The Pleasure of Garden Pond

Learn everything you want to know from design, installation and maintenance of a garden pond.

You are currently browsing the archives for April, 2011.

Introduction to Garden Ponds

The terms “water garden” and “garden pond” are often used to mean the same thing. A garden pond normally contains plants and fish like goldfish, while a water garden will contain a variety of aquatic plants and may contain fish typically like gold fish. The term Koi pond differs entirely, from both a water garden and a garden pond because a koi pond will have a limited amount, if any plants in it, basically because the koi will eat most of them. In general, a pond is a small area of still fresh water. A pond differs from a river or stream as it does not have moving water. Some man-made ponds do have elaborate mechanism for water movement like fountains and waterfall but none of these are natural. A natural pond differs from a lake as they are typically smaller and much shallower, and normally filled by rainwater or by underwater springs. These natural ponds are commonly known as dew ponds.

Another less known fact is the history of ponds. For centuries every village and farm would have a pond. The water would be used by both animals and Continue Reading…

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Build Your Own Garden Pond

Although you could pay a professional to build your garden pond for you, many people decide to create it by themselves.  If you are considering doing it yourself you will be glad to know that it isn’t as difficult a task as you might expect.  The main thing is to do a bit of research on the fundamentals of how to go about it.  Get a few good books or search the web for step-by-step instructions and advice.  To get you started, here is a brief overview of the basics to creating that perfect pond for your garden.

Where to place your pond

First off, you will need to work out which is the best place in your garden to begin digging the hole that will be the basis of your pond.  The size of the Continue Reading…

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Marginal Plants For The Garden Pond

There are 6 groups of plants which you should consider for your pond. This article and a few of the following ones are all about what we call Marginals. When we talk about Marginal plants we think of them as purely ornamental as they do not play a part in maintaining a satisfactory balance in the pond. They only serve 2 functions. The boundary between the water and the pond side is softened which is often desirable in a Formal pond and always essential in an Informal one, they provide floral colour and/or interesting leaves during the growing season. Many types are available. Depending on the variety of plant, the recommended depth for planting is 0 – 6 inches. Their home is on the marginal shelf or in the shallows of the pond. The traditional method of growing them is to plant them in soil at the bottom of the shelf, but it is better to set them in baskets. Do not mix different varieties in a single container. Here are a couple of plants that I have placed into my pond to add a bit of colour.

Carex (Sedge)The Sedges are included here as they are generally found in the Marginal plant section of the numerous catalogues, but these grassy Continue Reading…

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