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Summary Article: Fish ponds. Formal or informal ... pond keeping with style
Its like chickens and eggs with outdoor ponds and pools; every person that
keeps fish will at sometime keep fish in a pond or pool outdoors. If he or she
doesn’t then I bet they wished they could. Now I’ve come across some pretty
dedicated fish keepers in my time, particularly when I was doing a talk tour of
South Africa.
Their piscine charges were their pride and joy, and the whole of their
gardens and houses would be filled with vast containers for fish and the
thrumming technology of pipes, pumps and filters.
This lends the scheme, especially if you are dealing with water gardens or water
features in general, an air of magic, and if done with style creates a focal
point for the whole garden.
Style in water gardening Elsewhere I have introduced you to the Japanese garden
style, which can be a 'garden consuming' passion in its own right and a perfect
style to set off Koi carp.
But it may be that you haven't even yet decided how big it going to be and where
it will be yet, let alone whether your pool is going to be even formal or
informal shape.
Well, formal ponds or pools tend to be closer to the house or linked or within a
formal setting for instance in a separate 'garden room'.
Originally, classical formal gardens had a strict geometrical layout that was
mirrored each side of a central axis.
The size and layout and rules of proportion for the formal garden layout should
have corresponded to the proportions of the house.
Therefore the size of water feature would correspondingly relate to the pattern
in which it sat, although many of the grandest schemes related more to the
importance, wealth, power or ego of the owner of the house.
For the full appreciation of a large garden laid out in true classical
formality, you need to be able to view from a high point.
For areas of formal paving or geometric pieces or lawn or planted beds, units
that correspond either to the house, or to an obvious feature of the house like
the patio doors or the size of the big windows.
Water is an ideal element in this, making a reflective surface that brings light
and a mirror to the ground surface.
The "hard" cost of water garden landscaping Formality in large measure equals,
what we call, 'hard landscaping'; this means hard materials like stone, brick,
and gravel put in place with the correct footings and preparation.
Even the cheapest materials need a relatively large amount of labour to install
them properly ...
Material question for landscaping water gardens The choice between a good
preformed pond 'off the shelf' and a good flexible liner is down to the design
or style you had in mind.
There are not many formal shapes to choose from, but for the informal look,
there is generally one that fits into the 'minds-eye-view' of your future pond.
If your project is still of a fairly whimsical nature, you see a shape you like
on the racks and you are desperate to see the project through, despite everyone
telling you to plan it properly, then the preformed is probably the safer bet.
For gardeners, it is another habitat for plants to grow in, creating a
microclimate around itself that has an invigorating effect on all the plants
near it.
Reason for the water feature's existence Now unless this feature is going to
contain some art or artefact like an ornament, it still needs a purpose to be
there.
If there is a waterfall and or a stream then it can quite easily be a rock pool
at the end of a mountain stream.
gardens pool formality water house ponds materials
feature "flexible liner" stone landscaping plants nature mirror layout click
the link for full article
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