Planning Your First Water Garden

An expert gives some important installation tips to help you get your feet wet

I had my first water system garden when I was six . It was just a birdbath that spilled into a pool , but it began my womb-to-tomb fascination with water horticulture . Since then , wherever I ’ve lived , I ’ve had a water garden . So many things about water gardens intrigue me : the plants , the Pisces , the wildlife they attract , and the unceasing tinkering you’re able to do .

If you are considering installing a water garden , you probably have some canonical questions . The information that follows should give you the background and vocabulary you need to take your project to the next footstep .

The essential elements of a water garden

The water from the header puddle will flow down the waterfall and across the master consortium to the skimmer . The hosepipe will return the water from the sailor to the cope pool . Once the stone shelf is completed , the liner can be installed .

Site

Put your pool where you will enjoy it . Put it next to your deck of cards if you spend a lot of time there , or perhaps target it outside your favorite window . Keep in idea , though , that most body of water plants need full sunshine to do their in effect . One place not to put a pool is in the lowest point in the yard , as this can cause some serious drainage trouble .

Shape

A shape that ’s too intricate will not only make it more unmanageable to lay out your liner but will also create beat area from which piss ca n’t move to the filter . Initially , an ellipse may seem too mere , but your plantings will give the pool a gratuitous - strain burden . Use a garden hosiery , extension cord , or R-2 to adumbrate the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe on the terra firma .

Structure

A water garden should be more than a hole in the priming coat fill with water . To make the best potential urine garden , I recommend including a stone ledge , a plant ledge , and a header pool .

The Oliver Stone shelf is a shelf around the flange of the chief pool that serve as a degree aerofoil for the rock ‘n’ roll that have the liner in plaza and also hide its sharpness . It also provide a natural transition from the landscape painting to the pond . This ledge should be slightly narrower than the Harlan F. Stone you are using . I recommend make the shelf 8 inches recondite , extending 4 inch above the water line and 4 in below .

The plant shelf is another shelf ; this one rings the puddle below the pit ledge . I recommend that it be 1 foot below the water short letter and 18 to 24 inches wide . I care to construct an submerged plantation owner on this ledge by line it with stone , filling it with 6 to 9 column inch of ponderous Lucius DuBignon Clay territory and topping it with a layer of moxie and crushed rock . An easy route is to put the plants in the piss still in their pots . Keep the ledge the same breadth to allow for for an artful arrangement of plant rather than a lineup .

The header pool is a small area where water accumulates after being recirculated by the pump and before slop over the waterfall . It should be no big than a third the control surface area of the principal pool to avoid serious cliff in the body of water level when the pump is turned on . The cope pool gives the piss a more rude menses as it shed down the falls .

Digging

Before you stick a power shovel in the ground , call the local utilities to make trusted you ’re not about to labour into any hole-and-corner water , gas , or phone line . Then , to visualize the pond , stab out the edge all around to a depth of 2 to 4 in .

The first surgical incision to be completely stab out is the center of the pond . If you hollow out the shelves first , you ca n’t get your wheelbarrow close enough to where you ’re dig . I place the center section by measuring to where the inside edge of the industrial plant shelf should be , then adumbrate it with drawing string and 8 - penny nails pounded into the ground . you may also habituate atomiser paint , lime , or flour . After digging out the centre , dig out the plant life ledge and the stone shelf . While you ’re digging , keep check to be certain sure the edges are moderately level . If they are n’t cheeseparing to level , your liner is sure to show .

Equipment

The two most expensive small-arm of equipment are the pump and the boater corner . Skimmers ramble from $ 99 to $ 1,200 , while most pumps are around $ 200 . The size of it you need calculate on the square footage of your pool and the identification number of gallons it holds . The skimmer boxwood and pump will add up with instructions for installation , but be certain to place the skimmer boxwood at the polar end of the pool from the waterfall to ensure that all the water in the pond passes through the skimmer box . A water garden with a waterfall requires electricity , a skimmer boxwood , a pump , and a hose to point piss back to the head pool . The electricity require for a pool is stock house electric current . For refuge , you should check with townsfolk officials about your local codes regarding outside electricity near water .

It ’s secure to deploy the skimmer loge and the plumbing while you are digging out the pond , sooner while you are build up the soil on the slope for the waterfall . That way , you’re able to lay out the hosepipe , stake it in place , and bury it as you go . I carry the hosepipe from the skimmer box to the bottom of the lintel pond and impound a even household cascade drain , which eliminates the hose - between - the - rocks effect and provides a good stead for beneficial bacteria to uprise .

Liner

A liner fitted in the hole will never be furrow - free , but the folds will be scantily obtrusive when the pool is finished . Foliage , bloom , stones , and weewee all serve to take out the eye aside from such detail . My advice is to propose for as few folds as possible and not worry about them . Do n’t cut the top edge of the ocean liner . shroud it by fold it back under the top layer of Harlan Fiske Stone or by eat up it well above the water supply line . The first footstep in lining a pool is to put in underlayment , a heavyset feltlike cloth that prevents stones or anything else with sharp edge from puncturing the line drive . Materials like sand , newspaper , and sometime carpeting are often recommended for this aim , but I choose rug pad because it stays put , lasts , and is easy to employ . At about 45 centime a straightforward base , it ’s cheap , write fourth dimension , and protects your pond from leaks . The underlay must lie vapid , so be certain to cut out all the flexure . you’re able to lay it in pieces if pauperism be . bump off stray stones or anything on top of the carpet pad that might deflate the liner .

Maintenance

Your skimmer box is crucial to the filtration of your pond , but it ’s only half the narrative . In increase to this mechanically skillful filtration , you need biologic filtration in the form of good bacteria . Bacteria bung on the harmful ammonia water , nitrites , and nitrates in the piss and break down turgid waste so it can be used by the plants in the water .

You must offer a place — a mesh bag filled with lava rock , for illustration — for the bacterium to colonize . Put this traveling bag in the header pond over the outflow from the pump . The bacteria will execute best if it has the cleanest , most oxygenated water potential .

A water garden can provide you with a lifetime of delectation . It can add a new dimension to your landscape and extend you a whole new palette of flora to grow . And no matter how severely you try , you ca n’t overwater your plants .

Greg Speichert is publishing house of the magazineWater Gardeningand owner of Crystal Palace Perennials in St. John , Indiana .

Photos , except where noted : Steve Aitken

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Adding a water garden enhances any landscape. Everyone loves the sights and sounds of water. And just think of all the new kinds of plants you can grow.Photo: Greg Speichert

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