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Pond Inspiration

© Marie A. Miczak

At this point, many ponders are enjoying renewed life about their water garden. In my case Mr. Chipmunk has returned. So have the dragonflies and birds. No sign of frogs yet but in a way it is good as the fish have been spawning. Last year they got to a late start and all of the fish fry became a tasty meal. Seeing how the plants have grown in and the spot looks incredibly naturalized is also quite rewarding. The nice thing about water gardening is there is always room for either change or improvement. Sometimes the inspiration needed for such change come not from fancy magazine spreads but instead the hard work of other ponders. When water gardeners document their pond construction and post it on the web it can really provide an insightful picture into what is really involved. As many say, it isn't about digging a hole and filling it with water.

Many new to water gardening like to start on a small scale. This can include a little barrel pond. Unless space limitations are a real issue these same gardeners many times wish they had gone big from the start. Before making such decisions be sure to read water gardening forums to see about the special needs and at times hazards of a large pond. Also look at the process needed to complete such an ambitious project. A great example of this is at the website of Sam Hopkins in PA USA. Sam has not only built a huge pond estimated at some 16,000,000 gallons, he has managed to turn his property into a wildlife reserve! Despite the size, Sam's large pond seemed to be finished in a matter of a few months. Looking at the after pictures one would be hard pressed to tell that it is man made. Sam has posted a series of pictures documenting his ponds construction which you can view here: http://www.wildlifereserve.org/mbuild.ht... . You can learn more about his finished pond and its relation to the reserve here: http://www.wildlifereserve.org/pbuild.ht... . We look forward to interviewing Mr. Hopkins in a future edition of Suite101's Water Gardening Topic to get the latest on how his pond is doing and what sort of wildlife it is attracting!

No matter what your ponds size you can always incorporate something new into your water garden. One of the easiest is plants. A good tip to hiding liners is to buy a simple sweet potato and planting it by your ponds edge. Make sure you water it well and before you know it a nice vine will start to grow. You can propagate this vine by cutting it and

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