Creating The Ultimate Dream Pond
We give a lot of mechanical tips and tricks to help improve water quality and clarity, fish health, and overall cleanliness of your water feature in our blogs. Maybe too much.
I am assuming, or at least hoping, that by now, you already understand the importance of great filtration, proper fish load, quarantine procedures, routine maintenance, and all the other things that make a pond dreamy when it comes to design.
The design I’m going to talk about today, is not my dream pond, including great filtration, and pristine water quality, it’s your dream pond.
The one that looks the way you want it to. You might say, but wait, you don’t know me, how can you know MY dream pond?
I don’t really know your dream pond, and you may not either, until you start answering the questions I’m about to ask you. We may both be surprised.
These are the same questions that Eric will ask a client that he is about to build a pond for. Sure, he could walk into a backyard, and build the pond that his mind’s eye sees, but in truth, that might not be the “dream” pond that the client envisions.
Our goal, when we build, is to create the pond the client dreams of, and then our job is to ensure that we build the filtration to support the life they want to sustain in their dream pond. So, the dream is how it will look, or what it will have, or how it will sound, and then we support that dream with what it needs to function properly, as far as filtration.
THE WHY OR THE MOTIVE
The first questions Eric asks are, “What has motivated you to want a pond?”
“What was your first memorable pond interaction?”
“What pond inspired you to get a pond?”
The reason these are important is it helps the client specify what they really want in a pond. For instance, maybe the first pond they ever fell in love with had little fat fancy goldfish.
If you’ve ever seen these guys try to swim, you’ll know that there is no way those little balls with fins can swim well in a pond with a strong current and pounding waterfall Conversely, koi would love nothing more than the crazy water movement that comes with those aspects. So, we would build a completely different pond for those little butterball goldfish, than we would for koi.
This fish choice would obviously be an important thing to know when we design the pond, so that we can make sure that we design the filtration to handle the slower movement that those little fatties require.
THE WHERE
The next question that Eric asked is, “Where will you be enjoying your pond from? ”Your dream pond needs to provide you with all the entertainment that you can get out of it, rain, snow, or shine, which means, you should ideally be able to see it not only from your back patio, but the rooms INSIDE your house that you spend the most time in.
Set up a patio chair where you envision your waterfall to be, and then go to the rooms in your house that you really live in. Sit in your favorite chair, at the breakfast table, in your bed, any place where you could potentially view the pond from, and look at that chair representing the waterfall.
Can you see the chair you placed as your imaginary waterfall? Do you see the water flowing down the rocks? Would you see it better if you turned it two inches to the left? Leave the chair there for a couple of days and really look at it. This will help you position the waterfall for your best enjoyment and highest impact.
THE MYSTERY
The one is just a little tricky. We really like to create some mystery that people have to investigate. Perhaps you have a friend standing in the living room, and they can just barely see a sliver of the pond or a glimpse of a waterfall. They are naturally drawn outside to see more. Once they reach the viewing area, they are greeted by your beautiful fish, and the cascading waterfall and the full impact of your beautiful water feature.
We also like bridges that lead across the pond or to a destination spot that is just out of sight, where a bench for reclining awaits you. Or maybe a deck cantilevering over the pond, that hides part of the water so the fish can swim under it, but how far..? You see? It is just enough to leave your guests begging for more. These are great tricks, that really work well. Use it them if you see fit. You will love the impact it has on your daily interactions with the pond.
FINALLY
If you have your dream aspects written out, but aren’t sure of the filtration required to keep your pond water clean, clear, and healthy, give us a shout. We are happy to help you put together the right Helix filtration system, for ease of maintenance, and healthy fish.
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