A pond, complete with goldfish, is Connor Goddard's favourite feature in his garden.
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The Hastings Secondary College Port Macquarie Campus student found a spot in his backyard garden to make a pond from scratch.
Online research fed into the project development.
The result is a watertight pond featuring goldfish, water plants and two solar pumps.
The next steps are adding a pond cover and plants to eventually grow over the rocks.
Connor says he enjoys how natural ponds are.
"The pond makes for another reason to come out into the backyard with more colour and more movement," the 16-year-old said.
Connor created his first garden in 2014.
Several gardens later and vegetables dominate Connor's Port Macquarie garden.
The long list of edible plants include basil, eggplant, lemongrass, kale, passionfruit, paw paw, lemon myrtle, snow peas, cauliflower, broad beans, strawberries, lettuce and rocket.
Flowers are interspersed throughout the garden.
Guinea pigs named Salt and Pepper live in a hutch in a corner of the garden.
Connor said he enjoyed watching how plants grew and connecting with the outside space, which was also relaxing.
"I like planting lettuce seedlings and watching them grow into food you can eat or hand to your family or friends or neighbours across the road," he said.
"Sharing is what I do most. I don't eat many of my vegetables but I like being able to give them to my neighbours and family and them saying thank you, and enjoying my vegetables."
His message to new gardeners with small garden spaces is to watch television shows for inspiration.
"Do some research and figure out what plants would suit the environment and enjoy it," Connor said.
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