When most people think of a garden pond, they envisage a leafy hub of aquatic wildlife and a tranquil spot to relax after a hard day at work. But a pond does not always have to provide a suitable living environment for aquatic life, in fact many garden designers are now using ponds or water features to bring water into the garden just for display purposes.

Formal ponds should always compliment existing garden features and fit in well with their surroundings. They may not contain plant or fish life but they should still do in essence what they are designed to do. Most formal ponds use symmetrical shapes like ovals, squares of rectangles. They may feature a fountain or a waterfall as the centre point and the surrounding planting is usually done in similar shapes to the pond to mimic the design. If you have a small or narrow garden water features like this can make the garden feel bigger and longer, especially when you use mirrors as part of the design. If you do include plants in your formal pond design, it is always advisable to keep to the same symmetrical patterns as your ponds initial design.

Adding the luxury of water to your garden can really make a difference to your overall garden design. If you can’t afford a full size pond or simply haven’t the space to include one in your garden then you can still do this by adding a water feature.

There are two main reasons you might want to include a water feature in your garden. To enhance the garden’s aesthetic nature and to add the sound of running water into your garden. If you live near to a busy road or even just lead a really stressful life, you can really benefit from the tranquil sounds running water provides.

There are many types of water features available. From the straight out of the box type that you just need to plug in, to the intricately designed features that you need to spend some time designing and building yourself. From waterfalls to fountains to streams, the choice is really yours and your only constraints are the space you have and your budget.

Garden ponds are beautiful additions to your garden and can indeed be a focal point to your outside space. If used as a wildlife pond, they provide a great habitat to a diverse selection of wildlife that people do not realise lives in their garden. If the pond is used to keep fish like koi, it can be a relaxing hobby that when given care and attention can be really rewarding. And if the pond is just to be used to add a visual attraction to the garden, like a formal water feature, the outside space can be really lifted.

The addition of a water feature to your garden can be a beautiful focal point. And, with so many out-of-the-box solutions now available from aquatic stores online there is a plethora of choice available. From simple trickling streams to waterfalls and modern art sculptures that shoot jets of water into the air you will not be spoilt for choice.

Most of these features only need to be filled with water and then plugged into your electricity supply to work so if you are perfect if you want to create a dynamic effect quickly.

If you only have a small garden but would still like to hear the tranquil sound of running water you should consider adding a water feature to the space you have. There are many different water features in the market at the moment and each and every style can vary in size and can add something different to your garden.

The different types of water features you can choose from include wildlife pools, container ponds, bog gardens, streams, water fountains and self contained above ground water features. The feature you decide upon will depend on the look you want to create and of course the effort you want to go to. Many self contained water features are perfect to add that instant feature into your garden. Some varieties of these might include water bubbling through the centre of a mill stone or water tumbling between different levels of pots. These types of water feature come with an in-built pump and your only concern is working out the route the electricity supply will take from your house to the feature.

Adding a water feature to your garden will not only benefit you either. The local wildlife will love the free source of water and who knows, it might inspire you to create your own larger full size formal pond.

If you are thinking of building a pond but the only space you have in your garden involves sloping ground there is no need to be disheartened. In fact building your pond on sloping ground can really be an excellent idea. The sloping ground will mean that your pond or water feature can be built over different levels so you can let your creative imagination go wild.

You could create a system of waterfalls, streams, water running over falling steps or just create two separate pond areas at different levels and use a pond pump to move water between them. The ground works will usually be more difficult if you are building on a sloping site but the overall effect can be really stunning. If you are moving a lot of earth and are going to make a large cut into the ground you might want to seek professional advice regarding the shoring technique you will have to use to contain the heavy soil.

If you don’t want to create a large pond at one of the levels you could just create a water feature with several small pools and have the water cascading between them. Whichever option you choose, it can be seen that just because you have a sloping garden does not mean you can’t build your dream pond.

We have talked before about the benefits of the position of the pond in your garden, here we will try to clarify a few important points and then discuss the planning of the feature.

When choosing an appropriate position for your pond you should always try to keep the following points in mind.

• The pond should be as far away as possible from deciduous trees; this will stop a large quantity of leaves from falling into the pond during the autumn.
• Position your pond in an area that is shaded from the worst of the wind, especially northerly’s.
• Consider how you will top up the pond and look at the distance from water sources.
• Look at the distance any electrical cable will need to travel to power your pond filter or pond pump.
• Try to determine if any services travel underneath the area where you are going to dig the pond. Finding a water main or gas main whilst digging is not fun.
• Try to have a view of your pond or water garden from the house. In the winter when we don’t venture out into the garden too often it’s lovely to look at the feature from the warmth of our own home.
• Don’t position your pond in a naturally wet or boggy area, your pond may then over fill naturally leaving you with a larger pond than you anticipated.
• Try to position the pond so it receives an adequate amount of sun but is also shaded at different times of the day. Water lilies and other aquatic plants will need a good level of sunlight to flower.
• A good tip to remember is if the pond is situated near to the house then it may tend to be more formal, however if it is sited nearer the end of the garden it might be a good idea to make it more natural looking.
• Look at child safety and try to accommodate this into your pond plans.