The Pond Design Tutorial


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PThe Pond Design Tutorial

---------I : Put Your Ideas on Paper

---------II : Decide on Size and Shape

---------III : Edging is All-important

---------IV : Select a Water Circulation Method

PART I : Put Your Ideas on Paper

Because water gardening is relatively complex and expensive compared with regular gardening, it's never a good idea to just start digging. You don't need a degree in landscape architecture to draw very accurate, and very nice-looking, landscape drafts. Indeed, Gertrude Jekyll, one of the most reknowned English landscape designers, used only good measurements, a few watercolors, an ink pen, and her mind's eye. Whether or not you do as she did, or just get close enough with a pencil, it pays to plan ahead in water gardening.

One of Jekyll's Drawings

Step 1: Measure the perimeter of the area which you intend to landscape using stakes and a long tape measure. Measure all existing features within this perimeter, such as trees, shrubs, walkways and flower beds. Do not forget to measure the distance of each feature from the perimeter (so that you can place it properly in your drawing) and to take into account the canopy of each tree, as the shade produced will affect your plant choices.

Step 2: Convert feet or meters into inches or centimeters and find the largest scale possible that will fit the piece of paper on which you will draw.

Step 3: Delineate your work area by drawing in the perimeter, and then fill in the existing features with your actual and relative measurements. Label each feature. What you now have before you is a miniature replica of your yard; you are now free to use your imagination. By the way, if you do plan on using watercolors to express the color of your plantings in bloom, don't forget to use specially made moisture-absorbent watercolor paper.

PART II : Decide on Size and Shape

The main rule to follow when building a lily pond (and not just a good sales pitch) is to build as BIG and as DEEP as you are able the first time around. Gardeners tend to be too conservative with their first pond (probably because they have yet to become water gardeners). Once people see the beauty and life that water brings to the garden they often wish they could start again and build a larger, more elaborate pond--and many do. But that is not to say that you should get in over your head!

The general depth of the pond should not be less than 18 inches and the central part(s) should be at least 30 inches deep if you live in a northern zone and intend to winter over fish. Likewise, but for opposite reasons, water gardeners in southern or desert climates need to build their ponds as large and as deep as possible to avoid cooking their contents. A greater depth enables you and your garden's visitors to suspend the disbelief that you have a real spring under your suburban backyard. No one wants to see a black liner just below the surface.

Make the shape of the pond interesting. Circles, squares and other simple forms look best in a symmetrical, formal setting. Avoid the ubiquitous kidney shape. Use your imagination—a pond with a lagoon shape could accomodate a bridge, or one that abutts a patio could be half straight-edge, half curved-edge. This is one aspect of water gardening where you can actually improve upon nature.

PART III : Edging is All-important

Edging is the most important aspect of your pond. It will determine its longevity and overall look, as well as the types of wildlife that may frequent it. First, what to avoid. Many sources advocate the shelf system of water garden design. The point of this method of excavation is to get maximum volume from what is usually a very limited surface area. And it does work. However, it does so at the expense of the pond itself because it forces the water gardener to create edging that is both unsightly and unstable.

We have found that the pressure of the water on the liner is not great enough to ensure that the shelves will hold their shape over a period of years. The right angles required for shelving are not natural and the elements will conspire with people and animals to make sure that they disintegrate. Once they do begin to fall apart your liner will shift, further destabilizing the edging and leading to leaks. Shelves have been known to collapse in a muddy mess when the weight of a person standing on a heavy masonry edge is too much for the soil to bear.

Masonry edge brings us to the final drawback of the shelf system: there is no way to disguise the liner except by edging the entire pond with some type of pavingstone. Unless your pond sits in a very formal garden, this effect is nearly always unnatural and amateurish. Despite what you may read in catalogs and guides, it's our opinion that you should think twice before using the shelf system.

Going for the Natural Edge

In our view, the best method of edging is that which appears to be no edging at all. Mimic nature when you dig your pond and make the deepest part (or parts, if it is a large pond) in the middle and from there make the slope of the pond gradually shallower until it meets your edge.

The gradual grade of the pond's slope and the below-water edging will make a durable and natural edge to your pond, and the boggy area will add another dimension to your water garden. It will also make it more desirable and accessible to animals (for better or worse), such as amphibians, raccoons and birds. It should be noted here as well that using the transitional zone to edge your pond will lead to some small water loss, as the soil and plants will literally drink from the pond. Rain usually compensates, but in the event that it does not, most people find that having to top off the pond occasionally is a small price to pay for the beauty of this type of edge.

PART IV : Select a Water Circulation Method

It is vital that your pond have a means for the circulation and aereation of its water—without one, it can become a sick, smelly breeding ground for mosquitoes. For most ponds, a number of different circulation methods are possible, but make use of the terrain around your water garden if it is better suited to any one type in particular.

For people who are lucky enough to have a constantly replenishing natural spring or stream, the sky is the limit: simply create a place for the water to enter and exit the base pool and build your circulation method separately using pumps.

For those who are not so lucky, our advice is to keep it simple. If too many leaves fall in your ten foot stream bed and you start losing a few drops of water here and there you will soon find your pond empty. Likewise, if there is too much splash generated by a complex or large system of waterfalls, you will be surprised at how fast your pond loses water.

Southern or desert water gardeners should not build stream beds or complicated waterfalls out of rocks unless the pond is very large or in the shade. The sun will heat the rocks quickly bringing the temperature of the water to the danger point. Below are four methods of water circulation that are efficient, beautiful and easy to install in any pond.

The Fool-Proof Yet Elegant Pipe Waterfall

The pipe waterfall, pictured above, has a certain Zen quality to it that is very appealing in both a natural or a formal setting.

Ambitious water gardeners may opt for the sought after cascading waterfall effect. Waterfalls like the one pictured below require more maintenance than other circulation methods because leaves can cause water to back up and stones will shift from animals and frost, potentially causing leaks. You will also lose more water to evaporation and splash. But for those willing to fiddle, the waterfall option is usually worth it.

The Cascading Waterfall

The stream method is a good way to create the illusion of a spring-fed pond in your backyard. It's simple to construct but requires some work to maintain. Avoid making your stream more than five feet long and two feet wide, even if you have a larger pond; they are easily clogged by debris and disrupted by animals (unless, as was mentioned before, you have a natural water source).

Fountains are the last and most straight-forward method of water circulation we will discuss. They are ideal for formal ponds where a stream or waterfall would look out of place, and they add the same motion and sound to the garden. Are fountains right for any pond? Yes and no. It is possible for a fountain to work in a natural setting, but this usually involves a piece of statuary or some variation on the previously mentioned pipe method. And little fountains are the perfect solution for container gardens and other small water features. But the elegance of a vertical spray fountain is most appreciated in a very formal setting.