Water Features and Other Ideas to Complement Your Ponds

Aside from ponds, there are many great ideas for additional features which can enhance the appeal of your water garden.

 

Bridges are classic.  Even if you have a very small water garden, a tiny bridge can be built over any amount of water.  Often times the bridges are wider than they are long, only crossing a 1.5 to 2 feet of water.

 

Sphere fountains, or kugelbrunnen, are fountains with a sphere, usually made of stone, matched to a circular hole in a surface, with water being pushed into the circular hole from below.  This causes the water to seep out from all the way around the sphere, causing it to “float” and often times will spin or rotate on it’s own.  The water coming out from under the sphere can become part of another fountain below, or go right back into the sphere’s pool.

 

Fountains come in many variations, like the one above, which are so wildly different from each other that they effectively are totally different types of water features.  Some fountains spray water upwards, while others just let it flow downward from a small pool.

 

A personal favorite of mine are the fountains which are built into a pond or large pool, which just spray water up in a constant pattern.  Some of these can move and create moving patterns in the air all on their own.

 

Waterfalls are a staple in any water garden, but even here there are so many possibilities.  From a few stacked pieces of slate rock, to toweringly tall formed rock-falls, there is really no limit to the options for waterfalls.  You can even have your waterfall proudly display the fact that it’s man-made, with the look and style of an ancient aqueduct.

 

There are even many ways to combine waterfalls with fountains.  The top of your waterfall can be a pool with a fountain spraying upward.  Or a more exotic idea would be to have a stream type fountain shooting water out of the main body of water into an elevated pool, which then lets the water fall back down into the pool.

 

Another twist on waterfalls and fountains is a water wall.  A water wall is a vertically flat surface which has water flowing evenly down it’s entire surface.  Depending on the volume of water, it could appear to merely be a shiny wall, but with more flow the water movement can clearly be seen.

 

Moving fountains.  There are a few variations of moving fountains.  The most recognizable is a water wheel, where the water flows down over the wheel, causing it to turn.  Another related type is one which I don’t know the name of.  There are many variations of it, but essentially water fills a hinged container until it reaches a tipping point and dumps the water out.  This can repeat, falling into subsequent containers.

 

Fish also count as a water feature in my book.  The bigger the better.  A large pond with large koi is my ideal paradise.  Many types of fish are available for water gardens.

Big Ideas for Water Gardens

Have you ever been to a large public water garden?  You know, the ones that stretch out for what seems like miles, with a lot of pathways, multiple bridges, and countless fountains and waterfalls?  And of course, a large quantity of beautiful Koi fish.  These gardens are fantastic, but they’re also beyond the reach of us mere mortals to have in our own yards.  Or, are they?

Of course, the most limiting factor for a large water garden is how much room you have to build one.  But even if your hard is of modest size, a big-feeling water garden isn’t necessarily out of consideration.  The key to a big water garden in a reasonable space and budget is to make it “feel” big.

 It is possible to have a grand water garden of our own, just perhaps scaled back a bit.  The most important factor in making your smaller garden feel bigger is immersion.  No, I don’t mean going for a swim.  I’m talking about a garden which makes you unaware of everything else by visual and audio immersion.

 To be visual immersive, the garden should be tall.  There are many ways to be tall.  If you’ve got room in your yard, you can make the border areas of the garden a few feet higher than the inner areas where you would walk.  You can add trees around the outside edges as well, to help create a slightly closed-in feeling which still allows open air above.  Particularly, it would be good to place trees in locations that will obscure the view of neighboring houses or other buildings.

Painting the fences a dark, earthy color or even a very dark green will create an immersive feel by taking away the “I’m in a back yard” look of the fence.  Make sure they’re painted with a thick coat, you want it to have a smooth look and feel, further moving away from the usual wood grain appearance of a fenced yard.

 Another very important aspect of immersion is a consistent visual theme.  You’ll want to make sure all the water features have a similar style.  The rocks should be of similar or complementary appearance, any walkways should be made from the same style of stones or have the same concrete finish.  If you decide to build a bridge, and you have a deck, or you want more than one bridge, make sure these all have a matching style.  The woodwork of the deck and bridges should be painted in a way that matches or compliments the fence painting.

Tall decorations are another way to improve immersion.  Lamp posts and archways are a great example.

 You might even consider obscuring part of your house with smaller trees or bushes, or perhaps incorporating the house itself into the garden.  You could place tall waterfalls or fountains on the side of the house, and could even consider painting the garden-side of your home to match the fence and other woodwork.

Wood Ducks

 

Wood ducks moving into there new house - is that water in the background?
What a coincidence.

Water Gardens – Three Reasons to Consider It!

Have you ever been to a home that has a water garden in the landscape? Often you will find various sizes of natural ponds that are also a water garden. I can’t lie to you, creating your water garden is going to be a little difficult, it is a project that does take some planning, a budget, and a little creativity to build the water garden that you will enjoy for years to come.

The water garden surrounding the pond water is a beautiful site all summer long. A water garden adds beauty and nature to your landscape. No other addition to the landscape is as unique and a refreshing as the water garden.  click here for the three reasons to consider a water garden

Benefits of a Water Garden

 

A water garden oozes tranquility, calm and peace. It can be a stunning addition to any outdoor area and looks perfect in any house. Technically, a water garden is defined as man-made landscape feature designed to house or display aquatic plants and/or ornamental fish. Typically, they are quite small, shallow, and in landscape architecture, form the central feature of an outdoor garden.

Historically, water gardens have been a part of Persian and Chinese landscape architecture for thousands of years. Before the appearance of water pumps in the industrial age, water was directly routed from streams and rivers to water gardens. Though they were used primarily for ornamental purposes, at times, they also found use as sources of food in the form of fish.

A water garden is generally self-sufficient and doesn't require the same amount of maintenance as a regular garden. Raking, mowing, weeding - all tasks heavy on manual labor are conspicuously absent when it comes to water garden maintenance. In fact, the only maintenance required is yearly cleaning and draining of the water tank, monthly cleaning of the filtration system, and perhaps adding water whenever there is excess loss due to evaporation. In terms of sheer maintenance effort, it beats out a traditional garden by miles.

A water garden is also great for the environment. Flowing water has a naturally cooling effect, as you may yourself have undoubtedly felt near a stream or a waterfall. Water - flowing or still - also lends tranquility and a sense of calm to the environment, a fact Japanese architects have exploited for hundreds of years in the famed Japanese gardens. But perhaps most importantly, a water garden helps save thousands of gallons of water that would otherwise have been wasted in the upkeep of a traditional garden or lawn.

Water gardens are incredibly easy to set up. A small pond, a few water plants, a water pump, and a few ornamental fish are all you need to get started. Cost wise – both upfront and long term - it would be invariably cheaper than a large traditional garden. In terms of design, there is no limit to your creativity. With just a few rocks, carefully arranged plants, a few lilies and lotuses, you can create an intimate, tranquil space where you can unwind, relax and be at peace with nature.

Building your own water garden can be a rich and rewarding experience. It can readily transform a house and have long term effects on your health and well being. In essence, a water garden is the perfect addition to any outdoor area.

How to clean your pond the easy way

Every year it is recommend to perform a thorough cleaning of your garden pond. The best season to to this during spring. This guide will teach you how to clean your pond which involves removing all the water, plants, plus all the fish and give the pond a vigorous cleaning. This will clear the water in the pond of any algae and toxins that have developed during the winter. These toxins can build up fairly quickly if the pond gets to freeze.

 

Another problem is, that leaves can find their way into the pond in the fall and begin to decompose when the weather gets warm. If there is a lot of debris in your pond, now is a terrific time to go outside and prepare to start cleaning it. If you live where the climate is warmer and a lot of trees do not finish shedding their leaves until spring, it's recommended that you wait until after the leaves are all gone or you will be cleaning  dead leaves out of your clean pond for a long time. If you are lucky enough to live in warmer climates where the water does not freeze, only a partial water removal might be all you need.

 

It is seen as an unpleasant job but this is how to clean your pond properly! If you are the lucky person to be assigned this job it is time to put on your rubber gloves, find your boots and get you hands on the right tools. This is a list you will need to do the job faster:

 

- A pair of rubber gloves and high boots

- A large holding tank for the fish

- A powerful wet-vac or shop-vac

- Aerator for the fish holding tank

- A long hose with a spray nozzle

- Some gardening scissors or snips

- A de-chlorinator (if you are using chlorinated city water)

- One powerful submersible pump with an attached hose net to catch the fish

 

1. Transfer all the fish in the holding tank - The idea behind this is to remove as much water out of the pond as possible so the fish will have nowhere to go. Now, using your net, and a large bucket of pond water, move all the fish from the pond to the temporary holding tank. Lastly, cover the holding tank to prevent the fish from leaping out.

 

2. Completely drain the water in the pond - This can be done easily if you have a specialized filter by merely turning the valve to the DRAIN position. If you are using a submersible pump with a flexible hose you can install the hose to pump outside the pond rather than re-circulating the water.

 

3. Turn off the pumps and filters - It is very important that you disengage all the cleaning systems of the pond. If there is no water in the pond the pump and filter can get damaged.

 

4. Clean up all the plants - Remove them by hand and spray them with a hose gently and remove any algae that may be attached to the plants. Also, trim off dead leaves and old blossoms. If it's the appropriate season, fertilize the plants. Now, place the plants back to their positions.

 

5. Clean the pond's Filter - You can clean all filters, except bead filters, by pulling the inside material out and pressure hosing it with clean water. Filter materials come in different forms. They can be lava rocks for waterfalls, filter pads in filters outside the ponds or special material used to filter the water before it is absorbed into a submerged pump. No matter of what type it is, you need to take the filter apart, clean it and remember to replace any material that is worn out or shredded.

 

6. Begin refilling the pond - While you are doing this, fill a part of the fish holding tank with fresh water and do not forget to de-chlor. Pump in the water little by little, several times so the core temperature of the water slowly decreases or increases to the temperature of the fresh pond water.

 

Now all you have to do is put the fish back in the water and enjoy your reinvigorated pond. Learning how to clean your pond is easy, and putting it into practice is the same after you get used to the process. A clear pond will always be main attraction for your garden and a natural oasis for local wildlife, so you need to take care of it by tending to it regularly.

Pond Liner

When it comes to pond liner the main question is usually what size do I get. There's a lot of online calculators out there that help you get just the right size liner.  Normally you take the length and the width of the pond - then figure out how deep you need the pond. Since the liner goes down and comes back up again so you can add that twice and then add some for overlap.

 

But what if your pond size is a little irregular,  or if your pond is very large?

 

That brings up some interesting questions, do we just keep ordering larger liner, do we try to figure out a size that we can basically cut and paste (seem) to fit the size that we need, or do we go with a custom-built liner. I'm working on a pond right now the bringing up a lot of these questions. The pond is big enough that we are looking for alternatives to liner, but it's so deep that except for concrete there really is no other option.

 

And another consideration with a liner that big is how in the heck can we install it. I'm still working on and will let you know we come up with a solution. (with photos)

Water Garden Styles

Water is one the most basic elements of nature, and it is only natural that a gardener would add water to the landscape for pure enjoyment. Many water gardeners do not have the same needs that gardeners through history have had. Water gardens in the past were created out of necessity as a method of having additional water sources for their vegetable and flower gardens. Today, many water gardens are created and built for pure pleasure of raising fish, watching the water and for listening to the water ripple in the landscape.

In some formal water gardens, the use of ancient is used to create a fabulous atmosphere that is an area that you can relax and meditate at. The earliest of water features and water gardens combined the pictures of the Egyptian deserts, and the flowing rivers of the rivers Nile, Tigris and various others.

more of Water Garden Styles

Vegetarian Koi

We all need to mix in a salad every once in a while. At least I'm told that I do.

Well guess what,  your koi feel the same way. Lettuce and celery even bits of fresh fruit including oranges, bananas, and mangoes.  Heck even leftover salad right off your your plate can be acceptable treat for your koi.

Don't over do it, because they certainly need their koi food to meet all of their nutritional needs - but hey if I'm stuck with a diet, then my koi can suffer (or not) along with me.

Fish Treats

Feeding your fish is basically like feeding your dog.

Most pet owners feed their dog - dog food and try to take it easy on the treats. If you feed your dog straight from your table you usually get a obese dog or a sick dog.

It is pretty much the same way with your fish. Now you could treat them to some bugs or some grubs some water spiders etc. - but I'm I'm not that keen on catching the suckers.

Some of the best treats that I found for my koi (stuff they love the most) were worms tadpoles and a couple big ones love hotdogs - of course they had to fight the frog for the dogs.