Landscape Architecture Design Article

Landscaping Tips For Water Gardens

Water in any garden is so wonderful but it also needs a lot of preparation and care. Water makes everything in a garden cool and attractive. Whether it is a pond with fish swimming in it or plants or rocks surrounding it, water adds an element of peace. It’s not just how beautiful it looks – it sounds so soothing too.

Landscaping for a water garden is no easy task however. It involves excavation, treatment and it is a lot more complex than planning a regular landscaped garden. Here’s how you can go about it in a systematic, organized way. The first thing you should do is to put the design down on paper. The drawing should have the dimensions of the whole garden, where you intend putting the water body and a general layout of the whole place. After you have drawn out the design, use a rope to demarcate the area where the pond is going to be. A garden hose will do as well too. If it’s a free-flow shape, place the rope or hose in that form. Now spray paint the outline and then begin digging. This is the most tedious part and if you can have the excavation done by professionals you will save yourself a lot of trouble. You will then have a tiring and an exacting job done quickly and without you having to expend any energy.

After the excavation is done, it’s time for Phase 2 of the water garden landscaping. You now need to put in the plumbing. You will have decided whether you want a pond or a waterfall or fountain so you will have to do the necessary piping. After you finish with the plumbing, make sure the soil around the excavation at the bottom is covered up and you should put in a liner which is usually made of waterproof cement so that the water is contained. Level the lip of the pond as well and make it sturdy with cement. This perimeter is known as the coping shelf and it needs extra support.

Wait till the coping shelf is completely dry, then cover it with soil after which you can place your decorations like boulders, etc on the pond’s perimeter. Put down the larger ones first, followed by the smaller ones. You can also use boulders as camouflage – to hide hoses, tanks, wiring and anything else that would spoil the scene. Everything that sticks out can comfortably go under or behind decorative material.

Now you need to look at what vegetation you want around the pond. Try and get plants that don’t require too much of maintenance. Add mulch to the soil so the plants grow well. After the plants and the rocks and boulders are all in place, you’ll see how beautiful it looks. Now it’s time to pay attention to the pond itself. You could arrange aquatic plants and rock at the bottom of the pond. Do this and then fill up the pond with water. After the water has been filled, you can put in the fish if you’d like any in the pond. The popular ones that most people go for are goldfish and carp because they look colorful.

Water gardens really do add to the beauty of a place so if you can get it done, do so and it will brighten up your days no end.