Would you like to enjoy your own garden pond, but have little space or don't feel like making a lot of effort? No problem, because with a little creativity you can get a lot of decorative value out of a small pond.
Ponds don't have to be big to add value to a garden
Small pond - advantages and disadvantages
In principle, you do not have to do without the relaxing and decorative advantages of a planted water feature in a 10 m² garden or on the balcony. Finally, you can design your own green realm the way you want. And with a pond of an appropriate size, you enhance it enormously. A small pond has a number of advantages:
- Adorable Lilliputian Character
- Design options with a love of detail
- Little application and maintenance effort
- Usually no building permit required
As with so many things in life, there are advantages as well as disadvantages. For example:
- Some plants are omitted from the design because of their size
- Ecological balance less easy to maintain
- No fish farming possible
- Swimming pond function as good as impossible
How to create a small pond
To create a small pond at ground level, you can basically proceed in the same way as you would for a larger garden pond. The following steps are necessary:
- mark shape
- excavate soil
- Lay out with protective fleece and pond liner
- Create gravel bed
- If necessary, install a filter system
- planting
- fill with water
Of course, you basically have freedom of design when it comes to the shape, but in the case of a small pond, too elaborately curved contours can quickly appear exaggerated. A loose, round to oval, maybe slightly 8-shaped shape usually has the most harmonious character.
When digging the ground, be careful not to hit any lines. Because of this risk, the choice of location, especially in a small garden close to the house, should be determined well in advance.
Cover the hollow in the pond, which gets deeper towards the middle, with a protective fleece and a pond liner and place a decorative and strengthening bed of gravel on it. Also consider whether you should integrate a filter system from the outset. Because a balanced, low-algae water environment does not necessarily automatically appear in smaller ponds - this is due to the limited self-cleaning planting options and the increased water heating potential.
You can already plant marsh plants for the deep water zone such as sweet flag or water lily in the finished, gravel-lined pond bed before you let the water in. You can also add border plantings in the form of Chinese reeds or tree ferns later.