Nobody has responded yet so I will give it a try. Go to Garden Junk Forum on this site & look at post called "Unexpected project" They lady is making a spot to sit & enjoy in memory of her mother. She shows before & after she has gotten started & I think it will be nice. She does have a new bench sitting there, most of us are thinking we would find an "old headboard from curbside on trash day, yard sale or thrift shop! We like to reuse things, so everyone recycles. You could put your fire pit out there, plant some native plants from somewhere else on your property so water requirements are low & if you want it cozy put up a branch fence in L shaped maybe 8 ft on each side. Just upright posts & branches attached to them for very rustic look(it is just the look, not a solid fence) since you have some property you should find what you need by looking around. Can wire branches onto posts as it rusts it will look rustic. The "fence" takes away the "sitting out in the middle of "nowhere" feel"! Makes your spot a destination. 1 person suggested to someone planting tree hunks as fence to use 1 near the seat. Good idea, might want to bring along a cold or warm drink & "sit a spell" then you have place to set it. Kirkus just brought up the Inspiration Album that Purplemoon put together for us & if you click on that blue link at bottom you will see many great ideas for great sitting spots. You might go to wooden album(albums listed off to the right side) & there will be bed seats & all things wood, vignettes shows spots people have made in their gardens to enjoy. Hope you get some great ideas from the album- we all love it & saves a lot of time looking for a post that may no longer have the pics. Good Luck

Great Cover-up! Would fit in with koi pond!! That's probably what I need, maybe catch morning dew as rain is nowhere to be seen.Jan

Each dog is different. My niece's large mixed breed wouldn't hesitate to jump in if she let him. While my Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Teddy, has absolutely no interest in swimming. I was warned that his grandmother destroyed her owner's pond on more than one occasion, but thankfully that trait wasn't hereditary. Our pond is 4,000 gallons and that was a concern to me because he's so rambunctious and I was afraid he could drown. While he likes to walk around in the pond if it's dry, he has no desire to get in with the water. He's funny because he throws his toys in the pond and watches them float around, but that's it. He'll wait for us to retrieve them. He'll scarf up what fish food floats to the edges and will take a drink out of it, but will not go farther than that. He likes watching the fish, but doesn't harm them. And he doesn't destroy plants at all. He treats it more like a big water bowl. You should measure the depth of your pond. If your dog can step out of it easily and it looks like he can, then you should be OK. If he won't stay out of it, you can either fence it or use a deterrent. I can tell you what works - a motion detector sprinkler. Scarecrow and Havahart makes them. It didn't work on the heron, but it was VERY effective on Teddy!

Did you read the info they post about maintenance?? It sounds very labor intensive. It involves removing the filter material, rolling it out on a flat surface and presssure washing it. it claims to have filter mats dense enough to filter out algae. If that's true, anyone who has ever put quilt batting in their filters to remove can attest to the speed that it clogs up. Personally, I think the filter is overpriced for the amount of maintenance it requires. For a small pond a skippy filter works just fine. The maintenance is much easier. It needs to be drained and hose clean at least twice a month, but it is really a pretty good inexpensive filter for a small sized pond.