Water Gardens

One of the nicest things you can do for even the smallest back yard is to put in a water garden. These can be as elaborate as you like, but the ones I’ve built took no more than a day’s worth of digging (in tandem with a teenage son), and about $100 for the rubber liner.

Our smallest is about 10 or 12 feet across, with an irregular shape. Once it was filled, frogs moved in of their own accord. We added goldfish, lined the edges with stone and logs, planted Japanese iris and other plants around the sides, with water plants in the middle, and ended up with the most serene place one could imagine. We’d sit almost every summer evening as the day wound down.

Ours is called a bog pond because it has no pump, filters, or technology of any sort. It goes along on its own, and has no problems outside of an occasional algae bloom in the heat of midsummer.

Dig the hole about 18-24 inches deep, and make it any shape you want. We put ours in a sunny spot to avoid having to clean out leaves in the fall, but others prefer a shady site. Once the hole is dug, smooth the bottom to keep any sharp rocks from puncturing the liner, then fill the bottom with two inches of sand.

Rubber liner material is available from water garden suppliers, or from roofing contractors. Spread the liner well outside the pond edges, anchor it in place with heavy stones, then fill with water—letting the liner stretch to fit. Landscape around the edges and you’re done.

Now find a bench, pour some tea, and relax. The only problem we’ve had since then is when an occasional blue heron enjoys our fish as much as we do.

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