a filtration system called a Bakki Shower, which is patented and made only in Japan. The system pumps the pond water to the top of a bacteria house, made of eight trays of rocks, in two stacks of four. The water filters through the four trays, then is pumped into a waterfall that pours back into the pond.

Liu said he spends less time maintaining this pond that he did his smaller one because of the Bakki Shower system. He says the system is self-cleaning, so all he has to do is change some water out a couple of times per week.

Pond planning

After Unnikrishnan and Menon moved into their home in Cupertino, "The first thing we did was put in the pond," Menon said. When they were house hunting this past winter, they had a requirement: to have a yard big enough for a koi pond and waterfall.

They moved in on March 15. On March 16, work began on the pond.

They love fish and ponds. Menon grew up in Southern India, where "water plants and water lilies are very common."

In their first apartment, Menon and Unnikrishnan had an aquarium. When they moved into their first house, they put in a pond, a 150-gallon pre-formed pond from Home Depot. It rained a lot that winter, "and the whole thing popped out" of the ground, Unnikrishnan said. Raccoons ate all their fish.

The couple didn't give up. They heard about the Koi and Water Garden Pond Tour and went. They learned about pond designers and hired one who built them a larger, permanent pond--about 1,000 gallons--which included a waterfall. It was deeper. The raccoons couldn't get the fish. There was no shelf on which they could perch and scoop them out of the pond.

Five years later when they were selling their home, a prospective buyer walked through the house, saw the pond and fell in love. "The pond sold the house," Unnikrishnan said.

Fish and sticks

Cottam, who also designs and builds ponds and waterfalls, wanted some specimen koi for his own pond. But the dealer wouldn't sell him the fish. His pond was too small. "You build a bigger pond," the dealer told Cottam, "and I'll sell you the fish."

So, he did. His new fishpond is as deep and as large as a swimming pool. And the water is as clear. The 8,000-gallon, 7-foot-deep pool showcases his 12 koi, all 24-36 inches in length. One is as orange as a pumpkin. The scales on a creamy white fish sparkle like sequins in the sun. The golden-yellow alpha fish cost Cottam $1,500.

He has trellis arbors on three sides of the pond with a large waterfall cascading in from one side. The trellises keep blue heron and egrets from eating Cottam's koi. His pond is also too deep for raccoons.

The koi know Cottam. In the morning they hear him opening his slider as he heads out to the pond with fish food. They spread out like a fan, waiting for their food. He tosses in handfuls. The koi slurp as they eat.

In Cottam's business, C.M. Ponds & Stuff, he designs and builds ponds. Cottam built his first pond in this same back yard more than 40 years ago where the waterfall is now. He was 16. His dad said it was OK, as long as the dad didn't have to do anything. Cottam put in a 2-foot-deep pond thinking that was really deep. A week later the water turned green.

"Ponds are becoming big business," Cottam said. And the koi are a design element of the business: "How many fish do you want in your pond?"

You can buy 5- to 8-inch koi for about $50 to $80 each if you just want fish in your backyard. Enthusiasts start with the small fish, Cottam said. Then they go for the $200-$300 fish, then for the $1,000 specimens.

Most ponds Cottam builds are 4,000 to 6,000 gallons. The average size when he started in the business was 3,000 gallons. "But that's not terribly big," he said. Now people want more koi. They can only grow so big in 3,000 gallons. "So I'm getting call-backs. 'Can you make my pond bigger?'"

It is not uncommon in Japan for koi to live 100 to 150 years, Cottam said. "They are more than pets. They are part of the family."

-- Sarah Holcomb contributed to this article.