Contemplation is a way to restore your inner strength and pull away from the bustle. Admiring nature in any of its manifestations — be it a leaf, a blade of grass or even a small pebble, we fall into a kind of trance, going into his «I» without reference to events. Perhaps that is why there is massive «flight» citizens away from noisy habitats, closer to mother nature, where on his own, even for a tiny piece of land, you can relax and relax. How to create a relaxing atmosphere in your garden? There is nothing easier! Instead of just a couple of beds of potatoes and tomatoes break at his summer cottage a small pond — now you will have more time for rest and contemplation of the water — and, as you know, the best cure for stress and fatigue. Do you think that such complex hydraulic design you can not afford? With our recommendations you will be «reckless», not to mention a small pond, a bookmark which you can handle yourself.
The contents
How to start the creation of a pond?
So, you realized that your life is more inconceivable without the lovely pool, designed to please your eyes and soothe nerves. How to create a pond at the dacha with his hands, so it perfectly complements the landscape of the garden and lasted a long time, and did not become a problem area, requiring persistent care?
The original feature of a small pond, decorated with boulders, can be a unusual path of flat stones
Let’s start with the style selection of pond and identifying a location for its bookmarks. Then, we will tell you how to technologically do the pond and equip it. Chosen in the correct style and is laid with observance of all technicalities, an artificial pond will be a real gem for your garden and a great place for tranquility.
A small excursion into history
Tradition to equip their estates water came to us from the East, where water has always been valued more than gold. Miniature pools with fountains of regular geometric shape was a mandatory attribute of any Muslim court. In China, the development of garden culture has gone a slightly different path — the gardens were laid in the infinity style that replicates as closely as possible the natural appearance of the natural landscape.
A feature of the arrangement of the pond in a Chinese garden stands the compulsory presence of a stone lantern
This style demanded your continue and in the waters that had incorrect bends, was quite extensive in area and supplied with bridge and stone lantern in the coastal zone. Interestingly, in the midst of the Chinese pond necessarily located tiny island, not in any way connected with the land, the so-called island of dreams. «Salt» this island was a distinctive stone or solitary tree.
The pond in the Japanese garden, as a rule, kept in shape and has a solid composition of the stones without any striking plant forms
Japan, because of the limitations of their territory, have always tended to minimize the area of the garden, where an extensive body of water not always was the place. However, due to the traditional concept of the Japanese garden, suggesting the presence of all elements, a pond existed in the form tsukubai — small container of water. A mandatory attribute of the mini pond was a stylized stream flowing out of hollow bamboo tubes, and dwarf trees along the banks. Sometimes the pond has taken the form of a square or rectangle that added a certain austerity of Japanese garden style.
The pond in the landscaped garden looks very natural, as if it was created by nature itself
Further, the grain sown Oriental culture, gave a lush seedlings in Europe, specifically in England and France, where landscape art has taken a totally opposite paths. English garden just exactly resembled the Chinese and was a natural piece of nature with lush vegetation and landscaped ponds.
A regular pond in the garden has a regular geometric forms not issued and lush vegetation
The French garden was also decided in the so-called regular style, the crown of which is considered to be the garden and Park ensemble of Versailles. For the regular design of the garden in the French style is characterized by a clear breakdown of regular geometric forms and bodies of water, towering above the earth’s surface.
Water bodies in the avant-garde gardens are laid similarly to the formal ponds in formal gardens — with a linear shape and low vegetation
In our era, the pond is a regular garden acquired the formal name and was further developed in the avant-garde garden landscapes, where the precise shape of the pond juxtaposed with plastic, metal, glass in the form of unusual designs or even imitations of vegetation.
Choose the style of the pond
As the country make the pond so that he didn’t escaped from the canvas of the existing landscape and was correctly calibrated in style? Choosing the style decision for a pond on your land, push off from the architectural design of the country house and the existing garden layout. Add the bowl of decorative pond stream or waterfall, make the coastline and make a pavement track in one key with the concept of landscape of garden.
The special charm of the landscape pond, giving it smooth contours and ornamental plants decorating the expanse of water
The infinity pond with a natural shape is always appropriate in the bottom of the garden near the gazebo or close to the terrace houses — after all, you should be able to settle down comfortably to watch the water.
The design of the reservoir can be more restrained on the Japanese principle of boulders of different size, the conifers, the lack of multicolored herbs. Or in the Chinese style — more lush and bright, with a required emphasis in a tree with variegated foliage and a curved bridge. An infinity pond could be created in style «natures garden», involving planting only indigenous plants typical for this region, and the absence of any plant of the exotic.
The most concise form is a formal pond with a rectangular shape
Formal pond geometric shape — a square or rectangular configuration beneficial to look close to home, emphasizing vertical and horizontal lines. Well this pond is combined with a patio or patio, especially if near broken straight flower beds or padded linear track.
The unusual coloring of the pond can give the path, passing over its surface — or in the form of the bridge or separate stones or plates
An interesting technique that is widely used in modern landscape design — laying tracks, laid with decking and placed in the form of a bridge across the pond polyline geometry. A similar path across the pond may also have the form of a concrete track or a separate square plates, as if hovering above the water. Original look the cascades of small, different size ponds where the water flows from one Cup to another by small waterfalls.
A system of cascade ponds in the country will not only give her the unusual landscape, but also fills the garden with a pleasant murmur
Formal ponds with a round shape will decorate the patio or front group of your country site
Round ponds along with rectangular shapes also belong to formal ponds and can be decoration for a lawn or an open lawn, stylistically complement the garden area with a pergola or placed near the picturesque groups of trees. Round shape mini ponds in the garden can be done by hand much easier than any other configuration, using precast concrete rings, wooden tubs, plastic containers, and even car tires.
Choose the location, size, material
A well-chosen location for the reservoir will be the key to its long-term functioning without seasonal «flowering» in spring and summer when under the influence of ultraviolet light aktiviziruyutsya green algae. A certain period of daylight of the pond have to be in the shade so algae is not so intensively bred. On the other hand, placement of the reservoir in a fully shady area will delay development of ornamental plants. It is important to observe the Golden mean.
Placing a recreation area with barbecue close to the pond, you can always enjoy the beauty of the water
It is important to know that the pond should be lit by the sun about 5 hours a day and be open from the South-West. It is undesirable to have the pond under the shady trees — falling autumn leaves will contaminate it..
As for the size of the pond, ideally the reservoir should hold 3% of the plot area. When the garden is small with a standard area of 6 acres, every cottager is ready to dedicate to the pond 18 m2. Of course, the smaller the size, the easier it is to make a pond with their hands and materials you will need are not many, and labor costs will be minimal. Therefore, when deciding on the width and length of an artificial pond, take into consideration your physical abilities and the perception of the harmony of the pond, as a compositional spot on your site — that is, how the dimensions are combined with other elements of a suburban landscape.
The ascetic solution in the design of the pond using only stones is a specific feature of the pond in the Celtic style
The design of the pond, with a waterfall flowing down from a small wall made of beige Sandstone, perfectly fit the landscape style of garden
The depth of the pond is recommended to be divided into three steps: zone of coastal plants, a shallow area for the Queen of the pond of Lilies — hardy water lilies and depth for over-wintering of fish — if you expect them to breed.
Not worth it to make the pond too deep, just enough to dig the winter a hole for fish to a depth of about 150-180 cm (below the level of soil freezing), so it took about 1/5 of the area of the pond.
Cute pond of rectangular shape can be made in a small summer cottage, and the singularity of the pond will give the edging of decking
The highlight of the avant-garde of the pond can be extravagant installation of wood, reminiscent of exotic animal or plant
A continuous supply of water in the pond, you can arrange column, or an old group of glass bottles bright colors
When the location and approximate size of pond you have decided it’s time to think about what materials to use to make the pond as much as possible and faster. The most thorough and costly the arrangement of the pond — concrete Foundation, require the erection of formwork and reinforcement. A less expensive way to lay the pond — ready to use plastic container.
The pit for the pond formed the characteristic ridged — clumps for planting
To circulate water in the pond, on the bottom of the pump is installed from which water is supplied to the cleaning filter and returns back into the pond
And finally, the most convenient and budget way to make your own hands an artificial pond — the use of special moisture resistant film, which laid out a bowl of the pond. This method of laying the pond we have the basis for a detailed description.
Phased technology creating a pond using the film
1. Initially, you need to sketch out a plan for the future of the artificial pond to scale, indicating depth and width of clumps (shelves under planting of plants), and it is desirable to draw a rough sketch of decorating the pond. This approach will help to avoid various alterations in the construction of the pond and the plants. At this stage, consider what will be the emphasis in the composition of your pool — this may be the original stone, wood or sculpture.
Before laying the pond on your house, draw a plan of the reservoir indicating the depths and location of the main elements of the arrangement
2. Using a normal water hose or spilling sand around the perimeter of the reservoir in the form of a line, draw the estimated contour of the pond. Be sure to check that the shores of the future lake were at the same level.
Marked out with a hose shape of the pond, dig a pit according to a drawn plan
Periodically measure the level of the banks of the pond in the process of formation of the pit. If you do not have a water level of the desired length, it is possible to adapt a conventional long Board and it install a small 50-centimetre level.
3. Start excavation — rip out the pit to a depth of coastal tier and mark the line from which the pond deepens to the next level. Having the second tier, laid the line for digging the deepest part of the pond and take out the last bit of land.
The process of digging a pond is quite heavy, so it is better to hire the services of professionals on the excavation, accompanied by a mini-excavator. However, if you still decided to perform this time-consuming part of yourself, prepare for the fact that in the pit can accumulate water and you have to mess around in dirty slush. To remove the water from the bottom of the pit can help you get a pump specially adapted for pumping water with impurities and solids. Nearby it is possible to dig a secondary hole to dump water into it.
4. After the pit is completely dug by means of a cord measure its dimensions due to the depth, plus the allowances in the order of 50 cm on the sides of the bowl — it is necessary to acquire the film right size.
The problem you will inevitably face in the process of excavation is where to put the earth excavated from the pit for the pond? A good solution to this problem — to raise the level of the plot and distributing the soil in the garden. You can also use the earth of excavation as embankment for the stream or as a base under Alpine slide.
5. The bowl of the pond is lined with durable water-resistant film. As a rule, to protect the main film from damage by rocks and roots of the plants under it introduces an additional layer of geotextile. For this purpose also suitable for old linoleum or roofing material, and you can just fill the pit with sand and compacted it.
When the pit is formed, place a layer of geotextile and then a film, align the edges of panels in a specially dug trench along the perimeter of the pond
To film for the pond became more elastic, styling is better to choose a Sunny day — and then it warms up a bit and it would be better to stretch with ease around all the ledges of the pit.
6. For the arrangement of the edges of the pond, the perimeter of the breaks of the auxiliary trench to tuck and secure the tape. Laying the edges of the film in the trench, sprinkle it with gravel — so it is securely fixed.
7. Strengthen the edge of the pond with stone blocks or plastic pipes, nailed to pegs, to prevent the shedding of the land in the coastal zone in the bowl of a pond. Place the edge of the natural stone and decorate a beautiful single boulder or group of boulders.
8. Place the prepared plants in the plastic containers and place them on the curtain, put the bottom of the pond with stones and gravel.
9. Now the pond can be filled water. To make it easier to pick up in the future, pumping equipment and the volume of hydrochemistry for the care of the pond, do not be lazy to take readings of the water meter before and after filling of the reservoir.
10. To the water in the pond is not stagnant, it is better to build the pond Creek — it will provide a constant circulation of water. For this purpose, the source of the stream rises above the level of the pond, and the water to it is fed from the bowl of the pond by using a submersible pump. Be sure to consider how to decorate the mouth of the stream — use rocks, vegetation planting, clay or glass containers.
Fill the pond with water, make the stream, install and connect the pump to the filter plant aquatic plants
11. Install on the bottom of the pond submersible pump, route the pipe to the source of the stream and connect them to the filter for water purification. Cleaning the filter is better to take the pressure (with system reverse cleaning) — it effectively running.
Your pond is ready, now we just need to diligently care for them — clean of dirt, sometimes to use the means of recovery of water and prevent the spread of algae, and in the winter to get the plants in the basement of the house.
Basic mistakes when building ponds
Creating something with your own hands is not easy to avoid some mistakes, especially such as composite, so in order to make your pond correctly, mention some of the common mistakes inherent to our gardeners:
- The design of the pond with pellets of the same diameter, making the pond takes on a somewhat boring look. Large stones it is better to combine with smaller, but not overwhelm them the entire coastal zone of the reservoir.
- Ponds dug very deep, have steep walls and resemble a sort of oubliette. A little investigation showed that the earthmoving companies benefit from digging deep ponds, as they pay for the number of cubes taken out of the earth. Pay attention to the depth of your pond should not make too recessed, especially if you do not want fish farming.
- Craving for container gardening, which interferes with the normal development of plants and the fear of filling the pond with earth for planting. On the one hand, container planting allows you to quickly change the plant design of the pond by permutation and rearrangement of plants. Probably growers are also afraid of the prospect of dirty view of the pond after filling with the ground, but there is nothing to fear — the soil for water plants is a difficult mixture with a large content of clay, which was washed with water, and over time will harden the root system of plants.
Consider the creation of a pond with their hands, do not forget that it is not easy — practice at the beginning, forming a miniature pond at home.
If the dimensions of your site is not allowed to equip a pond in the country, create a miniature pond in the most ordinary Cup
If possible, safely proceed to a large scale project on laying a full-fledged pond in the suburban area. We are sure you will cope!
