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Water Features

Water Gardening the Organic Way

By Matt Boring

Organic Water Gardening has been making a splash here in Texas for the past several years.  Many people would love to have a beautiful water feature in their yards but are afraid to, having heard horror stories traditional ponding has inspired– stagnant green water, endless and expensive maintenance, daily testing of the pond’s pH, measuring and adding chemicals that are both costly and confusing, mosquitoes, not to mention the smell!

  Organic water gardening frees you from the chains of traditional ponding by creating a balanced, living aquatic ecosystem that is nearly self-maintaining.  New construction techniques also drop the price of a professionally-installed water feature into the range where a lot of people who thought they could never afford a pond– except for the Home Depot variety– find themselves relaxing in their backyards beside their living water gardens for a couple of hours every day!

  Imagine coming home after a day’s work, your nerves frazzled by the daily commute through gridlock traffic, to a peaceful backyard retreat.  You kick your feet up on the deck rail next to a cool beverage and melt into your deck chair as the constant sounds of water splashing and gurgling over your waterfall relax you and soothe your tired nerves.  Take a look into the crystal-clear water as your fish perform their hypnotic underwater dance and your stress gradually fades away.  You feel as if you’re on your own private resort vacation as you gaze at the blooming aquatic plants offering their unique blossoms for final inspection before the day’s end.  The night-blooming water lilies are beginning to open as the day-bloomers close up shop until the next morning.  Colorful dragonflies flit here and there and come to lite upon the miniature cattails, Iris, or horsetail rushes growing from the marginal areas of the pond.  It’s like a tropical paradise right in your own backyard!  As the daylight fades away, the underwater lights come on automatically to illuminate your underwater world for your further viewing pleasure into the nighttime hours. 

  Did I mention checking your water chemistry, dissolved solids, and pH, measuring and adding chemicals, or cleaning out or backflushing your filter?  No, because with the advent of natural organic water gardening, those chores have been eliminated, leaving you the time to enjoy your backyard– not work in it.  Just like organic gardeners who’ve come to realize that natural things perform better without chemicals, need less maintenance, and create a much healthier environment, water gardeners are beginning to learn the same lessons about water gardens, traditionally known as ponds. 

  Since its commercial inception in the early nineties, installation of the all-natural ‘ecosystem pond’ has been gaining steady acceptance in the water gardening world.  These ponds work with Mother Nature’s own natural processes, not against them.  The result is a natural looking water feature that needs very little regular maintenance, won’t breed mosquitoes, requires no chemicals or test kits, and provides a clear healthy environment for the plants and fish within. 

  Basically, it works like this:  The fish in the pond graze on the thin layer of string algae that forms on the rocks of the pond.  They are naturally bottom feeders and are doing what nature designed them to do.  Their waste is broken down by the millions of beneficial bacteria living in the pond’s biological filter as well as on the rocks and gravel of the pond.  The bacteria compete directly with the algae for available nutrients in the water and, in addition, convert the harmful ammonia in the fish waste into ammonium nitrate, which is plant fertilizer.  Most of the plants in the ecosystem pond are planted directly into the gravel substrate of the pond, which not only looks more natural, but allows their roots to stretch out to become a huge network filter, soaking in nutrients like a sponge.  Together with the bacteria, they literally starve the algae out of the system, leaving the water clear and healthy, not sterile and chemically-dependant.  The biological filter is completely hidden inside the waterfall and the pump is housed in an in-ground skimmer which keeps it from clogging and also removes leaves and debris (including mosquito larvae) from the surface of your pond, depositing the debris in a basket for easy removal and drowning the larvae.  You don’t have to feed the fish or fertilize the plants, nature takes care of it for you.  All the surfaces of the pond are covered with rocks and gravel so you don’t see anything artificial, just rocks, fish and plants.  Your all-natural, organic, holistic water garden requires an average of only 5-10 minutes every other week from you and cleaning only once every year or two to stay healthy and clear all year round and in return will provide you with endless opportunities for enjoyment, relaxation, education and entertainment each and every day of the year.

  For the organic gardener, ponds hold some additional benefits.  Believe it or not, water gardens typically require less water than the patch of turf they replace, saving an important resource.  The addition of a water garden with it’s surrounding landscape reduces the need for mowing, saving your back as well as creating less air pollution.  Natural water features attract insect eaters, including frogs, toads, dragonflies and birds, helping keep your garden free of pests without the use of pesticides.  The leaves and organic debris from your skimmer basket are perfect for the compost pile.  And the nitrate-rich water from the spring clean-out is the perfect all-natural way to give your grass and garden a little jump-start each spring.

  Look into organic water gardening as a low-maintenance way to enrich your lives and your landscapes.  Who knows?  You may soon find yourself ‘taking the plunge’ as well.

Happy Pondering!!!

Matt Boring has designed and installed customized natural-looking water features all over Texas.  His articles have been featured in Texas Gardener, Aquascape Lifestyles, Austin Waterways, and The Aquascaper magazines.   www.TexasPonds.com