We homeowners in Phoenix and Scottsdale are always looking for ways to make our backyards into paradise. Did you know you could do as easily as adding a beautiful low-maintenance living pond or water feature?
What Exactly Is A Pond?
When you say “pond” to someone, any number of things can leap into their mind. They might think about the body of water off the side of their cabin in the woods where they practice their fly fishing. They might think of a Japanese garden with its “Koi pond” and all the intricate and complicated filtration/sterilizing equipment. They might picture the rigid plastic liners sold at most home improvement centers. Or they might remember some friend or neighbor’s swampy nightmare that always smelled really bad. Before discussing ponds, we should all get on the same page, so to speak.
A water garden (or pond) is a simple water feature. A water garden is an organic, living, ecological entity. It might have a waterfall or stream as ambiance, aiding in water oxygenation. What you see is natural stone (no the liner), and it contains water lilies and other aquatic plants. Beautiful, colorful fish live in harmony in their aquatic environment, needing nothing from their owners that the pond cannot provide. Using both mechanical and biological filtration, the water is kept crystal clear with minimal maintenance effort. You can see all the way down to the bottom, making underwater lighting a surreal effect!
What’s The Big Deal About A Pond or Water Garden?
People love water gardens because they are soothing, tranquil, and entertaining. In a day and age where you are constantly bombarded by computers, cell phones, and faxes, it’s very soothing to have a place to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
How much more effective at work do you think you would be if you could take a vacation every weekend? How much better would you feel about everything in your life? Could you be a better parent, spouse, partner? You can’t give from an empty coffer, and a vacation every weekend, or better yet every evening, would definitely replenish the soul. No one ever gets tired of vacationing!
And entertaining, well, just invite over a few friends and see where everyone gathers (besides the kitchen)! It will be at the water’s edge. There’s always something happening in a pond, and it’s always interesting.
Or, how about starting the morning with a hot cup of coffee or tea and your morning newspaper while enjoying an atmosphere comparable to a 5-star resort? What a wonderful way to start the day.
away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Strengthen Relationships Next To Water Gardens
One of the amazing things people find with water gardens is that they can actually communicate with each other again. Unlike TV, which actually distracts and hinders communication, people find they can strengthen relationships and have real conversations around their water gardens.
A properly-designed waterfall will become soothing background noise, not a nuisance that must be yelled over, or turned off altogether just to hear yourself think. After the kids are safely tucked into bed, or your boss has been placated one final time over the phone, you and your partner rendezvous at the water’s edge and catch up on the day’s events. Maybe you even brainstorm together and come up with a solution to a problem. That’s not something you could easily do in front of a sitcom, is it?
And what’s more romantic than real communication (well, for a woman, anyway)?
Kids Love Ponds, And They’re Educational, Too!
The kids of today’s urbanized society are completely separated from the wonders of nature. Everything about a pond is fascinating to a kid, and you can relate any educational subject to something about a water garden from art to algebra to chemistry to literature to biology to philosophy, and obviously environmental science. Teachers are absolutely ga-ga over the possibilities, and school districts are even starting to add ponds to their school garden areas as outdoor laboratories. You might even be able to teach your kids to sit still for more than five seconds to watch the fish!
Feeding the fish (if you choose to do so) is something that children really enjoy. As the fish grow, they will become friendlier and friendlier, the perfect pets — and you won’t have to worry about any accidents on the carpet or chasing them off the countertop. Nor do you have to arrange for pet sitting while on vacation.
Kids can play in a well-built water garden, too! It’s not as sterile as the pool, but it’s a whole lot safer! Water gardens are built with safety in mind. They have shallow shelves near the edges, and they’re usually only two feet deep. You could even go crazy, given the yard space, and build one big enough to snorkel in, with underwater caves. The sky’s the limit (well, and the pocketbook)!
Ponds Can Be Clean And Low Maintenance!
Properly built water gardens are clean and very low maintenance. You can maintain one in as little as 15 minutes once a month. You don’t even have to feed the fish. Mother Nature takes care of everything in a well-designed pond.
The key to owning a low maintenance water garden is to install a balanced ecosystem, which includes a fish-safe liner, large rocks and various sizes of river stones, an energy-efficient circulation system that runs continuously, a biological filter, a mechanical skimmer, along with a sufficient amount of fish and aquatic plants to keep the ecosystem in balance. Night lighting can be added, as well, to extend the enjoyment of your pond into the evening hours.
Water gardens are indeed a responsible landscape option for the desert! Water is not a new addition to the desert. Once a respite for native and migratory birds, our perennial streams, native wetlands and riparian habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate. Putting in an oasis-style water feature gives back to nature by helping to replenish what is being destroyed by human habitat expansion.
Built properly, and maintained organically, water gardens are an ideal sustainable landscape choice that will provide that cooling effect we all desire. Not only do they use less water than the average lawn, but you don’t mow them or edge them, which means no noise or air pollution.
Additionally, you don’t fertilize them or use pesticides, yet they can provide optimum integrated pest management for your property. They invite and support the good guys: frogs, toads, dragonflies, damselflies, etc. These creatures can keep your property pest-free of scorpions, midge flies, mosquitoes, etc. And they’ll work for food!
Serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, Arizona (AZ) & Surrounding Areas
To Learn More About Ponds & Water Gardens: https://pondgnome.com/pond-installation-phoenix-az/
