A while back, I had decided to install landscape pond in the front garden. As with most other landscape features, there is a huge range of designs and price. It can be very disappointing, if the landscape pond you purchase does not fit with your garden or house. For example, if your house is on the small side, your options are limited. Here are some things that I would do before I start installing my pond in the front garden.
– Buy a small pond pump and filter system. I know that the first thing that comes to mind when considering a landscape pond is that you should get one with large volumes of water so that you can easily fix a garden pond filter. Well, not a big problem. When installed in the front garden pond using large rocks, the pumps and filters used to take care of the excess water flooded from the established pond. The rocks looked nice and clean at first, but when started filling up the pond it soon looked like a huge yellow mess!
– Make sure the water in the pond has enough oxygen. Usually, a good time for establishing a new pond is during the spring. But make sure the conditions for the beneficial bacteria to flourish in the new pond are also right. During the summer, there are too much oxygen and too many algae blooms.
– You will need to add a suitable pH stabilizer, if the water in the pond is hard. This condition could be caused by a build-up of mud and debris. Adding a pH stabilizer will aid the growth of beneficial bacteria that will kill the algae. Algae bloom is the number one reason why a pond needs to be treated.
– If the cause of the algae is a storm then using a pump and filter to clear the pond will not easily fixed the problem. Storms tend to wash debris and mud into canals leading to an alkalinity imbalance. This can easily fix by introducing chemicals to the water with the purpose of neutralizing the excess alkaline in the system. These chemicals are non-selective, so you will also be killing some fish. They are easy to use and prevent the waste being scattered into the drainage system.
– You should not be surprised if the algae blooms are more frequent during winter. This is because there is less sunlight. As a result the nutrients normally used by the algae to produce food are not available. As plants try to absorb as much light as possible they become stressed. If the amount of light received by the pond is less during the winter, the leaves will start to fall off more often resulting in leaf accumulation which results in more algae. It’s important to add pond net to the tops of the ponds to prevent accumulation from happening.
– Algae bloom in ponds can happen at any time of the year, however it is more common at certain times of the year. During periods such as summer or fall when the temperatures are warm and people go out to enjoy the weather, algae is more likely to develop. In the spring time the weather is more chilly and the conditions aren’t conducive for plant growth. The amount of sunlight reaching the surface of the pond is reduced during this period of the year, making algae grow more easily. It is therefore important to monitor the condition of your pond water regularly to see if algae has developed.
Although a well-established pond will typically look crystal clear, if you have fog or cloudy water it can still be an issue. fog and cloudy water are usually caused by standing water or poor water circulation. Both of these issues can be solved by installing a bog filter to improve water circulation. Installing a filter will make sure that you are eliminating all pollutants and debris that are affecting the clarity of your pond. A good quality bog filter will also help to maintain the pH levels of the pond water as well as keeping it clean and healthy.