There are many methods to create your own unique back garden ponds or water gardens and we have some advice to help with making it a fun and easy experience. Before creating your water feature determine what your targets are. Are you attempting to attract regional wildlife, like frogs, turtles and birds? Would you'd like to have a drinking water garden with a lovely zen experience to it, showcasing lilies, lotus and various other aquatic plants? What about incorporating water into the design of your house? Remember you probably DO have space for a water fountain. They could be anything from a half-barrel to a huge and deep pond in your yard. No matter what your intentions are we can help you achieve them. The first step in creating your project is to pick a location. You will desire a location where you can create some color for your pond in fact it is also good to look for a place where one can protect the water from having way too many leaves or other particles from entering. Shade can be created in many ways. Water plant life on the edge or in the pond will shade the drinking water, many ornamental trees are ideal so long as they do not drop too many leaves. Backyard ponds can quickly end up being overrun by this kind of debris. The next step is to start the look process. This includes choosing the actual form of the water feature, any waterfalls or other drinking water features, filtration, and where and if you will be planting around the water. It really is highly advisable to incorporate into the design several different depths and slopes around the pond edges. This provides extra places for fish and animals to go around and for placing various kinds of water plant life. You can create your water fountain out of concrete, prefabricated tubs, or even use pond liners. Pick the option that's best for your project and spending budget. Concrete is commonly more expensive when compared to a tub or a pond liner, but it may last longer if professionally installed. In the event that you will be keeping Koi, Goldfish, Tadpoles or other types of fish then you may want to take time to consider protecting them from predators. Raccoons and Heron are voracious seafood eaters. Among the best ways to protect your seafood and pets is to supply a way for them to get away from the predators. The simplest way to get this done is to supply at least 3 foot of depth in the pond. Heron and raccoons have a hard time catching fish and animals at this depth or deeper. Filtration can be extremely basic or very intricate. It once again depends on assembling your project. Drinking water Gardens with only a couple small seafood or no seafood at all do not need large filters. You can also make your personal filter out of a 5 gallon bucket, some hoses and a pump. It is extremely easy to do! If you are keeping koi, you then will need a system with an increase of flow and more mechanical filtration to remove waste. Koi are dirty fish and produce a lot of waste. UV sterilizers certainly are a good plan on any water fountain. They destroy nuisance algae that turns the water green and also kill parasites that can attack your fish. Preferably you will place a UV sterilizer on the return line following the filter. Adding vegetation to your backyard pond could be rewarding and gorgeous. Water gardens need much of the same caution as any home plant or other garden would. You will need to research your plant life, determine how high and wide they grow, how exactly to prune them and what types of additional feedings they may require. You also have to know where around the water feature your vegetation would grow the very best. Some basically float on the surface, so you just need to protect them from being sucked up into filter systems or destroyed by waterfalls. Other vegetation develop at different depths, which explains why we suggest building your water feature with many depths. You can include to the appearance and experience of your pond by picking local stones, or likely to a local landscaping store and purchasing stone that fits the feel of assembling your project. Many landscaping stores are actually starting to focus on products for backyard ponds. Backyard ponds help to make great set-ups for koi. There are a few things you really need to consider. Koi get huge and produce a lot of waste, so make sure you provide adequate filtration. It is best to have a system that's too huge than one that is too little. It is costly and will be very difficult to upgrade a system later. It will always be best to do it right the first time. Plants can offer another unique problem when keeping koi. Simply speaking, koi love to eat plants, swim through vegetation and basically just rough them up. Your koi might just destroy the plants and cause a large mess in the pond. If you do use plant life, and there are many that are suitable, just be sure you choose hard and tough vegetation or place them in areas where the koi cannot get to them. Feeding your koi is easy so long as you are familiar with their needs. The feeding practices of koi are directly linked to the water temps and seasons. In the Spring period you should start feeding the koi with a premium color improving growth food. During the summertime you can continue with a color enhancer, and provide multiple types of food. There are several great spirulina pellets, krill and additional treats for your seafood. As the drinking water cools down once again in the winter you should remember a couple of things. One, cut way back on feeding. If your water gets right down to 50 degrees or lower you do not need to feed the fish at all. In the event that you will be feeding then go to a simple to digest Wheat Germ food. Backyard ponds could be a lot of fun! We hope you enjoy designing and building yours!