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How to make a relaxing garden pond
Photo/Courtesy
A general scene of water edge/bog plants including Papyrus, Bananas, and the black leaf Colocasia or "Elephants Ear"
There is nothing more relaxing than to sit beside a garden pond, feeding the fish and enjoying the surrounding plants.
Conversely nothing is more irritating than a pond that leaks, requiring regular topping up and thick green water so that you can’t see the fish life.
Here are some tips to help you achieve the former:-
1. Location:
Out in the open and if possible away from trees that shed leaves.
2. Design:
Formal or informal the shapes and sizes are unlimited. Chose what best suits your garden.
Avoid making it too deep; 75 cm is about the maximum you need and varying depths from 45 cm are useful for accommodating a range of different types of aquatic plants.
3. Materials:
If you are blessed with good natural clay this would be ideal for an informal pond otherwise the choice for pond liners rests between imported butyl rubber, imported high-density polyethylene (HDPE), plastered concrete blocks or concrete.
If you decide to adopt concrete don’t be too mean with the thickness as concrete cracks.
Depending on the size of the pond putting in some steel reinforcement will help prevent cracking.
Plastered blockwork will benefit from using waterproof cement in the plaster.
Do NOT use ordinary polythene for the liner as this quickly breaks down under the intense ultraviolet light and will need frequent replacing.
4. Plants:
To achieve a good aesthetic balance use both oxygenating plants and water lilies.
Remember most water plants are greedy feeders so their containers need plenty of compost.
To avoid unsightly green algae rich water use sufficient plants to give a ratio of 3 to 1 of leaf cover to exposed water, i.e. 75 per cent of the surface is covered with plant foliage.
Warning - water hyacinth is an illegal plant to have in your pond because it is so invasive in the environment - so this plant must not be used.
Also there are other plants like Salvinia and Nile Lettuce that are also very invasive and should be used with care.
Apart from water lilies, Pontederia and other commonly used plants there are many that are semi-aquatic, like canna lilies, various sedges and reeds.
5. Rocks and Waterfall:
These are not obligatory but they help the aesthetics if the pond is large enough to accommodate them.
Three or four large rocks carefully placed together so that fish can hide in the shade below the rocks helps their environment.
A waterfall means a pump for the recycling and careful landscaping but for many the gentle sound of falling water is very restful.
A waterfall or a fountain also helps to keep the water oxygenated which is good for the fish.
6. Fish, Frogs and Snails:
These are essential to achieve a balanced ecology and control insects and mosquito larvae.
Warning – a nice pond with fish will be a magnet for herons and kingfishers.
7. Safety:
Do remember the danger of open water to young children.
It is frightening the number of toddlers who have fallen into ponds over the years while their parents back was turned for just a few moments.
If there are young children in the family it pays to securely fence the pond so that they cannot enter.
Although this maybe unsightly it is better to be safe than sorry and in a few years time when they have grown older and become good swimmers the fence can be removed.
The garden centre has a selection of water plants and gold fish for sale but does not undertake pond design and construction.
