Creating a Water Garden
Water gardens add a lot of personality and beauty to a yard. You can fill a larger one with fish and enjoy hearing them splash around and get the benefit of having them eat mosquitos. Small water gardens can be arranged in barrels or other containers if you are tight on space. Floating plants and submerged plants have a cooperative relationship that keeps the water clean and provides nutrients for each other. Learn how to create this peaceful element in your own backyard.
What Kind of Water Garden Do You Want?
There are several options for creating your own water garden, from easy to elaborate. Using an existing container takes less effort and uses less space, but you will still likely need a water filter and a pumping system to keep the water moving. A submersible pump is perfect for this kind of setup. Larger water gardens that will include fish and have more of a pond shape are best done by professionals. Landscaping companies can help you dig out the shape of the pond, cover it with a liner, and install a water filter and pump that will keep the water from getting filled with algae and make your fish and plants happy. A small waterfall is a beautiful way to help aerate the water, and you can also achieve that effect with a small fountainhead.
What Should You Fill Your Water Garden With?
Cleverly planned water gardens can sustain entire small ecosystems. If the water is dechlorinated, filtered and circulated, plants and fish can thrive in this small body of water. There are three types of plants that you can install to help the whole pond thrive. Floating plants filter nutrients out of the water, and they also shade the water, protecting fish and preventing algae growth. Submerged plants help add oxygen to the water, and they absorb nutrients from the water as well. Edge plants go around the edge of the pond and help keep soil in place. Goldfish are a popular, low maintenance water garden fish and are not destructive to plants. Avoid overcrowding them and they can grow to larger sizes than the goldfish you picture in a fishbowl.
Contact a professional landscaper to help create the water garden of your dreams, complete with plants and fish.