Lovely Extras To Suit Your Garden Area

| Sunday, December 18, 2011
By Bert Sparks


Many people have added fishponds to their garden these days, as water features have become more accessible for gardeners. In terms of the kind of thing that make great accessories for a fishpond, it depends on the purpose and setting of the water itself.

Traditional water features need to be chosen with a specific pond in mind. Many wish to keep their fish safe from he ravages of wild animals, while others may welcome certain plant and animal life, but need to keep intrusive growths such as algae at bay.

Other people will be looking for something a little more flamboyant. Many gardeners who install ponds like to see some kind of water feature, a small fountain perhaps, or a cascading waterfall.

Whether this is possible or not depends upon the size of pond, and also whether such features will actually suit the water's purpose of keeping fish in. For people who are serious about looking after fish, a net is always needed.

Nets are useful as tools to help keep the water clear of rubbish or intrusive plants. They are also used to remove fish if the pond is subject to maintenance work, or the animal needs removing for medical reasons of some kind.

Keeping wild animals or even domestic cats away from the fish in a pond is a perennial issue for gardeners. One accessory which can be installed to help with this is a small electric fence around the fishpond. This administers a small electric shock to any animals which touch the fence, in apparently harmless doses.

While this can prevent some predation of fish, it can also seem a little extreme to some gardeners, who may prefer to see their pond as a wildlife resource rather than an isolated island of watery perfection. They may therefore prefer to put up a replica of a heron or similar predator to discourage other creatures. Herons are territorial birds, but there is some debate about whether animals can recognize symbolic representations of themselves with any kind of sophistication.

Others may want to decorate their water with some kind of statue. This can be done in a variety of ways, with natural looking rock sculptures giving a pond a more natural look, while something like a gnome with a fishing rod can add a touch of kitsch humor or childish glee to an installation.

Temperature management is a key issue for many pond owners, especially if they are keeping fish. It is unwise to try and feed fish at temperatures of less than ten degrees centigrade, for example. A pH tester is another useful accessory, keeping the right balance between acid and alkali can be crucial to a pond's health.

As with nay kind of garden project, it pays to plan and prepare a pond installation well. Choosing great accessories for a fishpond depends on careful evaluation of what the pond's purpose is, and it often pays to look round at other gardeners' fishponds to see what might work best.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment