Maintaining Your Garden Pond

One of the nicest additions to any property is a garden pond. They have the uncanny ability to transform the landscape of the garden and make it appear more tranquil and beautiful. But installing a new garden pond and then stocking it with fish doesn't mean that it all ends there. Maintenance of the pond is an essential routine that will help sustain its health as well as its beauty. Below we have listed some pointers for maintaining your garden pond.

First of all, building a garden pond doesn't just entail digging a hole and filling it with water. Special lining or casing is needed to ensure that first of all the water doesn't disappear into the ground and secondly, the reverse doesn't happen with debris and nutrients from the surrounding soil seeping into the pond.

Being careful of where the garden pond is placed is also another thing to keep in mind. It will also go a long way to determining how much maintenance will be needed once it has been installed. Trying not to locate a new garden pond under a tree is very important as falling debris will make it difficult to keep the pond clean. Leaves, twigs, blossom, bird feathers and bird mess are just a few of the things you will be fishing out if you are not careful. Granted, having a garden or fish pond located under or near a tree can be picturesque, but thinking long and hard about the clean-up involved may be enough to sway you from making that decision.

Another great tip that will help in the garden ponds maintenance is to make sure that it is not located at the lowest point of the garden. Having a pond installed at the lowest point of a garden means waging a losing battle with the elements - particularly rain. Run off from the garden will not only overflow the pond, it will also contaminate the water with all sorts of debris, chemicals and dirt. Maintaining the pond is difficult enough without the worry of this happening every time it rains hard!

Next thing to do once the garden pond has been dug, lined and filled is to add an assortment of plants into and around the pond. Plants around the ponds edge will help in the management and absorption of nutrients, whereas some species of water plants actually assist in controlling algae levels in the water. This means you will have a lovely decorative touch that actually does an important job as well.

The last tip we can give involves lining the ponds edge with rocks. This serves the purpose of not only beautifying the pond, but it keeps it as clean as possible by stopping dirt and plants accidentally falling or being kicked into the water. Some rocks are not suitable for this purpose as they can release substances that are poisonous for aquatic life, so make sure you choose the correct ones. Your supplier should be able to point you in the right direction.