{"id":2950,"date":"2020-04-15T02:24:58","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T02:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=2950"},"modified":"2020-04-15T02:24:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T02:24:58","slug":"water-in-the-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/15\/water-in-the-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Water in the garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open water is a unique element, unlike anything else you can put in the garden and you should have at least one water feature of some kind (and preferably more). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water brings life and increases biological diversity by\nproviding a greater variety of habitats, such as ponds, marshes, bogs and more.\nThis is particularly obvious in dry climates where it becomes a magnet for\nwildlife. Water attracts nearly everything: dragonflies, frogs, birds and many\nother creatures (I\u2019ve often been buzzed by Hummingbirds while hand watering).\nOne morning after accidentally running an overhead sprinkler overnight (this\nwas before I invested in a timer) my vegetable garden was alive with dozens on\nButterflies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water also has an instinctive appeal for humans, especially\nchildren. Of course they won\u2019t be satisfied with just looking at water, they\nfind it an irresistible plaything and will want to play with it for hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 Problems with water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water can be a hazard to very small children because it is\nso fascinating to them. They will play around with it until something\nunexpected happens and have been known to drown themselves in a few inches of\nwater, or even a bucket, so be aware and take precautions (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water also attracts less welcome visitors such as raccoons\n(they love to mess about in it as much as children), deer (they like to drink\nit) and mosquitoes (they like to breed in it). In warm weather Mosquito larvae\nwill appear in any still water that stands around for more than a few days. In\nsuch cases you may have to take preventive measures, such as adding Mosquito\nfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Moving water <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving water is even more interesting than still water. The\nproblem with moving water is that you often have to make it move, which\ninvolves technology in the form of pumps, wiring and electricity. A solar pump\nor windmill could be enough to supply a trickle of water for a waterfall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could also use your well pump (or water mains pressure)\nto supply moving water. Just turn on the tap and run the water through your\npond, bubbling fountain, rill or whatever. You would need a container at the\nend to catch the water so it can be used in the garden. You might also run it\nstraight to an irrigation system, so that a waterfall or fountain runs whenever\nyou are irrigating (giving a nice connection). \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Water features<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These can take many different forms, depending upon the\nsituation and your needs. Whatever you use will become the focal point of its\nown area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrels and tubs <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half a wooden whiskey barrel filled with water gives you an\ninstant miniature pond. Its durable  Oak\nwood and metal construction looks instantly at home anywhere in the garden.\nGalvanized horse troughs also work well. Old clawfoot tubs have been used as\nwetland planters and ponds, but unless very decrepit they are probably more\nuseful when used as an outdoor bathtub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large open tubs of water were once placed in the garden as a\nplace to quickly fill a watering can. This is much quicker than using a hose,\njust one dip and its full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunken tubs <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost any container can be sunk into the ground to become a\nsmall pool. It doesn\u2019t really matter what it looks like because it will be\ncompletely hidden. It doesn\u2019t even have to be waterproof as you can line it\nwith pond liner. Plastic containers work very well as they aren\u2019t subject to\ncorrosion or rot (just make sure no part is exposed to sunlight or it will\ndeteriorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An advantage of sunken tubs is that the water temperature is\nmore stable because the surrounding earth slows down temperature swings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Birdbaths <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the smallest ornamental water features (and an\nattractive focal point) is a bird bath. Birds like the water to be no more than\n3\u201d deep and have gently sloping sides and bottom. In hot weather a shallow\nbirdbath may evaporate quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowls <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are perhaps the easiest and simplest water features to\ncreate (even easier than barrels) and make a great focal point. All you need is\nsome kind of bowl filled with water and a little imagination. You can increase\nthe reflection of the water by making the interior of the container a dark\ncolor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A water filled bowl will immediately add interest to any\narea. It could be placed on a table, on the ground, in a shady spot, in full\nsun to reflect light, or on a patio or deck. They can even be moved around the\ngarden as you see fit. To impress visitors you can float flowers on the\nsurface. They won\u2019t last long but are very pretty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any attractive waterproof container will work for this,\nthough it should be compatible with the house and garden. It could be a large\nterra-cotta plant pot with the drainage hole filled up with caulk. It could be\na basin carved from stone (expensive) or some form of cast concrete (see\nConcrete carving). Ideally it should be dark inside to better reflect the\nlight. At its simplest it could be just an old garbage can lid, buried to its\nrim and covered with a layer of pebbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can even grow water plants in these bowls. This could be\na Water Lily for beauty or Watercress for edibility. You might even have a\nseries of planted water filled pots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All small and shallow containers need some looking after. In\nhot weather they warm up and evaporate quickly, while in cold winter weather\nthey can freeze solid. If this could damage the container you should empty it\nand cover it (to stop it filling back up with rain), or just take it inside for\nthe winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Raised ponds <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These fairly formal ponds are often incorporated into a\npatio or deck. If you only have room for a small pool then this type will\nprobably work best. It\u2019s hard to make a very small pool look natural anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s pretty easy to build a raised formal pond. Use concrete\nblocks on top of a poured foundation, or even railroad ties. Use a pond liner\nto make it watertight and cover the top with stones or wide boards to hide it.\nMaybe make it 16\u201d tall and use the edge as a seat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bubbling water <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bubbling water makes such a nice kinetic sculpture, it may\neven justify using electricity to pump it. You can use almost anything for a\nbubbling fountain, all it takes is a little imagination. Old millstones were\npopular in English cottage gardens as an interesting focal point, but this was\nbecause they were laying around in the undergrowth. If you have to buy one it\nis quite a different matter. Better to use something you can salvage instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fountains <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fountains are beautiful, especially when sunlight glints off\nof the moving water. They also sound nice and are often used in urban gardens\nto mask the sound of the city. They were once widely used in desert gardens\nbecause they humidify and cool the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you really want a fountain there are plenty of commercial\nofferings out there, or you can make your own out of plumbing fittings and\nimagination. Something as simple as a large ceramic pot can be good. Bamboo\nculms could be used as a spout, if you want a Japanese effect. A brass tap\nmakes a cheap fountain. Some fountains get really elaborate, but they probably\ndon\u2019t belong in this type of garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wall fountains can work well in small gardens. They don\u2019t\nhave to move a lot of water, a small trickle will supply the requisite\nsplashing water sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ornamentation <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water is such a powerful element that it enhances anything\nit is combined with. A variety of sculptures or other ornaments might go in the\nwater, might use water, or might just be affected by water. Tiles, glass, rock\nand pebbles all look better when wet and can be used to ornament any water\nfeature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rain chains <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These were traditionally used in Japan to lead water from\ngutters to the ground. They aren\u2019t quite as efficient as downspouts for\ncapturing rainwater, but they are far more interesting and come alive in the\nrain. Linked rain chains are the cheapest and easiest to make, but the cup type\nis more effective and splashes less. All work best on houses with wide eaves.\nRain chains can be anchored at the base and end in an earthenware pot (or other\ncontainer), or be free hanging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water gardens in containers <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These aren\u2019t much different from other container plantings,\nexcept you don\u2019t have to water them nearly as often (and they use more water).\nThey work great as ornamental features for the patio or deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can use tall and striking plants like Cattail, Reed or\nBulrush, shorter plants such as Arrowhead, floating plants such as Water Lilies\nand various marginal plants. In a large container you may have to put your\nplants on concrete blocks or bricks to bring them up to the right level in the\nwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bog gardens <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bog garden provides a unique habitat for moisture loving\nplants and enables you to grow yet another set of edible plants. These grow\nrapidly in warm weather and can provide you with a lot of food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The easiest place to put a bog garden is at the edge of a\npond, where excess water overflowing from the pond will help to keep it moist.\nIt can be simply an extra depression at the side of a pond, lined with pond\nliner and filled with soil (this should be high in organic matter). The water\nlevel can be allowed to fluctuate from being merely moist soil to being under\nan inch or so of water. The bog should be lower than the pond so nutrient laden\nwater doesn\u2019t drain back into the pond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating a separate bog garden is quite similar to building\na pond. Excavate the soil to make a hole 15 inches deep and as large as you\nchoose, then line it with pond liner. You don\u2019t need to use an expensive pond\nliner in this case, heavy duty plastic sheeting will work, because it will be\ncompletely buried and so is never exposed to damaging sunlight. It is normal to\nput some holes in the liner for drainage (to prevent stagnation. In gopher\ncountry you should also lay down gopher wire underneath the liner, otherwise\nthese creatures will eventually feast on your succulent plants (this happened\nwith my first attempt). Put 2 inches of gravel over the liner and then and lay\ndown an old soaker hose to supply water when necessary. The soil is then\nreturned to the bog, along with plenty of organic matter. If necessary use a\nmulch to reduce surface evaporation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Open water is a unique element, unlike anything else you can put in the garden and you should have at least one water feature of some kind (and preferably more). … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-landscaping","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/water-in-garden3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2950"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2979,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2950\/revisions\/2979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}