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The
Size of the Pond
A very large pond is often difficult to access
and you have to keep in mind where
you would put all the water if, for any reason,
it had to be emptied and, how
would you do it? On the other hand, a very small
pond may require constant
attention as it may not be large enough to sustain
itself.
A garden pond does not have to be too deep and
should preferably have a shelf
about 12 "below the top of the side, to
site aquatic plants. If you are digging the
pond to your own design and intend to have no
fish, or only goldfish, or orfe, it
needs to be no more and no less than 2' 6"
at its greatest depth. However, if you
are keeping Koi, you will need a pool depth
of 4ft, but remember deep ponds can
be difficult and dangerous to clean out.
Where
to site the Pond
Try to site your pond in a position away from
trees, as autumn leaves that fall on
the pond will rot and foul the water. Where
this is not possible, you may have to
net the pond when the leaves are falling.
Bear in mind that rotting grass clippings in
a pond are as dangerous as leaves,
so you need to consider how near the lawn the
pond is going to be, or how
effective your lawn mower is in picking up the
grass.
Ideally, a pond should have some shade rather
than being in full sun all day.
If you are going to run a pump, you will also
need a source of electricity.
Constructing
the Pond
There are many ways to build a pond, the most
common being pre-formed
purchased form a garden centre, the size of
which may be determined by the
kind of transport available to get it home.
Whilst a pre-formed pond is a ready
made pond, a great deal of accuracy is required
in digging the hole, getting the
pond level and back filling with the soil you
have taken out. Get it wrong and the
pond will leak water at one end and mice and
other vermin may find a home in
the spaces between the soil and the pond sides.
An alternative method is to construct a pond
to your own design, using a flexible
liner made of Butyl, or a strong plastic. You
must however, make sure there are
no stones protruding from the pond sides that
could puncture the liner, indeed it's
a good idea to place a layer of damp sharp sand
against the sides, before you
place the liner ready for filling.
The third method is to dig out the shape of
the pond, then set concrete at least 2"
thick. This should be a permanent fixture on
a clay soil, but can crack and leak
on soft sandy soils. Furthermore, a period of
time needs to elapse before fish
can be released into a concrete pond as they
are affected by the lime from the
concrete base that can seep into the water.
Never use polythene sheeting as it becomes brittle
and will leak in no time at all.
Water in a new pond will be green for up to
four weeks until the water becomes
"aired".
If the soil you take out of the pond site is
of reasonable quality, you can spread it
around parts of the garden, or perhaps form
it into a heap for a small waterfall.
You should leave it to settle for a few months
before doing this.
Fish
Ponds do not have to include fish, or even plants,
but a pond without one or the
other would be pretty boring and become stagnant
in a matter of weeks if the
water remained still. However, make sure your
plants are established before
adding fish to the pond as initially the fish
want somewhere to hide. Until now
they have never been in anything bigger than
a fish tank and being transferred
into a garden pond must be rather traumatic.
Always buy your fish from a reputable source.
Never accept fish from friends or
neighbours as they may have a virus which may
in turn infect your fish. Goldfish,
Orfe and if your pond is large enough, Koi,
and many other types of fish will
survive a British winter in a pond even if it
freezes over. Refrain from buying
Tench as they are bottom feeders and while they
eat up the food which drifts
down from the surface, they continually disturb
the bottom of the pond and
discolour the water.
How
many fish
There are all kinds of formula for calculating
the numbers of fish for a pond and
some can get quite complicated. A simple formula
is to measure the surface of
the pond and every square foot can accommodate
half an inch of fish. For
example, a 6ft x 4ft (24 sq ft) pond will maintain
24 x 6" fish, or 48 x 3" fish.
However, if you have the right conditions, your
fish will breed, so it's probably
better to start off with no more than half of
your maximum quota.
For garden water features, garden furniture,
ponds and water
feature accessories, Click here to visit an
aquatics specialist.
Looking after your fish
When you buy fish, they are normally in half
filled plastic bags. Float the bag in
the pond for at least 30 minutes to allow the
water temperatures to equalize
before releasing the fish.
Feed your fish daily with a proprietary fish
food. You can feed fish twice a day
during the summer months, supplying them with
only enough food that can be
eaten in 10 minutes. Do not feed them after
October, or before April. Fish
metabolism slows down in cold water and they
do not feed, or move around
much during the winter months, merely surviving
in a state of dormancy. Any
feed will fall to the bottom of the pond and
foul the water. However, on a warm
winter's day, fish can start moving around and
take in feed if it is given to them.
This is dangerous as the digestive system of
the fish can't cope if the weather
turns cold again.
Fish can suffer from a range of ailments, including
parasites, fungal infections
and fin rot. You can buy proprietary preparations
to treat these problems from
most reputable pet shops that deal in aquatics.
Pond
Plants
There are several distinct groups of plants
you can grow in or around a garden
pond. Unfortunately, there are too many to list
here, so you should ask at a
garden centre dealing in aquatics for advice
on the best plants for your pond.
Oxygenators are essential for keeping the pond
healthy and clear and you should
always have at least one submerged to absorb
carbon dioxide and release
oxygen into the water. They can multiply fairly
rapidly and outgrow their space if
not cut back. Remove the excess, which makes
good garden compost when
rotted down.
Water lilies are planted in containers that
sit on the bottom of the pond and
produce leaves and flowers on the surface in
summer. They also help to shade
the pond from the sun and inhibit the growth
of weed. Don't over plant, as they
grow rapidly: one is sufficient in a small pond.
Marginals are planted in containers set in shallow
water on shelves around the
pond.
Floaters are flowering plants that simply float
on the pond. Marsh plants can be
planted at the edges of the pond, if the liner
is extended and filled with soil to
create waterlogged bog conditions.
Don't use garden soil as it contains too many
impurities and could contaminate
the water. Your garden centre will advise on
the best compost to use.
Spread gravel around the top of plant containers
as fish delight in rummaging
around the bottom of plants, disturbing the
compost and discolouring the water.
Pond Maintenance
The main problems in ponds are blanket weed,
algae and fallen leaves.
Algae can be avoided to some extent by siting
your pond away from the full sun.
It is less of a problem when the pond is established
with oxygenators and lilies.
Blanket weed is a bigger enemy as it thrives
in healthy water. It can be removed
by hand or with a stick, being careful not to
puncture the liner. There are other
effective methods to remove blanket weed, such
as floating barley straw on the
surface. You could also use chemicals, but the
best method of cutting down on
blanket weed is to keep the water moving. If
you have a fountain and/or
waterfall, keep it running at all times to aerate
the pond. This will also keep ice
from forming across all the surface of the pond
in the winter
Leaves are a menace and if your pond is near
trees, then the only way to keep
the leaves out is to net the pond.
Ice rarely freezes in water beyond a depth of
18" in the UK and providing there
are no rotting leaves giving off poisonous gas
in the bottom of the pond and there
is a hole in the ice to allow in oxygen, the
fish will survive quite well for several
months during the winter.
A rubber ball floating on the surface of the
pond in winter can usually move
around sufficiently enough to leave a hole in
the ice thus allowing oxygen to get
through, or use hot water from a kettle to make
a hole in the ice. Never break the
ice as this will affect the fish's nervous systems
and can kill them.
If you have a pump, a filter fixed to it, will
remove algae and other particles from
the water, although the filter will need cleaning
on a regular basis.
With a larger pond, you can pump the water through
a tank containing some kind
of filtration product, although clean gravel
will also do the trick and a tank full of
hair curlers acts as an excellent filter. A
central heating header tank for a small
pond or a cold water storage tank for a larger
pond is ideal. Bacteria that remove
toxic waste will grow on the filters, thus keeping
the pond clean and healthy.
If pollution remains a major problem, you can
run the hose from the pump
through an ultraviolet light to kill the algae
and totally eliminate green water.
If your pond springs a leak it may mean draining
it down to where the hole is, or
draining it completely to affect a repair. If
the latter is the case, move the fish and
plants to a temporary tank.
You can purchase pond puncture kits to repair
plastic liners form a garden centre
that has an aquatics department.
A crack in a pre-formed pond is best fixed using
a car body repair kit.
If you have a concrete pond, it's probably better
to drain it and add a plastic liner,
rather than point up with cement, which rarely
works.
Wild Life
Within a very short space of time, your pond
will attract frogs and/or toads and, if
you are lucky, newts. They will benefit your
garden as all three eat slugs and
snails, so you should make it easy for them
to get in and out of the pond by
having an angled slope to climb up. These reptiles
will undoubtedly spawn and
you will need to make sure the spawn doesn't
clog up the pump filter. Various
insects, such as water boatmen, which literally
walk on water, bees, butterflies
and hovering dragon and damsel flies will turn
up as will water snails, which you
will need to control as they can carry disease.
Birds will be attracted to drink and bathe in
fountains and waterfalls, but you do
not need a visiting heron! If this becomes a
problem, you may have to net the
pond, or wind black or near invisible thread
around pegs around the pond to
catch the herons' legs as they try to wade in.
A good pond is hard to beat as a source of tranquility
in the garden.
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How to Create a GardenPond