Ponds to Water features- Design through Implementation (2nd of a 2 Part Series)

Once location and size of your water feature has been determined, water movement and flow rate calculations are necessary.  As mentioned in the first part of this series, creating “live” water is essential for the proper maintenance of your feature and to create oxygen in the water to support aquatic and plant life.  The simplest design is to create a ledge or rill through which water flows (supported by a pump) back into a lower basin.  The higher the vertical lift (bottom of pond to top of rill or ledge), the larger the flow rated pump should be.  A good reference is a that a 4,800 gph flow rated submersible pump utilizing a 1.5” diameter return line creates great flow rates and sound for a vertical lift of 48” – 54”.  Always remember submersible pumps are all about water flow, not pressure, so it is important to maximize return line size in accordance with your pump’s flow rate.

Under natural conditions, ponds are part of an eco-system that contains a marsh area filled with reeds and sedges.  This is a good strategy to incorporate in your pond construction and should be part of your overflow system.  Designing an overflow that infiltrates this marsh area will be perfect in the wetter months, supporting these types of plants, and then allowing the marsh area to dry out in the less precipitation months.  This natural condition is vital for the proper growing cycle for plants that like “wet feet”.  Some of the plants that are capable of growing in wetland conditions include astilbe, gunnera, iris sibirica, and trollus to name a few.  Many plants flourish in these conditions with the elimination of competition from vigorous plants such as equisetum and algae.  Amphibians such as frogs and toads will enjoy these seasonally dry marshes as their fish predators will not be able to prey on their tadpoles.

Properly managing your plants in and around your water feature is easily accomplished by understanding and matching the conditions in which they grow naturally.  These matrices are supported by the proper soils and wet meadows occur in heavy loams consisting of clay and silt, and occasionally peat.  It is important to study these natural environments and recreate them forming a dense and permanent plant cover to reduce weed growth that can be tenacious in these environments.

If you are considering or dealing with a bank, the point where static water meets land, rapid stabilization of the bank to resist erosion is important.  Some very good soil-binding plants include acorus, athyrium, dryopteris, rodgersia and spartina.

Shallow waters are home to numerous plants which can help stabilize the waters edge as they spread slightly into the moist soils where water meets land.  These plants have exploratory root systems and this readiness to produce new roots enables them to spread easily throughout a water system, creating a fast growing upperstory essential for the aquatic life below while creating a balanced and healthy pond.  Many of these marginal plants are intolerant of frost and will need to be protected during the winter months and can be accomplished by covering them or simply removing them and storing until the following season.  Calla, juncus, peltandra, and hydrocharis are some good choices for smaller sized ponds. 

There is an unlimited way to create ponds or water features in regards to shape and style, but the dynamics are consistently the same.  Creating live water supported by proper flow rates, water movement and depth along with proper vegetation selections will support a successful, easily maintained and sustainable water feature.

Ponds to Waterfeatures- Design Through Implementation (First in a Series)

Small and large ponds to trickling, low-flow water features add amazing dynamics to any landscape.   They can be created in small spaces with the “what’s around the corner” atmosphere to wide expanses where space is not a factor and you can encourage local fauna to make this area their home. 

There are many facets of a healthy water feature and the next few blogs will discuss many of the ebbs and flows of creating your “live water” water feature, your piece of paradise that melds with nature and your surroundings.  Over my years as a landscape designer and contractor, I have created water features and ponds of varying sizes and dynamics, from grotto to small lakes and I have gained immense knowledge from my failures, and a few reinforcements from my successes.  I hope this series will supply significant knowledge to provide the confidence to design and implement your creation and at the same time, minimize, if not eliminate frustration and costly re-dos.

Design implementation should begin with considering what size and where to locate your creation, open water versus pond-less.  Oxygen and water movement are two main key areas in developing live water.  Live water is best described as non-stagnant, oxygen filled healthy water that can sustain life in your pond / water feature.  To successfully create a water feature that will sustain live water, especially small ones, there must be a supply of dissolved oxygen in the water.

Since sunlight is the driving factor in photosynthesis which sustains plant life which releases oxygen into the water, a pond should be sunlit.  If your water feature will be small in scale and shallow, it will be important to study and understand your proposed site, considering seasonal sun angles, shading and passive solar techniques along with vegetation layering around the edges and how to utilize aquatic plants such as large leaved water lilies.  In your design process, consider what type of tree will be utilized for shading, since leaves deplete oxygen levels with bacteria that are created when the leaves enter and sink to the bottom of a pond, plants such as weeping spruce and phormium species make good sense (depending where you live, what planting zone).  Other possibilities of creating shade include structures; from a simple walkway bridge to decking can be effective and eliminate leaf litter dilemmas.

Once location has been determined, the next step is to finalize the style of your aquatic retreat you wish to incorporate into your landscape.  One that has an open body of water, complete with waterfalls, rills and creeks or a more subdued, yet impacting architectural element, with softly bubbling water cascading over the lip of a ceramic vessel and returning into the below surface sump that is pondless.  At this point, design sense (your boulder-based water feature does not appear to be coming out of the side of your stucco garage for instance) should take a back seat as it is very important to fully understand what style, what dynamics will best fit your lifestyle, to successfully maintain, and sustain years of enjoyment from.

Ideally, you want to create your feature to be in scale with its surroundings, for water features that are too small in scale will be ineffective and you want the dynamics of your creation to be manageable yet impacting.  If you are creating an open water feature with exposed static water regardless of size, depth is critical.  A pond with 2’ of depth will be sufficient and easy to maintain proper water temperatures (if you have inhabitants) in summer and winter and it is the proper depth to create live water; through a small fountain acting as an aerator or a driven by a larger pump recirculating water though rills over ledges of stone and boulders back into the pool below.

In the upcoming blogs as part of this series, we will continue to discuss the dynamics of designing your water feature including creating movement and sound, pump sizing and configuration, filtration techniques, water levels and overflows and choosing the proper plants for your creation.