With the arrival of the summer season, many summer residents and owners of private houses are thinking about creating a reservoir on their personal plot. After all, a reservoir can have not only decorative properties, but also makes it possible to refresh yourself in it on hot days. Depending on the capabilities of the site and the material component, reservoirs can be of various sizes. The coolness that blows from a fountain, stream or waterfall so saves from the heat and gives strength and vigor. Very often, such reservoirs are called water gardens, since they are necessarily surrounded by various plants. It is very important, when designing your reservoir, to choose the right deciduous and flowering plants.
Reservoir design methods
In order for the pond on the site to remain healthy and beautiful for a long time and not turn into a swamp covered with dense thickets over time, it is necessary to carefully choose the plants for it. They should grow both at the edges of the reservoir and in the water. This is also important because many summer cottages have very little area free from beds. Probably, it will not be very pleasant to see cabbage or cucumbers planting next to the water garden.
A standard rectangular pool or stone waterfall will not be entirely appropriate in such cases. You can build, for example, an elevated body of water with a place to rest or a pond with a small waterfall on one side and dense vegetation on the other. Modern technologies make it possible to make a geyser fountain in the center of a water garden or a pond with a fluffy grass lawn on the shore.
Large reservoirs
If the site allows you to build a reservoir of a large area, then this will require you to first create a real project. It will take into account everything to the smallest detail: materials, plant species, decorative components (for example, stone, figurines, lighting, resting places, a water pump, etc.). To design such a reservoir, you will need a maximum of creativity and imagination, because on such an area many interesting ideas can be realized. There is where to take a walk - these are the banks of the reservoir and the water surface itself.
Large reservoirs have a very important advantage over small-sized ponds - because of the great depth, the water does not bloom and remains clean for a long time. This allows you to grow a large number of aquatic plants at different depths without fear of their full development.
Along the edge of such a reservoir, you can create a natural corner of coastal shrubs and shrubs, evergreen representatives of flora, and marsh plants will perfectly take root in the water. Most often, marsh iris, lotus, snake highlander are used, and among the tall ones - reeds, reeds, badan, cattail, buzulnik, pontederia and others.
Miniature bodies of water
An extraordinary water oasis can be organized even in the smallest area. For skilled hands, space is absolutely irrelevant. Even a small pond with numerous plants will always give you coolness and delight the ear with a splash of water. Representatives of the fauna - frogs, newts, dragonflies and water striders very quickly settle in miniature reservoirs.
Plants for such a water garden must be chosen taking into account how quickly they grow and how luxuriant they grow. It is very important that the pond remains a reservoir for as long as possible, and does not become a small swamp. Experienced craftsmen recommend planting more plants at the edge of the reservoir and at least on its water surface.
They feel favorable on such ponds and delight the eyes of those around them - water hyacinth, cuckoo blossom, marsh forget-me-not, irises of dwarf species, as well as taller plants - bamboo, sedge and various ornamental grasses. So that aquatic plants can be thinned out during growth, it is more convenient to plant them in small flower containers. In winter, these containers with plants can be transferred to the home.
So that the space of the pond is not overgrown with plants in a matter of days, you should not plant cattails and reeds near the reservoir, it is they who have the ability to grow rapidly.
Geometric ponds
When constructing a reservoir in the shape of a circle, a classic fountain will look good in the center. But for square or rectangular water gardens, more strict decor is required. Such reservoirs are often surrounded by stone walls of low height. Plants must match this style and highlight its elegance. It can be ivy, boxwood with a decorative haircut and umbrella-shaped sage, which will look great as a framing of a pond. But for decorating the water surface, lotuses and water lilies are ideal. The coast of such a reservoir can be decorated with climbing roses or other climbing plants.
Decoration of waterfalls and streams
A calm stream in the form of a leisurely water flow can be organized with your own hands without any experience. The bed of such a stream will be narrow and built of large stones or river pebbles. Since the area of the water surface is not wide, it will be enough to plant algae as aquatic plants, but along the coast of such a reservoir it is advisable to place dwarf willows or cedars, coniferous shrubs, dicenters of different shades, as well as irises.
A "mountain" waterfall is much easier to create if the land plot chosen for it is located on a slope. For the channel, it is necessary to choose stones of medium size and preferably of the same breed. They will form steps for the flow of water. To make the shores of the waterfall look festive and cheer up, you need to choose flowering plant species for planting: irises, marsh marigold, mint. It will feel good near such a reservoir of plakun-grass and umbrella susak. For aquatic plants, swamp forget-me-not, dwarf sedge water lilies are suitable.
Decoration of springs and fountains
The depth of these reservoirs is usually small, so plants for them need to be chosen at different levels and no more than three copies. Plants should only be planted at the edges of the water surface or in the water. Of the tall representatives of the flora, sedge, irises and arrowhead will look more spectacular here. In the immediate vicinity of the water, you can place a saber or cattail. But on the water surface, white, pink or red nymphs, as well as a water salad, will ideally fit. It is not worth planting plants in a spring.
Plants most suitable for various bodies of water
When choosing plants for planting in a self-constructed pond, it is very important to consider how deep they need to be planted. If the planting depth is inappropriate, the plants will not take root in a new place or will look unhealthy.Specifically, each plant has its own preferences in this regard and they must be taken into account. Some of them can grow only in shallow water, others - at great depths, and still others - only near the water surface. Conventionally, all domestic water bodies in depth consist of five main parts.
Deep water
The deep-water zone is considered to be a depth of 40 centimeters or more. In this part of the reservoir, plants are developing well, whose leaves and flowers prefer to be on the surface of the water, and the stems and root part - in the water. If the depth of the pond is about a meter, then the plants are able to feel normal even in winter. At this depth, they do not freeze.
The deep-sea zone is most suitable for such plants: water lilies, lotuses, water star, swamp, water buttercup, hornwort, turcha and chilim.
Shallow water
The shallow water zone is considered to be from 10 to 40 centimeters deep. For such a pond, ornamental plants of dwarf breeds or undersized species are needed, in which only the root part must constantly be in the water and the whole plant will develop and grow perfectly and fully. Usually in shallow water it is customary to plant flowering plants with medium-sized stems and with a decorative leaf part.
The most suitable plants: marsh irises, arrowhead, grass or marsh calamus, tail, elodea, swamp.
Swamp zone
In such a zone, the height from the water's edge to the bottom is no more than 10 centimeters. The water level in such areas very often changes in one direction or the other due to prolonged and heavy rainfall. Such changes are stressful for many plants, so only the most adapted species and varieties will be able to grow in these areas.
Plants that are able to feel comfortable in this zone: euphorbia, cattail, sedge, manna, hedgehog, calla, loosestrife, watch, chastuha, saururus.
Meadow and soil with excess moisture
Coastal areas that are in close proximity to water, with constant waterlogging of the soil, resemble a damp lawn. Very often, water from a reservoir floods the surface of the nearby soil. This is due to weather conditions or excessive rainfall.
Plants most suitable for this zone are: badan, meadow tea, irises, primroses, tradescantia, swimsuit, ostrich, buzulnik, volzhanka, loosestrife, dawn, hosta.
Coastal zone
This zone in terms of area for each owner of a summer cottage may be different depending on the total area of land. The fact that the reservoir is very close has only a positive effect on the development and growth of coastal plants. In such areas, you can grow any plants intended for a garden and a flower garden. The soil is always moderately moist and watering is extremely rare.
The entire transition from the reservoir to the garden plot can be planted with the appropriate plant species: rhododendrons, viburnum shrubs and conifers, ornamental varieties of apple trees, cereals, ferns, geraniums.
The purity of the reservoir and proper care for it will preserve and increase the beauty of plants, and will also be able to delight with coolness and freshness for many years.
