Gardening in Water

A water feature adds new dimensions to the garden.

Written by Carole Ottesen

Photo courtesy of Lilypons Water Gardens

A garden pond, like a fireplace in a room, is a dramatic focal point. But a pond does more than rivet attention; it adds dimension to the garden. Beneath the water’s surface is a mysterious and enticing world.

Photo courtesy of Aquascape Designs

This lively garden pond both supports and attracts life.

People are irresistibly drawn to this watery world, and they are not alone. No sooner is a pond installed in a garden than birds flit over the surface. Butterflies hover in slow circles and frogs and dragonflies appear as if by spontaneous generation. An exotic array of plants and colorful fish thrive beneath the surface.

To attract and sustain the widest variety of plant and animal life, a pond needs thoughtful planning. Its size and orientation will determine what will live in it.

Size Matters

“The first thing to decide is how big to make it,” says Dave Sollway, general manager of Johnson’s Florist and Garden Centers in Olney. “The bigger, the better.”

“You don’t want a little pond as a starter. There’s no adding to it,” agrees Tim Guy, water gardening expert at Merrifield Garden Center in Fairfax. “If, later on, you want to make it bigger,” he adds, “you have to start all over.”

Mark Simpson of East Coast Landscaping thinks that “11 X 16 feet is the magical size. It may seem large, but by the time you put in rocks, boulders, and water plants,” he says, “it will be just right.” His firm usually installs a strong rubber liner that will be covered with rocks and boulders “for a more natural look.”

Photo courtesy of PremierPond.com

Steve Shinholser of PremierPond.com says, “I try to bring a pond up close
and personal, so you can enjoy it wherever you hang out.”

“You can dig out a shape and buy a flexible rubber liner or you can buy a hard fiberglass or plastic preformed liner,” says Sollway. “Both rubber and preformed liners,” says Orion Taylor, department manager at Behnke Nurseries in Potomac, “work for ponds below ground or raised up in a container.” Raised containers or fountains are ideal for those with limited space. “Concrete fountains are annual water features,” says Taylor, but he adds, “fountains with a large enough bowl at the bottom can be used with water plants.”

Queen of Water Gardens

Once you decide on the size and type of water garden and liner, says Guy, “Find a sunny area. Shady places limit your choice of plants.” The queen of all water plants, the water lily, requires at least three hours of direct sunshine to bloom at all. Six hours’ exposure is optimal.

Water lilies can be divided into hardy types that will survive the winter submerged and tropical lilies that do not. Guy favors tropicals, even though they are generally treated as annuals because they are difficult to overwinter.

Photo courtesy of Lilypons Water Gardens

The world’s most famous water garden, Monet’s Giverny, serves as
inspiration for ponds large and small.

“They grow three times as fast as hardy lilies and spread to about 8 X 9 feet; they bloom longer each day and later in the season‹until Halloween. And there are night bloomers that open about 6 p.m., when you get home from work, and stay open until 10 a.m. the next day.”

Nevertheless, those with no sunny area should not despair. “We put ponds in the shade all the time,” says Simpson. “There is a plethora of plants available” that will grow in shady ponds. Among these, cannas and irises with variegated leaves add color all season long.

Fish Facts

Water plants embellish the surface of the pond, but, below the surface, it is the fish that steal the show. “Koi is the choice among fish,” says Simpson. “They can eat plants, but they also eat algae, the number one problem with ponds.”

The number one problem for fish living close to the Potomac, whether koi, goldfish, or the rosy red minnows, recommended for small, still ponds, is the blue heron. “To protect against blue herons, we construct fish caves‹using rocks in the bottom or a six to eight inch plastic drainage pipe, dug into the pond to make it unobtrusive,” says Simpson.

“If the pond is deeper than two feet,” says Guy, “herons will not be an issue.” A deep pond also allows fish to overwinter safely. “You’ll run into problems if there isn’t sufficient depth,” says Sollway. “Koi require a minimum of two feet, but the deeper, the better. For goldfish, 18 inches is sufficient.“

Photo courtesy of Harmony Ponds Inc.

Two statuesque herons are permanent residents of this pond designed
by Harmony Ponds.

“To provide a better environment for fish,” says Simpson, “you want proper filtration. A constantly circulating pump oxygenates the water.“ One beautiful way to provide filtration and oxygenation is with a waterfall.

“Waterfalls act as a filter and they’re nice looking,” says Guy. “Typically, a waterfall trickles or cascades down a series of stone steps,” says Taylor, but it is really a matter of choosing the effect you would like. A more formal, more modern type might have “a wide spout that creates a curtain of water.” No matter the style, says Guy, “waterfalls are good for aeration and they provide white noise.” They also keep mosquitoes’ larvae from developing with constantly moving the water.

Moving water has other benefits. “My clients run waterfalls all year around. In the wintertime with lights, they are just spectacular,” says Simpson.

A water feature can command attention throughout the year. To enjoy its beauty in the cold seasons, just be sure, says Guy, to “put it where you can see it from inside the house‹from the place where you sit and the place where you work.”