How to Create Water Gardens

Gardening techniques are always changing and one of the most fashionable growth areas is water gardening. A pleasing water garden will normally combine some living elements such as plants and fish with areas of still or moving water, often attractively lit. You do not need an existing stream or pool to create your water garden - some of the most beautiful water gardens are based around a basic plastic container fed with mains water.

Positioning is probably the key issue when designing a water garden. All plants and fish will require readily available sun and a certain distance from vegetation is often a good idea. Dead airborne vegetation and other matter can often create an unattractive look to the surface of a water garden.

Once you have decided to create a water garden you must first consider how large you would like it to be. Expense is obviously a major factor to consider, as an important feature will be a large quantity of purchased fish, plants, rocks and lighting concepts. You must also make sure that an oversized water garden doesn't dominate a small space and that maintenance doesn't become too much of a burden.

When choosing your basic water plants, make sure that the pool is not more than 50 per cent covered over. Plants can rest on the surface of the water, remain permanently under it or at the margins of the pool. It all depends on what you would prefer. You may choose plants that smell nice, generate life-giving and healthy oxygen for fish in the water, or ones that are just plain fantastic to look at. Fish not only look attractive but are useful in other ways. They clear the water by eating grubs, general insect-life and even dead vegetation.

Algae are the main enemy of the water gardener. It will often dominate a water garden that is surrounded by over-fertilized vegetation and fish that are given too much food. Careful design of your water garden, and ensuring prompt and efficient maintenance, should keep algae levels fairly low.

Remember that any water garden will need constant attention at all times of year. With some forethought however, you can easily maintain an attractive blend of plants, fish, rock and other inanimate features, while ensuring that the whole ensemble largely maintains itself with minimal input. Careful attention to levels of fertilizer and fish food will reduce the level of algae, as will adding extra vegetation, regularly changing the water and possibly filtration systems. Copper-based chemicals can be useful, but will damage the living elements of your water garden when used to often.

A water garden should not take too much time to create and maintain, but it might involve very different techniques from land-based gardens. Those without 'green fingers' can often create the most beautiful water gardens because of this. Anyone with some outside space desperate for some form of beautification, and who have got a little bit of spare time, would do well to consider this kind of garden.