A Pond In The Garden Is Real. Part 1

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

What can be a reservoir in the garden and what is more convenient to make it from

• Purpose of the reservoir
• The location of the reservoir
• The shape of the reservoir
• The dimensions of the reservoir
• Security
• Work force

Today, many people evaluate their garden-vegetable garden not only in terms of harvesting, but also often perceive it as a resting place where you can relax and just have a good time. And with this formulation of the question, it is not surprising that water in the garden, whether it be a pond, a stream or a swamp, is written quite often.

But in practice, for the most part, very few can boast of having something like this. And the point is not only that most often the reservoir turns out to be a technically rather complex structure that requires a lot of time and effort from its owners.

Unfortunately, it is also quite expensive. And these are not just words - the fact is that I myself had to go through the whole epic of building a reservoir in my garden. And before that, in order to make the right decision, study all the technologies for the construction of reservoirs, visit all organizations that provide similar services in our city, carry out calculations and compare all technologies with each other. Therefore, I think that the results of my research will be interesting.

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Purpose of the reservoir

The first thing to start from is to understand for what purposes you are going to use the pond. The goals may be different, and the technical solution will directly depend on this.

1. Purely decorative purpose without planting aquatic plants. In this case, you should not burden yourself with the creation of serious structures with a concrete bowl - it is much easier to purchase a ready-made bowl made of special plastic of the size and configuration you need and dig it in or cover the bottom and walls of the dug pit with a special film. Size and shape do not play a special role here, although you should not forget that it is easier to maintain balance in a large pond and fight greening of the water than in a small one.

2. Ornamental purpose with planting aquatic plants. In this case, it is also easier to follow the path of acquiring a ready-made reservoir or to cover the reservoir with a special film - it is not necessary to create concrete structures.

But when planning the planting of plants, it is necessary to provide for different depths in the pond, since the most decorative zone with rich flora and fauna is a swampy zone up to 20 cm deep. This zone should make up about 40% of the total area of the pond, since it cannot be preserved without sufficient water supply provided by the deep water zone. Ideally, the swamp zone (up to 20 cm deep) should transition into shallow water, which should occupy about 35% of the pond area.

The deep-water zone should occupy about 25% of the area of the reservoir and have a depth of 0.8 to 1 m. Thanks to this zone, the water temperature in the pond does not rise quickly in summer, which prevents water damage and provides the aquatic fauna with a good overwintering.

3. Using the reservoir as a mini-pool implies the creation of large concrete bowls, the inner surface of which must have some kind of waterproofing coating. As a coating, both a PVC bowl and a special film or manual coating with special waterproofing compounds can serve. In any case, the construction will turn out to be very laborious and expensive and must be large enough with a depth of at least 1.5 m.

4. Fish farming clearly presupposes a large pond with great depth. A great depth (according to Moscow specialists, the depth should be at least 80 cm, in the Urals, perhaps, a greater depth is required - here you need to understand) is necessary so that the reservoir does not freeze to the bottom in winter, and there is enough oxygen in the lower layers of water for wintering fish. From a theoretical point of view, you can do without the construction of a concrete bowl - just dig a pit and cover it with a waterproofing film.

The location of the reservoir

It is recommended to place reservoirs in an open area, protected from strong winds. However, it should be borne in mind that the water surface of the reservoir can be exposed to sunlight for no more than six hours a day. Excess solar radiation leads to intensive reproduction of green algae and aquatic bacteria. In addition, aquatic plants and fish suffer from excess solar energy. To find out how many hours a day the reservoir will be in direct sunlight, planning is recommended in summer, when the trees have a dense crown.

The reservoir should not be placed very close to the trees, as there will be problems with cleaning the water surface from fallen leaves that clog the reservoir. In addition, tree roots can damage the bottom of an existing reservoir.

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The shape of the reservoir

The shape of the pool can be different: round, rectangular or indefinite. In open spaces with a "wild" landscape, free-form pools look better, emphasizing the naturalness of the decorative environment.

Near buildings, in a classic ensemble, reservoirs of regular geometric shapes are usually created.

Ponds-pools are more often made of rounded shapes, since debris periodically accumulates in the corners of rectangular reservoirs, the removal of which is sometimes very difficult.

The dimensions of the reservoir

Construction begins with determining the size of the future reservoir. The pond should blend harmoniously with your garden without breaking the overall style.

When determining the size of the future pond, keep in mind that for each square meter of water surface, the pond should, if possible, have a water volume of more than 400 liters. The larger the volume of water in the pond, the easier it will be for you to maintain it in the required biological balance in the future. Shallow water bodies get very hot in summer, which leads to pollution and rapid deterioration of water, which has to be changed at least once a week, which is very inconvenient.

In general, experts do not recommend creating ponds with a mirror-like surface of less than 3.5 m², since smaller decorative ponds do not always look good. In addition, due to the small volume of water, you have to take care of them all the time, which is very tiring. For a water mirror within 3-5 m², a depth of 60-80 cm is recommended; from 5 to 15 m² - 80-100 cm. With an area of 15 m², the bottom should be 100 cm or more from the surface.

There is no point in making a decorative pond with plants deeper than 1 m. When supplementing a decorative pond with a waterfall, fountain, stream or source, remember that not all aquatic plants love the flow and almost all do not tolerate splashes falling on flowers and leaves on a hot sunny day. In reservoirs less than 0.8 m deep, it is necessary to provide for deep places where containers with water lilies can be lowered for the winter, because most of them winter below the freezing level of the water. When planning the device of a mini-reservoir, think over the wintering place for plants.

A pond-pool, on the contrary, must have a depth of at least 1.5 m, otherwise it will not work to use it as a mini-pool to plunge, say, after a bath.

Security

Alas, for all the attractiveness of this idea, the reservoir can potentially pose a danger, and not only for children, but also for adults. To prevent adults from accidentally falling into a pond (no one is insured against dizziness), when performing work next to it, experts recommend the construction of high sides. The best option is when the sides reach the knee of an adult.

Of course, in the case of natural ponds, this is unrealistic, since it will not be possible to mask the boundaries of the reservoir with stones. Therefore, here you need to look for some kind of compromise - choose the right location, do not forget about creating convenient approaches to the pond, etc.

The situation is more complicated if you have small children who, as usual, are drawn to where they do not need to go at all. Therefore, for safety, you will have to purchase a special pond net (it is available in specialized stores), which is stretched over the water surface.

Of course, such a grid is not very attractive, but when aquatic plants grow, it is almost completely invisible. When properly secured, the net is almost above the water surface and prevents the child from falling into the water.

Work force

In practice, this is one of the most difficult problems. You have two options here.

You can do all the work on your own, but then you will definitely have to forget about everything and spend at least the entire season on construction. It is worth noting that you can not build all the options for reservoirs without the invitation of specialists. For example, you will not make a pond of polyvinyl chloride according to your project due to the banal lack of the necessary equipment and experience, and you cannot weld the film yourself, and then you will have to build not the pond you want, but the one that allows you to build the dimensions of the sold film …

You can invite specialists from relevant companies who will competently plan and manufacture a unique pond for you. You can safely brag about such a reservoir to your friends and neighbors, but it will cost you very, very dearly. But these specialists will make and install you only the pond itself (more precisely, the appropriate container made of plastic, metal, or they will weld a film). And all other operations: i.e. you will most likely have to do the direct digging of the pit for the pond and the construction of a concrete bowl (if necessary). The fact is that in our city, for example, only 3-4 companies are engaged in the construction of ponds, and the teams of workers with them are scheduled until late autumn inclusive, and they will not get their hands on ordinary gardeners.

In addition, it is worth noting that when constructing a reservoir with a concrete bowl, you simply cannot do without inviting workers. And the point is not so much that this is very hard work, but more in the fact that only fast continuous pouring will ensure the creation of a reliable concrete structure. One person cannot do this, he needs a team. From my own experience I can say that in modern conditions it is much safer to find such a brigade among workers from friendly republics. They will do all the work for you in the shortest possible time and for half the amount than similar teams of Russian specialists.

Read in the second part of the article:

• Film reservoir without a concrete bowl
• Film pond-pool with a concrete bowl
• Ready-made plastic pond made of polypropylene without a concrete bowl
• Plastic pond-pool made of polypropylene on request with a concrete base
• Concrete pond-pool with a special waterproofing coating HYPERDESMO
• Construction of a concrete bowl for film and concrete reservoirs
• Construction of a film reservoir
• How to choose the right film?

Read in the third part of the article:

• Installation of a finished plastic pond made of polypropylene
• Coating of a concrete reservoir with waterproofing material GIPERDESMO
• Pond care