Yard and deck ponds come in an assortment of sizes and mediums. Each has the ability to add tranquility and life to your outdoor space.

Planning a Pool

Design the pool to receive the maximum amount of light possible during the day. Use a hose to mark out the edges of a proposed pool, then watch the path of the sun each day to achieve the maximum amount of sunlight possible.

The depth of the pool will be important where the type of plants you want the pool to support is concerned. A pool of 45cm in depth will support water lilies and fish. A large pool with a depth of 75cm will look great but presents its own problems.

Danger for children is one, all aspects of designing a pool must be taken into consideration. However generally speaking most pools for the garden will be fairly shallow.Even shallow pools present danger for young children!!!

To capture reflections on the pool surface it is necessary to make the bottom of the pool a dark colour. This also serves to make the pool appear deeper than it really is. A shallow pool will tend to be warmer and will maintain its warmth well into autumn.

Water will also reflect the sun, although quite dramatic in effect, make sure you dont place the pool where the suns reflection may cause problems.

Birds will be attracted to the water, so even a large and shallow disk can add immeasureably to the landscape.

Your pool may be an old bath-tub, a prefabricated pool made of fibreglass or a full concrete extravaganza. Whatever you decide to choose, you can be assured, water in the garden will add value to your home and provide a beautiful addition to any garden.

Pool construction is such a diverse subject that I can not do justice to its discussion here. No matter what type of pool you decide to construct remember to place suitable plants around the edge of the pool to soften and hide any edges that are unattractive.

Choose plants for the edges of the pool that wont drop leaves continuously into the water as they only sink to the bottom of the pool and produce gasses that are harmful to the fish.

Refer to the graphic screen to view a simple pool plan that anyone could construct.

Planting out the Pool

Water lilies are a must for any respectable pool with hardy lilies native to Asia, Europe and Nth America and all their hybrids that come in many different colours, to the warmer climate species from North Africa which are quite flamboyant. Most of the lilies that flower in the daytime are fragrant.

To plant water lilies, prepare a raised platform and place the plant into a suitable sized aquatic basket using a heavy fibre free topsoil and mixed with well decayed manure. Plant into the pot so so that the rhizomes or rootstocks are just under the soil surface.

New plants should be placed in the pool with only two or so centimeters of water covering the pot so that the sunlight can reach the young plant. Later when established they like about 35cm water above the pot.

To maintain a proper chemical balance for fish it is important to plant oxygenating plants such as Sagittaria, Vallisneria, Myriophyllum or Elodia species. These are underwater plants and can be planted near the edge of the pond by pushing the tuberous roots deep into the mud or bottom soil of the pool.

Then there are the BOG plants that thrive on the verges of the pool and in moist and boggy ground. Plants like the Gunnera with its enormous leaves look magnigicent indispersed with plants of the Primula and Cyperus families. Depending on your climate, there are many other plants that you can utilise, in and near your pool to make a feature that is unsurpassed.



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