Adding A Water Feature

Organic
Water

If you are thinking about adding a pond or water feature to your garden then choosing the location is going to be the most important part of your designing stage. To get the most enjoyment you will want a location that you will benefit from throughout the entire year. Choosing an area has a lot to do with personal preference, but remember that this is a place that you want all your family and friends to enjoy. Whether you are building a pond as a part of a garden or as an added feature to a patio choose a location that you can get the most enjoyment from and keep safety in mind for children, elderly, handicapped, pets and others. This video demonstrates how to build a pond or water feature in your home garden. Learn how to add pond liner, lighting, and pond pumps to make a healthy and beautiful water feature.

 

The location you choose can also determine what type of plants you can grow.

  • Plants like water lilies require about six hours of sunlight at a minimum.
  • If you plan on an area that doesn’t have much sunlight, there are plants that will do just fine. They just many not be what you were planning on.
  • Research the plants that will grow in the conditions of your chosen location before you start, there are even plants that will bloom at night.

Once you have your location, you will need to decide the size and shape of the pond you want.

  • This can be simply done by taking a string line or even a garden hose and laying it on the ground to the shape that you have in mind.
  • Don’t get carried away with size, you want the pond to fit the area. It is easy to want a large pond, but it can easily over-power the landscape and turn into a lot of maintenance that you weren’t planning on.
  • Maintenance is something that isn’t thought about until it is to late. – Placing a pond under trees can keep you busy cleaning leaves, fruit or nuts from trees can pollute and even poison a pond. Another problem that can be easily overlooked when planning a pond under a tree is the trees root system. They can grow under your pond and damage it.
  • Stay away from low areas, standing water and poor drainage ares are a problem. – Liner and fibreglass ponds are very similar to a boat, ground water can easily force the pond to float out of the ground.
  • Low areas are also a concern with water run-off from higher elevations. This can cause the pond to get polluted with debris, silt and even chemical herbicides, even if you don’t personally use them they can come from surrounding properties.
  • In cold climate areas, wet soil conditions can freeze and cause damage to the pond.

When choosing the area for your pond, water and electricity to run pumps, filters, decorative lighting and other features is something that needs thought, along with checking with your local building department for any unexpected local ordinances.

No room for a pond? You can still add to the serenity of any setting with the soothing sounds of a fountain you make yourself! The fountain is basically just a base, a ball, and a pump. The pillar base and the ball are both made from concrete.