A Leopold water feature full of turtles and fish will be open to the public this weekend as part of a national pond tour.
Barwon Landscapes and Waterscapes’ Adam O’Keefe designed and built the water feature on his Leopold property.
Mr O’Keefe said his pond was a “bit of a refuge for turtles” and that he currently had 11 turtles living on his property that occasionally like to wander into his house.
“This is my own personal place, so what happened is, my son had a turtle when he was five years old, and I just didn’t believe in turtles being in cages,” he said.
“So as soon as we came here, I built this pond, and then from there, it just exploded.
“We just got a new one (turtle) the other week. The poor thing was in a kid’s playroom, and the tank was full of toys.”
Mr O’Keefe said it took close to two weeks to build the pond in his backyard and that everyone flocked to his property for a wood-oven pizza around Christmas.
“We wanted to create or own kind off oasis, so you wouldn’t know you’re in suburbia as much,” he said.
“We didn’t want any grass in the backyard, just the perfect thing for a pond. But the big thing was, we entertain a lot outside, so we wanted a place where we could have it be engaging.
“The sound of the waterfall too. If we turn it off for any reason, or the power goes off, so there’s a bit of silence that we don’t like.”
Mr O’Keefe said his water feature was part of a national tour organised by Aquascape Supplies Australia.
He will showcase his pond on Saturday, March 11 and Sunday, March 19, from 10am to 3pm, and people must register at aquascapesupplies.com.au/events-2023/ to attend the event.
Jena Carr
