Designing and Constructing Prairie Water Gardens

1. Designing and ConstructingPrairie Water Gardens

2. Topics

Brief introduction of water garden types Designing water gardens

• Constructing water gardens Planting water gardens

Maintaining water gardens Stocking fish and attracting wildlife

3. Introduction

Types of water gardens ● Commercial Project ● Reflecting Pond

• Koi Pond
• Container Garden *
• Residential Water Garden *
• Pondless Waterfall * *Majority of residential settings

4. Commercial Project

• Engineered Specialized equipment Formal appearance

5. Reflecting Pond

• Shallow No aquatic plants Aesthetic reflection
• Chemical controls

6. Koi Pond

All about the fish No aquatic plant material Large organic waste challenge

7. Very easy to set up

Low maintenance Great way to start Sun or shade

• Container Gardens

8. Residential Water Gardens

Aquatic plant material Possibility of fish Waterfall

• Fountain

9. Pondless Waterfall

No visible body of water Reduced maintenance Reduced liability

• Becoming very popular

10. Designing water gardens

• Design is about creativity but…
• Linear thinking first•Assessing personal needs•Analyzing style•Determining size•Determining placement•Determining budget•Thinking about design elements•Designing and drawing

11. I Really Need It!

Why does your client want a water garden?

• Focal piece
• Hidden Oasis
• Bring a sense of nature into the yard
• Sound of water trickling
• Improve your view from the house
• Action: Think, photograph, clip magazines, seek advice, sketch ideas, dream

12. Analyzing Style

Hmmm is it a beige day or an orange polka dot day?

• Small, prominent, secluded
• Blend or stand out
• Formal or informal
• Hard edges or soft
• In tune with the built environment or natural
• Subtle or in your face.

13. Now where should I dig?

• Think of the sound•Louder is not usually better•Does a running tap make you want to pee?
• What will it reflect?•Clouds, heaven, or the neighbours trash bin
• What might drop into it?•Leaves, the next door children
• Is there enough sunlight?•Shade vs sunlight?
• The wow factor?•A discovery or a centrepiece
• Is it practical?•Power, water, equipment, servicing, hauling, runoff?

14. Dig! It’s all about the right size

Dig! It’s all about the right size.

• Scale with the space•Bigger is usually better.
• In scale with the surroundings
• No puddle thinking please.
• Watching out for wildlife.
• Maintenance•Is it okay to freeze to the bottom?•For ecological balance

15. What? A budget?

• Outdoor décor is just as expensive as indoor•Materials -- liners edging, pumps, hoses, filters, lights•Plants -- perennials and annuals•Labour – •Ornaments, statuary, fountain heads, frogs, birds, trellis•Equipment rentals•Electrical and plumbing installation.
• Don’t compromise•Build it over time•One season or more?

16. Finally Designing

Elements (remembering grade one) ● Points ● Lines

• Planes and Shapes
• Forms•Texture•Colour

17. And… Now You Draw

• Dominance Unity Balance Rhythm Contrast

18. Pond Construction

Liners ● Cement ● Clay ● Preformed ● PVC - poly vinyl chloride

• EPDM – ethylene proplyene diene monomer•Geotextile underlay•Sand underlay

19. Cement

Not recommended on the prairies Tend to crack from freeze/thaw cycles

Can leach chemicals that are harmful to fish and aquatic plants

• Expensive

20. Clay

Great for large agricultural areas Need constant water source

• Recreational ponds Swimming, skating

21. Preformed

Fast to install Difficult to incorporate into the landscape

• Size can be deceptive

22. Flexible Liners

EPDM 45 mil Fish safe Choice of shape Long lasting

• Able to repair holes

23. Construction

Pond Volume ● L’ x W’ x Average Depth’ x 7.5 = U.S gallons

Waterfall ● Construct narrow to wide ● 1:3 ratio for each foot of height use 3 feet in length

24. Construction

Liner size ● Length + 2 times the depth + 2 feet (60 cm)

• Width + 2 times the depth + 2 feet (60 cm)

Average depth ● Marginal shelves 8-12 incheses wide and 8 -12 inches deep

• Deepest area 18 to 24 inches will accommodate most lilies

25. Oh no! Not a curb.

26. Creativity Works

27. Perennial bed to water garden

28. Hillside Oaisis

29. Pondless waterfall

Great new technology Reduced maintenance Low water use

30. Container Garden

Any watertight container Plant all zones Move the water

31. Planting Water Gardens

• Marginal Emergent Submerged Deepwater Freefloating

32. Marginal Aquatic Plants

• Often referred to as bog plants
• Thrive in the soggy soil on the banks of a pond or stream
• Cattails
• Iris
• Marsh Marigold
• Rush

33. Emergent

Grow in the shallow water near the pond’s edge Only their leaves rise above the waters surface

• Water Plantain
• Common Scouring Rush
• Parrots Feather

34. Submerged

• Also known as oxygenators

Grow completely under water with some leaves near the surface for sunlight

• Canadian Pondweed (Elodia canadensis)
• Hornwort
• Common Bladderwort

35. Deepwater

Some call these plants the stars of the water gardenRoots are in heavy soil in pots 18 - 24 inches below the waters surfaceLeaves float on the surface attached to long stems many feet in length

• Water Lilies
• Many Varieties, some have changeable colors

36. Free Floating

No need for soil Simply float on the waters surface

• Common duckweed
• Water Hyacinth
• Water Lettuce
• Frogbit
• Fairy moss

37. Pumps the heart of the pond

Old style, sump pump ● 800 – 1000 watts

• direct drive, motor/shaft impellor
• Power hogs

New style, magnetic drive ● No shaft, very efficient low, power consumption

• Long running, water cooled

38. Pumps

• Cost of ownership ● Power draw
• watts/1000 =kw hours x 8760 (hours/year) x cost per kw hour = cost per year

800/1000 = .8 x 8760 x $.07 = $490.56 yearly cost

39. Maintaining your water garden

• Balancing ● natural ● 4-6 weeks
• Biological ● 4-6 days
• Safe
• Non-toxic

40. Healthy gardens

50 – 75% of surface area covered

• Water lilies
• FreefloatingReduces amount of sunlight entering the water
• Oxygenating plants
• 2 bunches per 2 square feet of pond surface•More efficient at nutrient uptake that algae

41. Pond Treatments

Chemical ● Immediate•Chlorine•No plants or fish Floculants

• Clump algae •Attract to each other and sink•Still have to deal with mess

42. Pond Treatments

Biological ● Slow to work ● Non toxic ● Safe for fish, plants, animals

• Bacteria ● Liquid ● powder

43. Bacteria

• Microbe-lift ● Smells like ……
• Photosynthetic bacteria•Uses sun for food if no nutrients available•If using an UV clarifier, turn off for a few days

Sludge away ● Bacteria that digest organic material

• Treatments also available for string algae

44. UV light

Wavelength enters into cell of algae ● Kills or sterilizes the algae

• When properly sized will clear a pond in 3-4 days
• Dwell time vs wattage
• Bulbs life span 9000 hours or about 2 seasons in the prairies

45. Fish and Wildlife

Six groups will call your pond home ● Microscopic

• Insects
• Aquatic animals
• Amphibians
• Birds
• Mammals

46. Fish

Hardy Goldfish ● Common goldfish ● Comets ● Fantails

2 square feet of pond surface for each linear inch of fish less the tail

• 5’ x 10’ pond 2’ deep would support 25 inches of fish (6 goldfish 4inches in length)

47. Questions ?