Designing and Planning Your Water Feature - Garden Pond Design
Before you start actually installing a water feature, you need to come up with a garden pond design and plan for it.
Start off by going to the site where the water feature is going to be installed, and take a look around you. Try to get an idea of what garden pond design may work well with the layout of the land. Are there any already-existing features there that you want to emphasize? Is there anything that may end up being a deterrent to the water feature? How much room do you have to work with?
You want to make the size your water feature balance with the area around it. If you have a lot of room to work with, the worst thing you could do is to make a small pond – it will look completely out of place. On the other hand, if you make the water feature too large it will dwarf everything else around it. Keep in mind, once you know what size range you can work with for your garden pond design, that you want to make it as large as your budget will allow, in order to give yourself the flexibility you need to add plants and fish in the future.
Are there any large trees in the area where you want to place your water future? If there are, you may run into problems excavating your pond when you run into roots. As well, if the trees are too close to the pond, leaves and other debris may fall into the water frequently. When this happens, and the leaves start to decompose, the quality of water does go down.
With that said, however, trees can be good for your pond as well – they provide some much-needed shade for certain plants, and fish. They can also prevent extreme swings in water temperature as well as preventing too much wind on your water feature.
Another thing you want to keep in mind in your garden pond design is whether you are installing your pond on flat ground, or on a slope. You want to avoid installing it on the bottom of a slope, if possible, to avoid muddy rainwater, fertilizers, and other products to runoff into your water feature.
Plan on allowing easy access to your water feature – not only will the help making the maintenance easier, but it will also be more enjoyable for visitors to the water feature if they can get there without any trouble in order to experience it. Can this site also be viewed from the house? During colder, winter months, you still want the water feature to be enjoyed.
One last thing to consider when deciding on the location of your pond is the amount of sunlight it gets. While you do want around 6 hours of direct sunlight every day for plants to grow, you also want to provide the area with some shade. Some shade can be good to keep water temperature cooler on those hottest days of the summer.
Types of garden pond constructions:
- Natural-looking Sunken pond- a pond that is built below ground with a natural rock, sand, soil, or plant edging.
- Formal Sunken pond- a pond that is built below ground with an edging that does not exist naturally in nature (e.g. paving, brick, stone, concrete, wood, metal, etc.)
- Raised pond- a pond that is constructed above ground that usually has a retaining wall.
Garden Pond Design- Laying Out Your Plan and Getting it on Paper
Now that you have the exact area you are planning on installing your pond, you need to put your garden pond design down on paper. Remember, not only will this give you a guide when you get around to excavating and installing your pond, it will also help you to reduce costs by knowing exactly what materials you will need.
When you create your basic garden pond design site plan, remember to include all property lines, the house, utility cables, gas, sewer and water lines. This will help you to get any building permits that are needed, as well as helping you to avoid any potential disasters.
Now – what kind of water feature are you planning on installing? If you are installing a formal pond, the shape should be symmetrical. If it’s an informal pond, the shape should work with the surrounding landscape. If you want fish or plants in your water feature, plan to create a pond that is fairly deep in some parts - around 18-24 inches. Plant shelves may also be a good idea – this will help the water warm up a little bit faster on sunny days, but should be avoided in areas where there are drastic temperature changes frequently, as this will create temperature fluctuations that can be stressful to plants and fish.
Lastly, when laying out the plan on paper, remember that the surrounding area should be landscaped to complement the pond as well. What plants would work best with your design? Are there areas that you can add a bench for people who are visiting?
Once you’ve got your plans laid you, you’ll be ready to start with the installation of your water feature.
Sample Garden Pond Designs
- Creating a Simple Water Garden
- Creating a Pond with Waterfall
- Creating a Stream
- Creating a Pondless Waterfall
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