Outdoor Water Features For Your Garden

Everyone loves the tranquil calming nature of an outdoor water feature. Whether it be the splash of a water fountain or the soothing serenity of a pond, a water feature in a garden creates an interesting focal to any landscape.

When selecting an area of your landscape, make a map to scale of your entire garden. Include any future plans into the design. Choose a location for the water feature that receives a minimum of four hours of direct sunlight. A water garden does not have to be large to be both enjoyable and interesting.

Anytime you are digging into the ground, be sure to check with your local utilities company and call before you dig. Also, check city bylaws for your area.

Be creative with the shape of your pond. A great way to experiment with the shape is to tape together larger sheets of paper and trace out the border.

Next, remove all grass and plants from the new location. Use tent pegs to stake the drawing into the ground. Carefully edge the outside using a sharp shovel working at a 45-degree angle.

When digging out the basin, construct various heights of shelves surrounding the pond for added interest. These shelves are perfect for supporting the various aquatic plants which you will hopefully add to your new water feature. A higher shelf surrounding the perimeter of the pond is a great place to display thin ornamental rocks.

Before placing a liner, remove any sharp rocks from the landscape bed. For a liner you can use an actual rubber and fabric pond liner found at your local garden centre or a one-centimetre layer of sand.

If you are using a liner place a few heavy rocks along the bottom of the pond to help hold the liner in place.

Edge the perimeter of the pond with interesting rocks and trim the excess fabric.

Then, fill the pond two-thirds full with water. Create a bog for the plants using 1:1 blend of top soil and moistened peat moss. Gradually add into the pond until the bog is well-absorbed. Once the bog has settled, continue filling the pond with water.

For additional interest try adding a waterfall to your garden by using a submersible water pump.

Once the chlorine levels have settled, have fun with adding water plants to your garden. (Ph levels of a pond should be between 6 and 7.5.)

Try experimenting with popular aquatic plants such as water lilies (nymphaea), Siberian iris (iris siberica), water hyacinth, ornamental grasses and hornwort (ceratophyllum demersum) for added aeration.

Bring your aquatic ecosystem alive with gold fish or koi. Water plants can be over wintered preferably with temperatures between one and four degrees Celsius. Fish will also survive, indoors, in large tubs.

This summer, why not add interest to your landscape by creating an outdoor water feature? This fun-to-build and attractive landscape feature is sure to be a hit with everyone.

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