A Guide to Pond Landscaping

The area around your pond should blend well with the water body to give it a natural look. This is achieved by proper landscaping around the pond. When landscaping the area around your pond the important considerations to be kept in mind are beauty, safety, privacy and convenience. Additionally your plantings must blend and accent the pond without adding any leaf litter. It is important to consider where you are going to locate your plants for making the best impression. The plants that you select should not break the basins by their growth and also they should not increase water toxicity.

Start by making a rough sketch of the whole pond landscaping project. To make this to scale you may need to take some measurements of the land. The sketch should include any existing features that you plan to include in your landscape like existing trees, rocks, hillocks, etc. Before you start out with your pond landscaping project you must peg the pond out. Use wooden pegs for this. Some of the pegs will be longer than the pond's depth and some others that are longer than the pond's marginal shelf. You will also need a long spirit level. These are available for hire. A level using laser spots is also very useful for leveling. You will also need a heavy hammer to insert the pegs into the ground.

Using strong pegs first mark the area for landscaping around the pond. Then using small pegs mark out the pond's perimeter. If the ground is uneven then you will be needing pegs of varying sizes. Then mark these perimeter pegs at the same level using the spirit level. Then mark the long pegs to indicate the depth of excavation including 5 cm for the sand layer that will provide cushion for the liner. You can now start excavating and use the pegs for reference. Use pegs around the area to mark out portions where you wish to plant trees, shrubs and other landscaping features. Remove the pegs when the work in a particular portion is finished.

If you are going to have a koi pond you must try to keep sun and wind exposure at a minimum so that thermal flux is reduced. Some plants can thrive or bear being watered continuously by splash or overspray from the pond but some others will not tolerate it. This will determine the types of plants that you can have close to the pond. Your local garden centers and nurseries are the best source for plants suitable for pond landscaping because the plants they stock will definitely be pre-adapted to your local climate and soil conditions and you can get their help when necessary.

Plants provide privacy and beauty around a pond. The placement and height of the plants will depend on what perspective the pond is going to be viewed from. Things will be different depending on whether it is to be viewed from standing, sitting, outside or inside the home. If there are large natural structures like rocks or hillocks trees should be planted on the side that is windswept as it happens in nature. In nature trees tend to grow on the side that is warm and sunny. You can also plant perennials and shrubs around them. Choose your plants wisely.

Choose plants that need little care. Many first timers make the mistake of planting deciduous trees around the pond. The same goes for evergreen needle bearing trees. These can create quite a mess in and around the pond. Large palms should be planted away from the pond due to their invasive roots. Use hardy ornamental grasses and moisture loving perennials near the pond so that they will help to make your pond the focal point of your garden.