Water Garden Features
When the pond itself has been built and filled with water,it is time to think about designing a decorative surround-ing.This is not the only way to make your pond look attractive, however. A marginal area, a fountain, bridge,stepping stones, even lighting are further ways to enhance your pond. Choose something that will not only make your pond beautiful but will be practical or sensible for the particular site.
A marginal area
In the wild, the marshy marginal area around a pond is a biologically delimited part of the shallow zone,with its own plant and animal life. Inca natural pond, the shallow-water zone ranges very gradually from adept of about 10 in (25 cm) to 0 in(0 cm) where it becomes a wet,marshy area.
In order to create a similar marginal area beside a garden pond, the pond would have to be very large(over 161 sq ft/15 sq m). However,even with a small garden pond you will be able to imitate nature to ascertain degree by creating a marshy area on the edge. This will provide habitat for marginal plants and many animals will find shelter and food here.
The ideal solution is a marginal area for ornamental ponds that contain goldfish and other ornamental fish.As already mentioned on page 6,you cannot expect to find very many pond visitors, such as frogs,toads, and newts in that kind of pond. The needs of ornamental fish and the other pond creatures vary far too much. A marginal area that is not too small may help to balance these differences a little. However,please remember that a combination of an ornamental pond and marginal area is not the same as nature pond.
How to create a marginal area If you have made your pond with lining material, the marginal area can be created in the same way as the pond. In the case of ready-made molded pond, you may still use insulation material or install a specially formed basin right beside the pond (36 by 24 in/90 by60 cm; depth 10 in/25 cm). This basin is designed in such a way that it will always be supplied with water from the pond.
Please note the following points:
•The larger the marshy area, the better it will fulfill the requirements as a habitat for wildlife. An area of about 10/2-21/2 sq ft (1-2 sq m) is about right (depth 8-10 in/20-25cm).
√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√Ǭ¢The border between the pond and the marginal area should lie par-tally under the water’s surface so that a water supply from the pond is maintained.
•Stack the stones between the pond and the marginal area in such way that small caves are formed which will serve as shelter for animals. Fix them with silicon adhesive.Also glue the stones to the insulation material beneath.
•It will not harm the plants very much if the marginal area dries out briefly on the odd occasion. If there is a longer period of drought, how-ever, an ornamental pond will ha veto be topped up anyway.
•A sand-clay mixture is suitable for the bottom of the pond. This will provide a lime-containing soil, which is what many marginal plants require.You can choose from a large number of plants for stocking your mar-gin al area.
•The plants can be planted directly into the bottom if all plants have the same requirements.
•Put any plants with special requirements in baskets, i.e. if your marginal area contains lime-rich soil,plants that require acid or lime-poor soil will have to be placed in baskets- or vice versa. Plants that grow luxuriantly should always be set in planting baskets and the baskets themselves sunk into the soil. This will prevent the weaker plants from being smothered.
Designing the edge of the pond
Designing the edge of the pond is amateur of taste. Some people like pond they can walk right round;,others prefer an edging that is plant-ed. A combination is probably most practical for either an ornamental or nature pond. If part of the edge can be walked on, you will be able to observe any pond life from close upland the pond will be accessible to any measures of care you might have to undertake. The other part,where you cannot walk, will be left completely undisturbed for plant sand animals. An edge that can be walked on There is a large choice of materials and designs. Paving stones, like those used for paths or patios, will need a hard base.
•The steeper the edge of the pond, the harder and more stable
the base will have to be. If you
a steep bank, a dry stone wall shoe=be constructed,
otherwise the bank may
begin to give way or sink over a 
ed of time if you walk on it.
•Lattice bricks are best for the stone wall but you can use ordinary red bricks or medium-sized stones
•In the case of low banks, large stones (or squared pieces of will be sufficient as a base.
Important: Do not place stones immediately on top of any insulate! Insert a layer of sand 2 in (5 cm) thick, between the insulation and the stones. To prevent::-,island from seeping into the pond to create a barrier of silicon adhesive the stones and the Winston.
A marginal area with a soil bottom Line the area with PVC liner. Pile up stones between the pond and the marginal area and glue them to the liner. Fill the hollow with soil.
A marginal area with baskets Insulate with PVC liner. Glue the stones between the pond and the marginal area to the liner. Put the plants in planting baskets.
Paving stones along a flat bank Reinforce the edge with stones,cover the stones with protective material, then draw the liner over them, directing the edges of the liner upward. Put a layer of sane top.
Natural stones (obtainable in builders’ merchants) look pa attractive around a pond. Here,a stable base will be necessary and most suitable types are a dr:wall or large stones and pieces of wood.
Wood is a very popular designing the edge of a porn:
•Bury rounded pieces of woos standing upright (nail the insulation material to the wood) and arrange paving stones, natural stones or a gravel layer behind them.
•Try building a wooden footbridge resting on rounded pieces of wood.
√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√Ǭ¢Secure the edge of the pond switchboard wood (see illustration right).Important: Any wood that you use near or in a pond must not be Seated with substances that area to animals or plants. Toxic …-substances used for treating wood, or other harmful substances, could
washed out by the pond water or by rain to poison the pond. Do not
d railroad ties; they have usually been painted with large quantities of anti-woodworm agent, herbicide, etc.
A edge that is not intended to walked on
Plants and stones are both useful for:orating the edge of a pond.
Verge matting is an ideal solution if you want invisible transition from pond ants to edge plants. In addition, they will cover the insulation material or ready-made pond walls between the surface of the water and the verge of the pond. Various manufacturer matting made coconut fiber or woven plastic.mat is filled with suitable soil planted. The soil will
not be able to slip into the pond and the roots of the plants will have plenty of support. Verge matting with planting pockets is particularly useful. The pockets can be filled with soil, so that even steep banks can be effortlessly planted.
The matting is secured with special hooks but they should never, either in the pond or around the edge, be poked through the
insulation material. Always affix the hooks outside the insulation material.The matting can be weighed down with gravel.
A small marshy ditch along the edge of the pond.
•Dig out soil to a width of 12-16 in(30-40 cm) at the edge of the pond and at the same level as the surface of the water.
•Lay the insulation material over the ditch you have dug, then draw it over some rounded pieces of wood,and let the edges of the material stand up vertically (to stop moisture seeping away into the garden).
•Lay stones along the edge of the pond (right beside the water). If necessary, glue heavy stones to the insulation material with silicon adhesive so that they are unable to tip over into the pond.
•Fill the marshy ditch with soil and plant marginal plants in it.
A stone wall along the edge of the pond is a simple and very attractive feature. In the case of an insulated pond, lightweight stones should be glued to the material with silicon adhesive to prevent them from slipping.
A lawn or flower bed may reach right to the edge of the pond.
•If you have not already done so when you dug the pit for the pond,now remove a width of grass turf toga depth of about 7 cm or remove soil from a flower bed.
•Draw the insulation material across the edge of the pond so that it overlaps by about 12 in (30 cm)(make sure the edges of the material stand up vertically).
•Lay the turf you removed earlier(or flower bed soil) on the insulation layer. The grass turfs will soon grow together again.
•In the area on top of the insulation layer, a moist zone will now be created in which shrubs can flourish.This area should not be confused with a proper marginal area which will always be supplied with pond water by virtue of its design.
The plants that grow here will not cope with constant waterlog-gin, unlike marginal plants.
A waterfall beside your pond will offer several advantages, for example:
• The water flowing down will become enriched with oxygen and will supply the pond with extra oxygen.
• The gentle trickling sound of the water may neutralize traffic noise -at any rate, the trickling of water is much more pleasant than the roar of traffic.
• If you wish to combine the waterfall with a running stream, the waterfall can form the mouth of the stream.
How to build a waterfall
You can build a waterfall at the same time as you dig out the pit for a pond. You will need pond insulation material, three paving stones, a few roof tiles, silicon adhesive, and soil (a mixture of sand and clay in a ratio of 1:3 or 1:4).
• The height and width of the waterfall will depend on the size of the paving stones.
• Pile up the soil you have excavated into a mound, making it high enough to embed the three paving stones in it.
• Cut a step into the mound.
• Un the side facing the pond, cover the mound up to the top with insulation material and then draw this over a rounded piece of wood at the top.
• Bury all the edges of the insulation material in the soil so that they point upward.
• If the insulation material yogi have used to line the pond is not long enough, connect the material you are going to use for the mound )ay welding it so that no water can beep through it.
• Arrange roofing tiles on the step the mound in such a way that the eying stones can be laid on top, jiggled slightly downward.
• Lay the paving stones on top and secure them with silicon adhesive. The water used for the fall should e pond water: a garden hose
should be inserted into the pond, connected to a water pump and then laid up to the top to the mound.
• Cover the hose and the insulation material with stones.
Plant colorful summer flowers day lily, calendula, marsh marigold, )r grasses) on the mound. It is also deal for a small rockery.
My tip: You will be able to make a waterfall even quicker if you spread out a piece of insulation material at the edge of the pond (weld it to the pond insulation layer) and pile up some stones on it. Lay the garden hose between the stones so that it points upward. This will give the effect of a spring.
More ambitious waterfalls
There are endless ways of making waterfalls.
Stones in many sizes, shapes. and colors can be arranged to form steps for the water to flow down. A series of steps can be made out of a varied range of small basins (made of plastic or crawfish can be obtained from specialized gardening suppliers.
The more elaborate your wa:ar fall, and the heavier the material more stable the base will need to be. A loosely piled up mound will not be solid enough to support heavy stone steps or ceramic basins.
• For this you will have to bury framework of upright, rounded pieces of wood or, even better. build a step-like solid dry stone we
• The mound is then piled on top of this base and the path of the waterfall secured with pond insulation material.
• Heavy stone steps and basins should be secured with cement (never with lime-based mortar).
Make sure the slope (or individual steps) of the waterfall is not too steep. In a nature pond. or even an ornamental Bond containing fish, it is not exactly beneficial to pond life to have water gushing down with great force ac a lot of noise onto the surface the pond.
Various types of fountains
In addition to a waterfall, there are other ways of introducing moving
water into your pond. From a water spout to a regular fountain, devices water are available from gardening suppliers in the obstinacies variations. It is, however, quite easy to overdo things. Fir is bubbling, squirting, and trickling in every nook and cranny or pond, the plants will not flour-t so well and the fish will not like kitsch either. Visitors, like frogs and newts, may even “emigrate.”
Stick to these three basic rules:
•small pond should have only a- a waterfall.
•At most, a nature pond will only tolerate a gently bubbling fountain
a spring stone at the edge of the pond.
Large fountains should not be installed in ponds that contain fish water lilies. If you really do want fountain among water lilies, make
water does not trickle down onto the lily pads.
Water spouts, spring stone sand small fountains
A large selection is available from gardening suppliers, installation is usually quite a simple matter and there will be something for every taste and purse. If you have a pond with plants and pond life, the running water should not be switched on all the time. The best idea is to switch it on only when you are act u-ally spending time at the pondsid.eA practical solution is to connect as mall fountain to the main supply for additional fresh water. The alternative is to run the fountain with pond-water and a small water pump water spouts are available in various different materials – from plastic to ceramic to sculpted sandstone -shaped like frogs, garden gnomes,or cherubs.
•A water spout should be place don the edge of the pond in a way that will prevent it from tipping into the pond.
•Protect the insulation layer by inserting a piece of suitable material between the layer and the waterspout.
•If the figure is very heavy, a dry-stone wall should be built underneath it or it can stand on rounded pieces of wood buried vertically. Spring stones are often boulders with a chiseled hole. They can be obtained in different sizes, made of natural or synthetic stone.
•They may be set in shallow water or in a separate basin beside the pond so that the water can run into the pond can be obtained from gardening suppliers.
•Kits, which include a spring stone, a basin (insulation material or squared wood), and stones for fill-in the basin,
Small fountains can be placed in the pond, fixed to a lattice brick and fed by a water pump. They are less overpowering than a large fountain;water falling from a minimal height will not disturb pond life so much.
A large fountain
A large fountain has no business Gina nature pond. Do not try it in an ornamental pond with fish and water lilies either. If you really do long for both a pond and a large fountain, my advice is to install the fountain in a separate basin. Too large a fountain can actually cause damage to a pond!
The constant hard splashing down of water from a high fount -causes great stress for fish, whit-have extremely sensitive organs along their sides for registering pressure waves. Such incoming snails are then passed onto the bra -This could be compared to the effect of a person being constancy tickled without being able to escape from their tormentor. The fish will eventually die of massive over-stimulation.
The leaves and flowers of water lilies will probably not be da mace:by drops of water falling on the–but if they are constantly wet, t-e.will be unable to extract vital gas from the air and will deteriorate
die after a short time.
The pond water is constantly pushed through minute openings in
the fountain’s jet and is swirled about so fiercely that micro-organisms living in the water begin to die. The result is that the bicycle balance in the pond is quite severely disturbed.
You may find complete building kits in gardening sup e-:complete with insulation mate’ ap ump shaft, pump, fountain ate:-aments and a cover for the purr:shaft.
Foam bubblers should always be installed in a separate basin. If they are put in a gardened containing wildlife, the mate will begin to smell rotten after ash ort time. This is caused by algebraically multiplying in the vicinity of the bubbling device. The algae can usually only be eradicated with the help of harmful chemicals.
Footbridges, steppingstones and alights
These decorative elements really belong to a more sophisticate type garden pond design. They will involve a great deal of time ando ark and are quite expensive too.
Footbridges made of wood, natural sandstone, or concrete can be obtained in almost all sizes from gardening suppliers, wood merchants, and some builders ‘lards. The degree of difficulty involved in their installation will depend largely on the size and*eight of the bridge. A solid foundation (made of concrete or wood)w1usually be necessary.
Stepping stones will make it possible to walk across the pond. The yare very practical in the case of ponds as they will make producer in or around the pond a great deal easier. The stepping should be placed on solidest pillars.
Builders’ yards can usually.de U-shaped stones (from
16 in/40 cm upward) which make lent bases for stepping stones.the stepping stone to the base silicon adhesive. Be very credit the U-shaped stones, however, as they have rather sharp , so laying a couple of flagellation material between the and the stepping stone, to act ding, is a good idea.
Lights beside, or even in, the ponder create a magical atmosphere one rn summer evenings. You may find floating, globe-shaped
on the market, which can be red to the bottom of the
An underwater cable forms nation to the mains.
Remember that all electrical lions should be carried out expert!
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