How Do I Make My Garden Pond Look Natural?

I guess most of us love getting as close to nature as possible, no matter where you’re living – the city or the countryside. It creates a relaxing feel with a peaceful ambiance, helping you relieve stress better after a hard day at work.

Amongst various ways to add a beautiful natural look to the house, building or re-decorating a garden pond is one of the most common.

Today, I’ll share some golden tips about how do I make my garden pond look natural. Trust me, they’re very easy to try.

Water Garden Plants

This is the simplest yet most effective way to make your garden pond look more natural.

The supply of water garden plants for a pond is enormous, meaning that there are lots of options to choose from. However, this would be an imitating task for beginners.

One solid thing to keep in mind is that not all the plants are suitable for your pond because each variety has its own growing habit, maximum size, hardiness zone, and light requirement.

If you want your plants to grow healthy, make sure to spend some time to learn about these specific requirements of the plants you like. Then, pay attention to the amount of light your garden pond receives each day, as well as light duration and intensity.

There are three types of water garden plants – floating, bog or marginal, and submerged.

To create a natural-looking to your garden pond, I suggest position various types in strategic locations using the notion of background, mid-ground, and foreground.

For example, large shrubs are used as the background, placed on the furthest spots of the pond. Short marginal plants and floating plants fill the midground and shorter ones near the edge for an unobstructed view.

If you want the visual transition to be smoother, add some medium height plants in gradual succession. Then, use the taller ones behind them.

One last thing to note is each type has specific planting requirements so if you’re a beginner, make sure to follow the instructions.

Here are some suggestions for you:

• Waterlilies
• Sweat flag
• Blue iris
• Mosaic plant
• Water lettuce
• Cardinal flower
• Taro pond plants
• Horsetail pond plants
• Pickerel pond plants

Add fish

Another most popular idea to make a garden pond look natural is adding some fish.

Just like water plants, the pond fish species are vast, ranging from koi carps to sturgeon, gold orfes, and goldfish.

When considering which species are the most suitable for your pond’s characteristics, ask yourself the actual dimensions of the garden pond, the quantities of fish, and which fish types can live peacefully together.

From my experience, there are three common types of pond fish – quickly propagating fish, eye-catching fish, and surface fish.

I don’t recommend choosing the first option if you have a narrow pond because too much fish will cause the filter and plants to not cope with their waste materials, resulting in turbid pond water.

For medium to large-sized ponds, you should consider choosing those species that don’t get hundreds of young ones per annum.

The eye-catching fish is the most popular choice at the current because it adds a nice, lively accent to your ponds. The natural pond fish species which commonly have camouflage to protect themselves from enemies, which you hardly see them.

About the last option, its characteristics are searching feed at the pond surface, meaning that it makes less mess like the ones digging the bottom. Besides, you’ll see them better.

The biggest flaw of this type is requiring more protection against threatening calamities, such as cats, squirrels, birds, and more.

Prevent Algae

One of the biggest problems with ponds is algae.

It grows anywhere there is water and no pond owners like algae because not just of its unaesthetic looking but also the diminishment when it has taken over.

In detail, too many algae in a pond will decrease the oxygen levels to the point that large fish has difficulty surviving.

Not to say that it gives off a huge amount of harmful gases like sulfur and methane compounds after the algae bloom dies off and the decomposition occurs.

To get it out of your pond, a lot of the equipment is used. The pump will move the water through a pond filter system, which helps pull out some of the algae. It also goes through a UV light which helps kill algae.

The filter reduces nutrients so it can’t grow as well.

Choose Rock, Gravel, And Stone

As long as selecting the right rock, gravel, and stone, I assure you that your garden pond will be noticeably different in both the feel and overall look.

Here are some tips to pick the most suitable rock, gravel, and stone for your pond:

• Not choose too small pebbles for swift water flow. Instead, they’re a better option if you want to fill the bottom of a small artificial stream or a cascade pool.
• Smooth, river-washed cobbles (at least an inch thick) for bubble fountains
• A mix of sizes gives a more natural appearance
• Make sure rock, gravel, and stone for the pond fits in with the rest of the garden

Conclusion

That’s all about how I make my garden pond look natural. Hopefully, with the suggestion, tips, and tricks provided above, you’ll find the most suitable options to refresh your pond’s look.

Before buying anything, also consider whether it fits your budget or not.

Finally, thanks for reading!