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PONDS
Of the many sources of water in the garden, this section concentrates on the informal garden pond. It might be a simple and shallow ‘dew pond’ home for Frogs and Newts, as shown on the right, or a deeper and larger rock lined pool examples of which are featured below.
We started building ponds with external filter boxes, UV filters and a pump in the bottom of the pond. The maintenance demands of this method, and the visible pump wiring and pipes, lead us to an alternative approach. The method we have used, and proved, over many years, achieves virtually maintenance-free performance and is explained below.
Please call us to discuss any aspect of ponds informal or formal.
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THE LARGER INFORMAL POND
A typical garden pond has moving water, often via a waterfall or pebble pool, and a size of about 4 to 6 by 3 to 4 metres, although many are larger. In our experience, in addition to aesthetic considerations, a number of fundamental considerations must be satisfied in order to achieve a good result:
The water depth must be at least 1 metre over part of the pond.
The pump must be capable of circulating the complete volume of water every 2 to 2.5 hours.
There must be an effective filtration method.
The pond should be adequately planted with aquatic plants.
Also, an effective overflow should be provided and an automatic ‘top-up’ system is desirable.
A good quality liner should be used and this may be of Butyl, one of the synthetic materials, or GRP (fibreglass). With the flexible liners a protective blanket under and over will protect from sharp stones and other hazards.
FITRATION
We use an integral filtration method. The pump chamber is adjacent to the pond but separated from it except for a large perforated pipe connecting the two.
The pipe extends through the length of the pond and is buried in washed gravel. The pump draws water from the bottom of the pond through the gravel bed and returns it to the surface of the pond via, usually, a waterfall. This process cleans and oxygenates the water.
The filter bed collects waste materials and, providing the pond is properly planted, the plants feed off the waste, a virtuous cycle is set up, and a natural balance is achieved.
Under these conditions fish thrive, clear water occurs and very little maintenance is required.
The schematic diagram below illustrates the method used.
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| This is one we prepared earlier...
A recent view of a pond we constructed some eight years ago. It was built at the base of a high bank that separates the two levels of a country garden. There is a waterfall built into the bank at the far side of this picture. As can be seen the planting has matured and the effect is natural and not
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| A recent pond (September 2004) part 1
These 4 pictures show the initial site and the start of excavation. Then the finished cavity was prepared by lining with a protective blanket and finally the large liner is shown in place. After this the pond was filled with water to force the liner into position before being drained again for the n
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| The September 2004 pond continued
After the liner is covered by the protective blanket two perforated drain pipes (100 mm dia) were laid through the centre of the pond floor and into the pump chamber at the far end. Ten ton of washed gravel was then put into the pond bottom to form the filter bed.
The internal rock walls
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| 3 years on
These are views of a pond and the garden we designed and constructed three years ago. The pictures were taken during a 'gardens open' day in the summer of 2004.
The extensive sleeper retaining walls and the steps replace the original steep grass slope that originally provided access to the lower ga
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