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July 10, 2009
The change in Britain’s landscape has been significant over the last 3,000 years. At the beginning of this period, Britain was covered in extensive wetlands and woods. This environment, which was substantially different to modern day Britain, supported a very different level and range of wildlife than can be found today.
Whilst we must accept that our modern world has obviously changed the landscape significantly, the rapid advances of the last 100 years have had a particularly devastating impact on Britain’s wetlands and ponds.
Whilst Britain’s landscape circa 1900 was also vastly different to that of 1000 years BC, there was still a very real need for ponds to exist as watering holes and irrigation sources. With modern plumbing and machinery rendering the agricultural pond almost worthless, the demise of a substantial area of aquatic habitat has been alarmingly fast over the last hundred years. Many of the ponds that have escaped the intentional reclamation have still ultimately met their end though the natural process of silt accumulation, particularly in their untended state.
The loss of these ponds is having a clear impact on bio-diversity. The British pond is itself, an endangered species. The more ponds that can be maintained the better. Even the smallest of wildlife ponds will attract a surprising array of wildlife. Not only will such a haven prove to be an enjoyable feature, but it will also provide an important contribution to our wildlife heritage.
July 9, 2009
An almost essential requirement in most pond installations is a good variety of plant life. Planting is necessary to provide essential oxygen for your fish and to remove excessive nitrates from the water. Plants also provide a habitat for much of the wildlife that will take up residence in your pond and importantly provide shade across the water’s surface which is beneficial to your fish well being.
Despite these essential functions performed by aquatic plants, most Koi ponds are almost, if not entirely, plant free. The reason for this is fundamentally simple. It’s not that Koi do not like plants, quite the opposite is true, Koi will take great delight in not only having a good old nibble at plants, but due to their size, they are also liable to pull over plants and generally wreck any well intended planting.
The key to successfully keeping koi in a planted pond is to plant only in marginal, shallow areas where the fish will not be able to reach. Realistically, this will only enable you to create an element of more diverse pond design rather than fulfil all of your needs with regards to maintaining the quality of water in the pond. It is for this reason that pump and filtration systems are absolutely essential features of the Koi pond.
July 8, 2009
Of the three common construction methods for ponds, which are pre-formed liners, flexible liners and concrete, concrete is the least utilised. There are some easily understandable reasons for this, such as both the larger cost and the more complex construction project that concrete construction represents.
However, there are some big advantages to concrete also, particularly when designing a pond for Koi. The vertical walls offered by concrete construction enable the pond creator to have the maximum volume of water for the given surface area as space is not consumed by sloping sides. These same vertical walls enable the pond observer to be closer to the large Koi fish rather than their being several feet away from the sufficiently deep water where the Koi will spend most of their time. Maximising the volume of water is particularly important for either Koi ponds or any heavily stocked pond, but even if you are not targeting either of these with your pond, the larger volume of water still offers benefits as it is also more easy to manage. It will adapt and more readily maintain a balanced eco-system than a smaller volume of water.
It’s not just about size however, concrete is a very durable material. A well constructed concrete pond will last for many years with minimal maintenance. The sharp contrasting lines also make the perfect structure for a more formal garden.
July 7, 2009
Water features offer the opportunity to introduce the comforting sound of running water to your garden and possibly some aquatic plant life and visiting wildlife. All of this can be done on a limited budget, with high levels of safety if young children are present and lastly within the confines of almost any garden.
In many respects, water features can encompass considerably more diverse design possibilities than the typical pond. Whilst pond designs can be hugely varied, they are fundamentally a body of water with some reasonably consistent proportions. On the other hand, a water feature can be a recessed small pond, a trough, a tall water cascade with a very small footprint or a narrow weaving watercourse amongst many, many others. The design possibilities are truly limitless.
The local garden centre or even DIY store will most likely have many designs available off the shelf and these could even be for indoor use. Whilst these are a fantastic, readymade feature, rather than simply providing a solution, they may just pique the interest of the designer within you.
The basic types of designs to consider are whether you have an open pool that can accommodate some planting, a covered reservoir that collects the water from a fountain or a cascade with a collection pool at the bottom. Whichever concept is chosen, designs can replicate natural scenes or be completely contrived and artificial, some clever designs can even appear to defy the laws of physics, if the feature is complementary to the garden, it can bring many hours of happiness.
July 6, 2009
There are a thousand and one ways to design a pond and none of them are right and none of them are wrong. This is not to say that the end result will be a success under any circumstances but you should not limit your creativity when contemplating designs.
The more places you visit to seek inspiration, the more likely your end result will match your original hopes. Garden centres are a great place to go for inspiration but maybe these should not be your first port of call. The visit to the garden centre offers the opportunity to start looking at hardware such as pond liners, pumps, filters and water features. To embrace the creative process, it’s probably better to avoid getting distracted by details in the early stages.
Try to visit formal gardens, natural ponds in the wild and try to visit friends or neighbours ponds for inspiration. All of these ideas in conjunction with magazines and internet searches will most likely spoil you for choice but somewhere along the way you may just stumble across the perfect piece of inspiration for your own efforts, either that, or you may just realise that you have the pond designing talents that the world has been waiting for.
With the perfect concept in mind, it is time to get practical. The first question that will hugely influence the realisation of your design is what you intend to use the pond for. A koi pond will place very different requirements on the design than a wildlife pond. Safety should not be underestimated and all those little bits of hardware that were so distracting at the garden centre will need to be accommodated somewhere.
Having indulged your creative talents, done the grown up bit and planned it properly, it is finally time to get your hands dirty. DIY skills (and a certain enjoyment from using them) will certainly help in the pond building process. Ultimately this stage is the realisation of your dream, whilst you will almost inevitably face some unexpected challenges along the way, this is a time to cherish as you are finally making your dream pond a reality.
July 5, 2009
There are many natural ponds that do not boast crystal clear water and yet provide a healthy, diverse and vibrant habitat for both fish and countless forms of other wildlife. If kept in a pond with mud banks, Koi will take great delight in digging at the banks to create a delightfully murky pond without showing any ill effects. Quite simply, clear water is not an essential requirement for a successful pond.
None of this is to say that you shouldn’t aspire to having clear water in your pond. As with many aspects of maintaining a pond, the bigger the volume of water, the easier it will be to maintain not only clear, but clean water also. The advantage of larger volumes of water is that, providing they are of sufficient depth (rather than a large but shallow expanse), the water is more stable as temperatures fluctuate and more able to disperse pollutants. The larger body of water will more readily establish balance and also cope better with potential threats to water quality.
As the water gardener with a more modest body of water strives to maintain clear water, the basic disciplines of creating a balanced eco-system become ever more important. Sensible stocking coupled with good planting and water circulation will, in many cases be sufficient to have clear water. If this is not sufficient, a good filtration system will help to restore the balance in you pond.
July 4, 2009
The good news is that there is no one answer, the perfect pond may be an ornate concrete pond surrounded by beautiful planting in the formal grounds of a stately home, or it could be a modest wildlife pond squeezed into a corner of an already compact garden.
No matter what space you have available, it is almost certain that you can not only introduce water to your garden or yard but you should be able to create a stimulating and attractive feature for either wildlife, the simple comfort of running water or, given a reasonably generous space, fish keeping.
In a very restricted space, a bubble fountain or small waterfall can be self contained in a modest corner. A wildlife pond can be created on a smaller scale than is needed for a fish pond. This will not only provide a source of interest but will also provide an important habitat for some of Britain’s threatened aquatic wildlife.
A fish pond has greater flexibility regarding planned uses and it is quite possible to create a very successful fish pond with both a modest scale and budget. Providing the pond is planned carefully and is capable of providing a stable water quality, you can even introduce fish into a modest back yard with great success.
July 3, 2009
The life in your pond goes far beyond the fish and plants that you yourself put there and the plethora of other creatures that made their own way there. On a microscopic scale, an entire army of bacteria will exist in the water and will be performing functions that are totally essential for your pond to remain a healthy environment for any life form.
Quite possibly your pond has crystal clear water for which you may well have taken much of the credit for a job well done. This is perfectly understandable as clear water is by no means a given with a pond. However, whilst you have created the environment for this clear water, what is the actual mechanism for doing this clean up job? Fish produce a constant stream of waste and further pollutants or debris are continually being added to the water, such as excess fish food.
Even if you have installed a top of the range filtration system, the real hard work done in maintaining clear water is not the result of mechanics and science but nature. Bacteria are continuously feeding on, and breaking down the pollutants and chemicals that would threaten the health of your fish through poor water quality. Even a biological filter can be misunderstood. The layman can easily understand the concept of a filter but the real story is in the “biological” part. A biological filter is simply a mechanism for ensuring that the entire volume of pond water is introduced to the cleaning bacteria with sufficient frequency. Bacteria truly are the silent stars of the operation.
July 2, 2009
If you’re losing water from your pond and it is clearly at a faster rate than evaporation, your mind will quite likely race down the path of leaks. Whilst this is a very real possibility, there are alternative explanations that may prove to be the root cause of water loss.
When experiencing water loss, sometimes the problem can be very clearly evident but in other circumstances the leak could be seemingly untraceable. It is wise to give a little thought to explanations beyond the obvious punctured liner and if you have changed any aspects of your pond landscape prior to the problem evolving this would be a good place to begin.
Pipe work external to your pond is a perfect place to begin the hunt. Pipes, and specifically joins in pipes, are always a weak spot for maintaining water tightness. External pipe work is most common in supplying external box filters, checking for leaks may not only identify the issue, but will most likely provide a more easy solution than some other causes of water loss.
Fountains and waterfalls may lead to the loss of water through the simple act of splashing. Waterfalls may also pose an additional potential source of water loss. The main body of the pond is a static body of water and therefore fairly simple to maintain, a water course has dynamic movement and splashing which may lead to significant water loss. You will need to check if water is flowing beyond the watertight areas or being absorbed by the surrounding earth.
Your pond is susceptible to loss through capillary action around the edges where the water meets its surroundings. Plants and soil will draw water away from the pond against the pull of gravity and this will be unavoidable. The key is to be aware of this affect and not be led into a wild goose chase searching for a non-existent leak.
There is no real substitute for knowledge and experiencing when managing your pond, whilst there will always be somebody who knows more than you about any particular aspect of pond keeping, nobody should know your pond better than you. It is this knowledge that will enable you to assess whether something so subtle as water loss is simply the normal rate through evaporation or a manifestation of some other issue. It may be knowledge that helps preserve your sanity at a later date.
July 1, 2009
Like most water gardeners or pond keepers, you have most likely ruled out the likelihood of building a concrete pond. Whilst there are certain advantages to a concrete pond there is a more substantial requirement for both specialist building skills and also cold hard cash.
Having ruled out concrete and ignoring the very uncommon use of traditional puddle clay, you are faced with a choice between either a flexible pond liner or a pre-formed rigid liner. Flexible liners are a very popular choice and with good reason but for the more modestly sized pond, a pre-formed liner has some distinct advantages over the flexible liner.
Not only does a rigid liner offer the almost instant pond solution ( dig hole, fit liner, fill liner ) but it also offers durability, a choice of colours, ease of repair, variety of design, readymade planting shelves and last, but not least, a complete lack of any folds in material.
The wealth of designs available is almost as limitless as your own imagination. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is to either decide how to best accommodate an appealing design into your garden or whether to endlessly trawl garden centres and the internet to find the perfect shaped pond liner that compliments your garden. Whatever design is chosen, it is always desirable to arrange for delivery as transportation can be the second biggest challenge.
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