How We Created A Pond With Live And Man-made Water Lilies And Provided It With Fabulous Lighting

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

A pool of sparkling nymphs

A garden pond is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful and versatile elements of garden design, naturally, with its appropriate location and proper care. Therefore, before deciding to place a second pond on our site, we clearly decided what type of reservoir we want to get, where to place it correctly, and how much space to allocate for it so that it organically fits into the existing landscape.

An important criterion when looking for a place for a reservoir with aquatic plants, namely, we decided to create such a living pond, is the illumination of the site. Ideally, the pond is only illuminated by the sun in the morning or afternoon, and at noon, most of it is in the shade. This amount of sun should be enough for the full growth and flowering of aquatic plants, and it also minimizes overheating of the water during the day.

When choosing a base for a pond, we opted for an already proven option, namely a rigid plastic container from a proven German company. We created our first pond with a fountain from just such a frame. And he fully justified himself. Now we decided to buy a container of large volumes so that we could place a collection of aquatic plants there.

Since we already had the experience of installing the pond bowl in the ground, the work time was significantly reduced. The electrical wiring was also skillfully laid, but this time not for the operation of the fountain, but for powering the lamps we had conceived.

After the emergence of this charming reservoir, which changed the front entrance to the garden, we proceeded to the most pleasant and long-awaited moment of our work - the settlement of the pond and designer decorations.

In Russia, the white water lily has long been called the mermaid flower, but the nymphea received its botanical name from ancient Greek mythology. Water nymphs - virgins of rivers and lakes - lived in clear water and were considered the embodiment of innocence and purity. The beauty of the water lilies seemed just as perfect. Many varieties of garden water lilies have emerged as a result of crossing various species with the white nymphea. And we decided in our garden to create unprecedented varieties of water lilies in mosaic compositions with evening illumination with golden stamens.

The fact is that we have been experimenting with mosaic tiles, mirrors and rhinestones for a long time. Readers of Flora Price magazine could read about it in our article “Sunbeams are swimming in a fountain …” published in 2006. Then, to decorate the garden, we made a hanging trap for sun bunnies, and then mushrooms, turtles, mirror dragonflies …

This time we decided to make lamps lilies for the decoration of the new reservoir. Having experience in making mosaic products, both flat and volumetric, the design of a terry lily surrounded by leaves did not take much time. Some difficulty was the equipment of the flower with LEDs in the amount of from 7 to 11, depending on the variety of the nymphea. But already starting from the second product, using various tricks and taking into account all the possibilities of the materials with which we worked, we were able to overcome the difficulties.

The idea was this - beautiful flowers, born of nature in partnership with flowers created by man. As a decoration of the reservoir, our unprecedented nymphs should also emit subtle light from golden stamens. And therefore, we equipped the delicate lilies not with street lamps, like garden lamps, but with yellow twelve-volt LEDs, so precisely repeating the shape of the nymphea's stamen.

Relying on the maximum possible repetition of natural nymphs, we took glass mosaic tiles as the main material when implementing our idea. It shimmers fabulously in the slightest light, even more beautiful after the rain. In addition, it perfectly conveys the atmosphere of the reservoir and its inhabitants.

Each petal of our lily is based on a curved metal wire 3 mm thick and a metal mesh sewn to it in the shape of the petal itself. On both sides, taking into account the intended color, chipped tiles are laid out on the cement mortar. We reduce the distance between the tiles to a minimum so that the drawing does not appear blurred after drying and subsequent grouting. So we make the required number of petals for each nymph. In our compositions, lilies contain from 9 to 12 double-sided petals. By changing the bend of the wire of the frame and the metal mesh, we can get the most varied forms of lilies - from pointed to semicircular. At the same time, the shape of the flower itself also varies - from an opening bud to an open bowl. Will be good,if, during the manufacture of petals, part of the wire from the base protrudes from the petal, this will facilitate the assembly of the flower and perfectly fix it in the cement mortar of the base of the composition. Before fastening the flower, we inserted LEDs into the center of the nymph. We hid the wires suitable for the diodes in yellow plastic tubes, sealing them with epoxy glue. Our water lilies, like real ones, did not have to succumb to weather surprises, and therefore we carried out all the important points related to fastening, wiring and winter hardiness to the maximum. We didn’t have to give in to weather surprises, and therefore we did all the important points related to fastening, wiring and winter hardiness to the maximum. We didn’t have to give in to weather surprises, and therefore we did all the important points related to fastening, wiring and winter hardiness to the maximum.

According to the compositional idea, each flower was surrounded by leaves of different sizes and locations, relative to the poured cement base, imitating the water surface. The degree of bending of the leaf blades was also solved using a soft metal mesh at the base of the leaves. If we wanted to get a sheet large and protruding above the water surface, and not freely floating on the surface, then we attached its base to a metal rod (stem), then protecting the metal from corrosion with green Hammeraite paint. After the complete assembly of flowers with diode stamens and leaves, the composition was poured with cement mortar 5 cm thick with protruding wires to connect to a single circuit. When pouring, we used plastic molds for paving the paths. After two weeks of drying, we finally processed the free areas of the base with pistachio grout, imitating the water surface.

Now, with the onset of dusk, our fabulous nymphs, connected through a photo relay, independently light their cores, and in the evening the pond takes on an even more charming look.

Of course, the readers are interested in: what have we placed in the new reservoir? The nymphs were bought and planted there. They decorated it with their beautiful leaves, and then it was time for flowering. All growers know that the main problem when growing nymphs in our climate is to ensure their reliable wintering. We have dealt with this problem as well. The nymphs spent four winters in our basement, in a container with water, but the last winters were mild, and this year I risked leaving them in the pond. The effect is positive - they all overwintered successfully. The depth of this pond is 65 cm.

Svetlana Seregina, gardener, pos. Strelna

Photo by the author