The Difference Between Garden Ponds And Water Gardens Explained
How To Turn Your Pond Into a Natural Water Garden
Many water gardeners, including myself commonly interchange the terms pond, fish pond, water garden and fish pool. In the majority of cases the terms are actually describing the same thing. To the purist however there is a difference. I'm not a purist and must admit to having been guilty of interchanging the terms when writing articles for this site ...
What Is The Difference Between a Pond and A Water Garden?
In simple terms a pond is a hole dug into the ground and filled with water. There are different construction materials used as the lining from rubber to concrete and preformed pvc ponds.
Left in this state it is only a short period of time before you end up with a smelly, murky hole in your backyard ... not quite the picture you had in mind at the onset I bet.
The addition of fish, whether Koi, goldfish or some other variety turns it into a fish pond. If only Koi are added then to the purist it is known as a Koi pond.
Now Koi ponds are a specialist area and there keepers are very proud people who spend a great deal of time, energy and money providing the optimum growing conditions for these beautiful creatures. In a nice way they could be described as being a little obsessed.
A pool designed with the intention of attracting as much natural aquatic life including frogs, toads, newts, various insect species, birds etc is described as a wildlife pond. To the neutral these are probably the most interesting as they mimic nature.
There are of course ponds built around the central theme of a stream, where the stream is the main attraction, with the pond simply acting as a reservoir.
A water garden on the other hand is a combination of some or all of these with a specific emphasis on the addition of various species of aquatic plants. These plants take centre stage and everything else simply makes up the numbers.
Now aquatic plants serve a very important function within any water garden and this is what I would like to talk about in a bit more detail.
Plants Are Very Important To The Overall Eco System
Now first and foremost plants are known to attract insect species. They use the plants as a home, food source, place to lay their eggs and as a shelter from prey or the hot sun.
To some species such as the dragonfly, reed type plants act as a place to pick up females. They strutt there stuff whilst perching on the stems or leaves.
They form a valuable source of food for other aquatic life forms such as larger beetles and water boatmen. Frogs and newts will also take advantage of this additional food source, given the opportunity.
This in turn adds to the natural food chain as the offspring of these frogs (tadpoles) and the frogs themselves provide a ready meal for birds of prey, such as the Heron.
Aquatic plants provide shelter and a hiding place for fish as well as a place for them to attach their eggs to.
A water garden containing plants tends to have less water quality issues as nature to a large extent takes care of itself. The insects that use the plants reduce the need to hand feed fish as often; resulting in less opportunity for uneaten food to settle on the floor and decay. All species of fish, including gold fish and Koi eat the nymphs and larvae of these insects.
Aquatic plants help to control the levels of floating algae that causes green water and blanket weed. They mop up the nitrate as a food source. Nitrate is present in the water from the breakdown of toxic ammonia and nitrite, the end result of metabolic activity taking place in any pond containing aquatic life.
As outlined in previous articles a pond system can never have too much oxygen ... during daylight hours plants add much needed oxygen to the water; this is especially true in the case of oxygenator plants.
So if you are thinking of installing a pond seriously consider adding fish and plant life and turn it into a water garden. This will certainly provide you with many advantages and benefits including:
- Additional color and beauty which adds to the sense of enjoyment.
- Cheaper fish food costs due to the natural food chain available.
- Healthier fish.
- Reduced water quality issues.
- Pond fish significantly reduce mosquito related issues.
If you are considering installing a pond, water garden or wildlife pool then check out the following article before you do ... It will give you some pointers and ideas ... What Do I Need To Know Before I Build A Backyard Fish Pond ...
