Having a water feature in your garden adds a sense of natural tranquility, particularly if there is a small waterfall or fountain that can add the soft music of trickling water to the background while relaxing. Many people choose to add one as a nice accent piece for the garden. You can easily change it from an accent piece to a showpiece with little additional time or effort.
Ecological Balance for Interest and Simplicity
Despite intuitive belief that adding more to a garden pond makes it more difficult in terms of maintenance and upkeep, a diverse fully stocked pond is much easier to keep clean and beautiful. In nature plants and fish work in concert with natural bacteria to keep water clean and the environment healthy.
Many times in a small garden pond people actively prevent this. People add harsh chemicals or even chlorine to the water to prevent algae, bacteria, and insect growth. This would seem an efficient way to deal with these problems but in reality it is perpetuating the problem. The chemicals have a limited duration of effectiveness and need to be added often. Animals such as squirrels, birds, or even domestic cats and dogs can be harmed by some of these chemicals and you end up with an unnatural ornament rather than a garden pond.
It is far simpler to add a few flowering pond plants to help control the algae. The plants will uses the nutrients out of the water so algae cannot grow more than a light natural coating that helps hide the artificial stone and plastic. They will also keep the water cooler and shaded so you can add some fish. Simple cheap goldfish work well and are very hardy – even able to live through a winter freeze over in colder climates as long as not froze solid and some small circulation of water remains. The fish will eat any insect larvae that attempt to develop in the water, and the waste from the fish will feed the plants.
It takes only a few weeks to affect the proper balance and you will have a natural pond with colorful fish to watch and enjoy, water flowers that cannot be grown elsewhere, and natural insect control for your garden. This is a far more beautiful and beneficial method than adding toxins to your water feature. If you need assistance with natural filters or fish selection than Fish-Fish-Fish.com can help you get anything you need to start.
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