Photos: Water Garden

[ysabetwordsmith]

My second garden craft today was making a mini-water garden. (See the House Yard and the Worm Bin.)


Last year I used this trough to make a mini-water garden on the old picnic table. The trough never did a good job of raising flowers because it has no holes in the bottom. So I repurposed it. I put it on the old picnic table first because tree frogs like to hang out there, but last year I never saw any, so this year I'm moving it.




I placed the trough at the west end of the log garden.




I packed small logs around it so that little critters can reach the trough.




Looking down into the trough, you can see that I placed a couple of brick pieces and a branch inside for habitat. These also help critters get in and out of the water, and the branch end provides a perch for insects such as dragonflies.




I poured some water into the trough. The rest should fill up with rainwater, as there are chances of rain for the next week or so.




Here is a wider view of the trough at the end of the log garden. It will fit in better once plants have grown around it.

Comments

Re: Go for it!

[witchpoetdreamer]

That's so good to know! Thank you for that!

Re: Go for it!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm happy I could help.

I forgot to mention that when I was keeping a larger water garden, I used a kiddie pool and arranged potted plants on the ground around the rim. But I put feeder goldfish in that. The same would work for tadpoles with a bit of modification, and is a lot less expensive and challenging than an in-ground pond.

Re: Go for it!

[witchpoetdreamer]

That's a great idea! Thank you!

Re: Go for it!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm happy I could help. :D That style of water garden worked well for me, and is worth considering if you spot a kiddie pool at a reasonable price. It's the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to get a good-sized water garden. I managed to find a monochrome blue one; I imagine the multicolor kind might be a bit too distracting.

Re: Go for it!

[witchpoetdreamer]

I think that if I find one that isn't the right color I might just cover the bottom with a tarp or something, or maybe paint if I find some that won't cause harm? There are ways to circumvent the problem, or I might just keep it colorful, who knows? XD

Re: Go for it!

[ysabetwordsmith]

You'd need something like a pond liner rather than a tarp, and those can get spendy.

A quick search turned up some paints recommended for aquarium use:

https://fishlab.com/aquarium-safe-paint/

https://www.aquariadise.com/aquarium-safe-paint/

Another option would be colored silicone caulk. This comes in black and various earth tones. You'd need to spread a thin coat over the inside of the pool. An advantage is that you could sprinkle it with sand for a more natural finish.

Just bear in mind that any of this stuff would run up the cost, and a kiddie pool isn't designed for long-term use as a pond -- mine usually lasted several years. I checked online and there are still plenty of plain blue ones.

If you don't care about the colors, though, wildlife probably won't either.

Re: Go for it!

[witchpoetdreamer]

That's great! I didn't even know paint for aquarium existed, but I knew something good for the fishies and all must! Thank you for the links! When it's time for me to build the pond, I'll definitely keep those in mind for cost and all, I'll certainly start small to begin with and make sure it's sustainable! You've been a great help, thank you!

Re: Go for it!

[ysabetwordsmith]

*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service. If you need help later, just let me know. I'm no expert but I've kept a variety of small water features.

Re: Go for it!

[witchpoetdreamer]

I sure will!