Backyard pond was 'bride price' for Tennessee girl

Sandy Randall always wanted a backyard pond.

Fifteen years ago, when her boyfriend Chris asked for her hand in marriage, Mrs. Randall knew just how she would get it.

"He was an engineer. It was perfect. I told him I wouldn't marry him unless he built me a pond," Mrs. Randall said with a laugh.

She now has two ponds, with a third on the way.

They enjoy sitting out back at their Aiken home, which is landscaped with large native plants and rocks the couple had trucked in from Tennessee.

"I'm from Tennessee, and I had to have it look like the mountains," Mrs. Randall said.

It took two dump trucks of dirt to turn the flat, 31/4-acre lot into a hillside.

Mr. Randall used nine tons of rock to build the ponds and creek bed that connects the two. An underground pipe recirculates water pumped from the goldfish-filled lower pond into a waterfall that trickles down the creek into the higher pond.

"It's so peaceful, so quiet," Mrs. Randall said. "It's very relaxing to sit here and watch the birds and the bees."

They're both retirees, although she has gone back to school to study massage therapy.

Low-maintenance plants and trees give them more time for themselves and their grandchildren -- Will, 11, and Hamp, 7.

To save time in the garden and lessen the environmental impact, Mrs. Randall lets her plants go to seed instead of trimming them back for a more landscaped look.

She chooses drought-tolerant plants, perennials and flowers that will attract bees.

"We like to use rocks as benches. They connect you with nature. They connect you with the earth," Mrs. Randall said. "We use what you would already find outside. That's what we are drawn to."

Reach Kelly Jasper at (706) 823-3552 or kelly.jasper@augustachronicle.com.