Garden Ponds

Read More About Home Improvement

Building Garden Ponds

Ponds have been used for centuries to embellish, and even completely transform personal landscapes. When designed, built, and maintained correctly, they add significant property value, provide you with a fun hobby, and depending on your design, can be very inexpensive to maintain. My passion is building garden ponds, but the information on this site can be applied to just about any fish pond.
Design
This is completely necessary before you even think about putting a shovel into the ground. However, it's fairly straight forward, and can (and has) even be done on the back of a napkin. That's not the recommended method, naturally, but take the time to step back and look at your landscape.
Where would it make sense to place the pond? Think about traffic here, keeping children in mind.
How deep should it be? Fish need deeper ponds the colder and longer the winters get where you are.
What kind of water plants should you get? You should pick some that are functional and elegant.
How will you aireate the pond? Do you want a fountain, waterfall, or hidden aireation 'bubbler'.
Digging to start building your pond is the most inconvenient part of the building process, should you wish to want the edge level with the ground. First and foremost, you absolutely must contact your electric company to mark buried lines if you are not sure of where they are. In addition, if you aren't sure where your pipes are laid, you should contact the municipality responsible for your water/sewer to do the same. You'll need to have a means to have the excavated dirt hauled away as well.
You unquestionably must have a pond lining if you don't want to end up with a mud puddle that eventually dries up. Without a liner, it will dry up because the water table is significantly lower than your pond's water level.The exception to this is if you live in New Orleans (zing!). Preformed liners are usually made from hard plastic, and limit your design. However, they will last longer, won't tear, and are cheaper than pouring concrete. Using sheet plastic will let you build a pond any shape or size, but you have to be careful that the seals are good and take care not to cause any problems in the building process. The last (and most expensive) option is to pour concrete like you would a pool. The benefit to this method is maintenance goes much smoother, and it will last forever.
Plants keep your fish happy. They balance out the ecosystem, provide your fish a place to hide, and prevent toxic waste build up. It's important to note that in nature, aquatic plants are usually found near the banks where the water is not deep, so they can get sunlight. They also prefer more stagnant water, so don't put them near a waterfall.
There are three main three types of aeration used in building garden ponds. First, and most common, is the waterfall. Not only does it aerate the water, but it adds elegance to a pond. Fountains are impressive to watch, and will aerate the water, but aren't for everybody. Bubblers are a means to quietly aerate the water for those who don't care for the other two.
Lighting is an optional feature to consider, and they add another level of beauty if done right. Don't forget, your pond may as well not exist at night if you can't see it! The right colors and proper brightness could possibly make your pond look even more beautiful at night than it would during the day.
Your pond water needs to be filtered to keep your fish healthy and your water looking clear. To filter the water (and provide aeration), you need a pump. These can come in all shapes and sizes and range from the cheap to extremely expensive. You will also need a form of algae control because all ponds will grow algae if not treated.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Home Improvement Articles Via RSS!

Additional Articles From - Home | Home | Home Improvement

Our other websites
All about SEO
Beauty Tips Forum

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email to Friends
	Ezine Ready

Submit Articles
Member Login
Link Us
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap

New Stuff
About Us
Developer
Good shopping portal
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service