A water garden in a weekend
This article tells you about A water garden in a weekend. One of the services that we offer at the store is onsite advice about ponds and filtration and this season I have had the opportunity to visit some magnificent ponds and water gardens, many containing 30000 or more.
Although a large pond is very attractive, it is not always possible or desirable to build such a feature in our yard. This does not mean that you have to miss out on the enjoyment of water gardening altogether. In fact it is very easy to build a small pond or water feature in just a weekend or even in just a few hours.
Even small water features should contain a minimum of 50 litres of water. Amounts smaller than this tend to be hard to filter and the water can easily overheat during warm weather. Freestanding items such as pots should be sealed with a specific pond sealer prior to using them. We have these sealers at our store and can advise you on their application.
If you are planning on using a liner in your water feature, ensure that it is UV stabilsed so it won’t breakdown in the sun. An old wine barrel can easily be transformed into a water feature, line it with a barrel liner first as this will prevent leaking from the wine in the timber which will effect the fish. The beauty of using a wine barrel as a water feature is that you can easily change its location around the garden or patio and if you move house, you can take it with you!
As with all projects a little planning is essential before you leap ahead and get started. Points to consider when planning you small water feature include whether it will have plants and fish in it as this will require some type of and filtration to ensure that the feature remains clean and the fish healthy. If you are incorporating a statue or water fall in your project consider how high it is from the surface of the water as this effect the power and the size of the pump that you need. The greater the vertical height of the statue or waterfall the larger the pump needs to be.
Pumps need power so ensure that there is power close by or if you need to run cabling some distance from the pond to the house, then consider using a low voltage pump and transformer that lowers the power output to 24 volts.
The size of the feature and whether you have a pump and filter will dictate if and how many fish you can have in it. A water feature with a pond filter could house about 6, 5cm goldfish for every 100 litres. Common goldfish are best in small water features as Koi quickly outgrow them and will eat your water plants. If you are using tap water, always remember to treat it with a water conditioner to remove the chlorine and chloramines from it.
A water feature can never contain too many plants and there is a wide variety of water plants to choose from. Some have flowers, other have interesting foliage. Some have leaves that float and others grow tall out of the water. As long, as they are true water plants, your taste is the factor to consider when choosing the plants
This is a basic outline of how to make a small water feature, but feel free to drop in and discuss your water garden needs with our trained staff if you need any further information.
