Planning a Water Garden
A water garden is the area of your landscape
that will provide you with relaxing sounds of the water, while adding
to the overall details of your landscape. The water garden is a project
that you must 'plan' for continued success. If you are lucky enough
to have the room in your lawn for a water garden, you are already
one step ahead of many gardeners! Let's talk a little about how to
plan for your water garden. A few important factors about placement
of a water garden that often are forgotten are:
Do you have children in the neighborhood? If you have or live
near children, you will want to keep your water garden in an area
that will be close to your home. You will want to be able to see what
is 'going on' by the water. Children are curious and they love water!
Being able to see your water garden will save you worry later after
the creation of your water garden even if the children are in the
yard.
Do you have a natural spring in your lawn area? When planning a waterfall
in the water garden, the use of a natural spring or water source is
going to make the continued success of your water garden much easier.
A water garden is possible with a waterfall even if you do not have
a natural spring or water source, but it is a little more 'work' to
create that special effect. You can find more information about this
in another article on this site.
The lay of your land is important. While we will discuss this
in other articles as well, planning your water garden around the lay
of your land is important. If you are lucky enough to have a flat
lawn, you can plan your water garden in various areas. The landscape
that includes hills and slopes are a little tricky but using the slope
in your lawn, you can create the water garden that takes care of that
little 'wet patch' at the bottom of the yard!
Most water gardens are an addition or extension of the natural
landscape. To encourage and invite your guests to the water garden
for picnics, for chats, and for just sitting in pleasure: Plan the
water garden so it's visible from the walkway to your home. The water
garden that your visitors and guests see while entering your home
adds value to your home and to your conversation!
In planning your water garden, use a sheet of paper to write
down what you want to gain from your water garden. Start your list
by using personal reasons, value reasoning, enhancing, or changing
the overall look of your landscape. Alternately, you may simply want
a place for solitude. These are the desires you'll write on your list.
From this list, you can better plan 'where' your water garden will
suit you and your ideas.
Gordon Goh is author of the free, informative
website Simply
Flower Garden offering quality useful tips for flower garden lovers.
