Lily pond

A water feature can add a lovely focal point to your landscape. The sound of water adds cooling to warm days and creates a soothing, calming effect at any time. Whether you choose a simple fountain or a bird bath to attract colorful wildlife or go for a more elaborate pondless waterfall, a stream, pond or even a small lake, a water feature can transform the ordinary landscape into something unique and splendid.

Before you jump into adding a water feature to your garden, think a bit about what is appropriate for both your landscape and your lifestyle. No matter what sales talk you hear, more elaborate features like ponds will require considerable maintenance. No water feature is perfect or maintenance free. Ponds, rivers and lakes deal with water circulation and support an intricate balance of life forms that will need to be kept carefully controlled. Any artificially created feature that requires interaction of different natural elements will have to be watched and regularly adjusted since Mother Nature is not the one in charge.

More involved water features need to be built properly with provisions made for maintenance and repair. Be aware that anything that involves water can be a potential breeding site for mosquitoes. Living creatures will be dependent on water that is kept clean and safe. And the more water that is involved, the more wise stewardship will be demanded.

If you don’t want to deal with the time, expense and work involved in maintaining one of the more involved water features you might want to consider building a pondless waterfall – a waterfall that flows into a covered or rocky area where it is recycled without an open exposed pond. There is less need for fish or plants and less concern about algae or mosquitoes.

A fountain will also give you the delightful sound of water. Fountains can come in many forms. They can blend naturally into the garden, be built as artistic sculptures or be purchased ready-made in styles that can enhance just about any theme or design. Fountains will still need to be cleaned and can harbor mosquitoes if allowed to sit idle. Pumps can burn out if water levels fall too low. And algae and dirt can build up. But maintenance will be much less in these water features.

You can even stay simple with a little table fountain that can be switched on and off, or a bird bath. Birdbaths can be highly ornamental and wildlife will love them.  These, too need watching and the water should be regularly changed.

Water features may require some work, but the rewards are huge. And there are products on the market that can help you deal with mosquitos, algae and other water feature issues. Apart from the beauty they add to your landscape, water features can offer the opportunity to grow a whole world of magical and beautiful water and bog plants.  They add texture, color and art. Water features will create a whole dimension of sound, reflected light and build a serenity into your garden that no other feature can offer.

Think carefully before adding a water feature to your landscape. Design it where it will have the most impact and be practical to care for. And build it properly so maintenance will be as easy as possible.  The right water feature in your landscape can give your garden a whole new dimension and make it a place where you will want to spend much more of your time.

Originally posted 2010-07-09 10:24:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Spring pond care will set your pond up for a healthy and showy season

Like all of the most successful gardening techniques, ponds are most successful when they copy nature’s construction and systems. If you want your pond to be a healthy and eye-catch feature in your garden, you will want to keep the structure and systems running cleanly. This means you need to do seasonal pond care. Here are the basics to keep in mind.

Spring pond care needs to be done as your pond is coming out of dormancy. Clean it up, re-pot plants and check fish for any sign of disease. Test pipes, filters and look for leaks. If any replacement parts or repairs are needed, take care of them before the season gets rolling. Spring cleaning means to clear out string algae, and if it bothers you, treating for green water. Start feeding fish winter food for easy digestion when water temperatures rise over 50’F. You can switch to regular food once temperatures creep over 60’F and fish are fully active.

Summer pond care is best handled by regular inspections of the water, filters, fish and plants. While fully active, the pond is a self-contained system that interacts with all its parts. Regularly keep filters cleaned, surfaces free of unwanted growth, dead leaves and flowers removed so they don’t rot in the pond, and fish regularly examined to keep disease from getting a foothold. Whether you have koi, goldfish, game fish or any other swimmers in your water garden, don’t over-feed them. Nature provides plenty of fish food naturally so any food you feed them is an extra treat. Uneaten food can pollute the water so, again, don’t overfeed. If you have seasonal problems with predators fishing in your pond, consider using deterring statues, sensor sprays, pond netting or even low-shock fencing (preferably on a timer to avoid unpleasant contact with people or pets).

Autumn season pond care is all about winding down and preparing for winter. Keep up with regular inspections and the maintenance you did in the summer. But start preparations for winter dormancy. As water temperature cools, drop water lilies to the bottom of the pond where they will stay a little warmer. Return to feeding fish winter food until water falls below 50’F then withhold feeding altogether. Remove tender water plants to a warmer place if you live where temperatures will freeze. Turn off pumps and other systems before the first hard freeze and drain pipes so they won’t break from expanding ice. Prepare fountains and other water features for cold weather, too.

Winter pond care: In warm winter areas you can run your pond all winter or you can let it rest. In cold winter areas your pond will go dormant. Having prepared your pond in the autumn for freezes, there will be little work to do. One thing you want to keep in mind, however, is that you do not want to let your pond freeze completely on the surface if you are over-wintering fish. You need to leave some open water so the pond can ‘breathe’: fish, even when sluggish and semi-dormant still need fresh oxygen in the water. If the surface freezes over, do not hit the ice to break it open. The impact can cause shock waves in the water that can injure or kill fish below. Instead, melt a hole with a pan of boiling water set on top of the ice layer. There are mobile floaters you buy to keep open areas on the surface of the pond. Just set them on the water surface before a freeze takes place and they will move around keeping ice from forming. In very cold areas you will need to remove the fish altogether if your pond could freeze solid.

Ponds are not low-maintenance features in the garden. But they can be the most fascinating and beautiful events in your landscape. Make sure you give your pond regular care and it will be the highlight of your garden. Watching fish can be as healing as hours of hypnotherapy while the sound of water can be cooling in the heat of summer. Enjoy your water feature and keep the job of maintenance as low as possible by regular pond care year round.

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