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Easy Water Gardening
Elegant and Easy Outdoor Water G
Elegant and Easy Outdoor Water Gardening
By Stephanie Gottschalk
The element of water brings an unmatched beauty to any outdoor space –
movement, color, and ambiance. Water gardens are highly prized for the
relaxing sound of the flowing water, and the sense of being at one with
nature. While many water gardening enthusiasts spend countless hours and
thousands of dollars achieving this serene effect, you can have a water
garden in your own outdoor space with minimal time and effort. Water
spouts or simple re-circulating pumps paired with watertight containers
bring all the benefits of a full-sized water garden into any size space,
whether it’s your backyard, a deck or even a balcony.
The first step is to find a suitable container to hold water. This will
be the basis of your new mini water garden. Lotus pots (planters with no
drainage holes), whiskey barrels, or any kind of container with a wide
mouth will work. Recycled wine barrels are a great solution for those
who like a rustic look. They’re recommended over any other type of wood,
because they’re already watertight and as such, require no liner. They
can be found at most garden centers. Japanese hand-carved granite basins
can lend a striking Zen look (find them at KineticFountains.com).
Once you’ve chosen your container, make absolutely sure it’s watertight.
Carefully check it for holes or cracks. To be absolutely sure, try
filling it with water, sitting it on your porch or deck and watching for
any leakage. Any holes found can be patched up with plumber’s putty or
silicone. If you’ve found a great terracotta pot, spray it with some
polyurethane before using as terracotta absorbs water.
Your next step is deciding whether you’d like a simple water garden –
just a container filled with water and some aquatic plants – or if you’d
like to add a little interest with a water spout or pump. Bamboo water
spouts are an excellent choice for use in water gardens – you simply
place the pump in the water (make sure it’s resting on the bottom or on
a brick or pile of rocks and not dangling), and set the spout up on the
side of the container. If you’d like a ‘bubbler’ effect, place the pump
at the bottom of the container and make sure the tubing is long enough
to reach the surface. Stack rocks around the pump and tubing, so that
they’re just above the surface of the water. Position the tubing so it’s
mostly hidden by the rocks, and you’ve got instant gurgling water sound.
Now you’re ready to populate your container with some stunning aquatic
plant life. Consult the experts at your local garden center for help in
choosing plants – the climate where you live and the size container
you’ve chosen will dictate which plants will work best. Although water
lilies and lotus are beautiful, they’re not recommended for container
gardens – they grow much too large. Two or three small potted plants and
a few oxygenating floaters will look beautiful and won’t fight each
other for space and sunlight.
Small container water gardens are extremely simple to care for. Place it
where it will receive 6 hours of sunlight every day at minimum, and top
it off with water every few days to make up for evaporation. Once the
plants have begun establishing themselves in their new mini ecosystem,
you can add a fertilizer tablet made especially for water gardens (ask
about them at your local garden center). If you’d like to add fish, it’s
best to wait 4-5 weeks after you’ve created your water garden so that
the conditions in the water have been allowed to stabilize. Stick with
hardy varieties that don’t grow quickly, such as guppies or gambezi,
also known as ‘mosquito fish’. Gambezi come with the added benefit of
eating mosquito larvae, hence the nickname.
Your new water garden will bring a sense of tranquility and connection
with nature to its home in your outdoor space. Place it in an area where
you can enjoy its beauty and the soothing sounds of flowing water.
Stephanie Gottschalk writes the blogs 'Picnic Fun - Tips and Recipes'
and 'The Joy of Water Fountains' for Specialty Living Inc., an
Asheville, North Carolina-based company that aims to share their love of
people, nature and life through high quality water fountains, picnic
baskets and outdoor living products.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephanie_Gottschalk |
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