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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, October 28, 2010
Eye Street
Index Eye Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Domino’s sets record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Arts Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 MS Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Altares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Halloween roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29-31
Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com
“If you have a koi pond, you don’t need a psychiatrist and you can throw away your Prozac.” — Dan Reifka of his koi pond
On golden PONDS
A high-end filtration system is the key to growing large koi, like the ones seen here.
Tour lets you in on the Zen created by these serene backyard oases BY MIRANDA WHITWORTH Contributing writer
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f a man’s home is his castle, then his backyard must be a sanctuary. That’s what the owners of Buck’s Landscape Materials and Pond Shop intend to show as they head out Nov. 6 on the 2010 Parade of Ponds, a citywide tour of the best private water features Bakersfield has to offer. Sales manager Michael Prestridge will be running the daylong event, which will ferry a busload of passengers from home to home in search of inspiration for their own private oasis. Prestridge said most of the people on last year’s tour had water features of their own and were looking for ideas on how to redo the pond or enhance it. “Ten to 12 ponds will be on the tour and we will see everything from the smallest of about 1,000 gallons to the largest, which is 35,000 gallons and one of the biggest ponds in California,” he said.
Rustic pond makes the great outdoors even greater On Saturday’s itinerary is a water feature consisting of dueling ponds owned by Jerry and Judy Barnett. Barnett is a construction superintendent who decided to take his love for the great outdoors and create his own private wilderness in his Rosedale backyard. “These are fully rustic forest ponds and the fish are just amazing,” Barnett said. “With the trees and shrubbery, the whole thing looks like it plucked from right out of the mountains.” Seated above ground and between 30 to 40 feet across, Barnett’s upper and lower ponds were created by sculptor and waterfall builder Harley Voss using concrete, railroad ties and granite boulders. Of Voss, Barnett says he looked long and hard for a man that could share his vision: “He is an artist, sculptor and a free-spirited guy. He is really good at what he does. Anyone can stack rocks up, but he was able to make it all look natural, like it was supposed to be there.”
SEAN WORK / THE CALIFORNIAN
Koi ponds featured on Buck’s Landscape Materials’ Parade of Ponds will range from 1,000 to 35,000 gallons.
In addition to the railroad ties, the upper pond is accented by a waterfall, while the lower pond showcases a poured concrete, eight-sided gazebo that stands like an island in the middle of the feature. The gazebo is accessible only by a bridge that arches from ground level over the boulders and across the pond. According to Barnett, the whole building process took about six months and a lot of elbow grease. He and Voss did the heavy lifting while wife Judy and her friends took care of the landscaping, which includes redwoods, pin oaks, an array of shrubs and several maple trees. Barnett estimates the mountain retreat set him back approximately $50,000 but it was worth every penny. “I don’t like to brag, but it’s just beautiful,” he said.
Bliss on a budget On the opposite end of the spectrum is a pond owned and built entirely by Dan ReifPlease see PAGE 19
Jerry Barnett, seen with his wife, Judy, is a construction superintendent who decided to use his love for the outdoors as inspiration for building his own private wilderness.