Expert Tips: Adding A Natural Pool Or Pond To Your Property

Have you ever wanted your own personal oasis – a place where you could melt away from the stress and strain of life? If the answer is yes, then, you should add a natural pond to your property. That sounds nice, but you may be wondering, what is a natural pool? A natural pool, also called a water garden, is a water feature that is built using plants for filtration instead of chemicals (thus the natural name).

Natural pools are great water features that can be updated and expanded over time without looking out of place. Literally, you can create your own personal oasis, and still be environmentally conscious. With that in mind, if you are truly considering adding a natural pond to your property, then you’ll love these tips.

1 – Plan It Out

First and foremost, get everything written down and make sure you have the room to do what you want. You may want a grand water feature, but only have the room for half of that (without major renovations). You wouldn’t want to be halfway finished with the project when you find out that you underestimated its size.

So, write down everything that you want, draw it out then take the time to map it out using stakes and string. You’ll be grateful you took the time to do this before you break ground. Also, it’s a great way to make sure that your pond will fit naturally into your landscape.

2 – The Right Depth

So, you can’t just dig a hole in the ground without the possibility of it caving in. But, if you dig it right, you won’t have to worry about this. So, what’s the right way to dig a hole in the ground?

When you dig, follow the rule of 1 foot of drop per 3 feet of leveled ground. So, if you want a pool with a depth of 5 feet, then dig it out 15 feet wide. Next, plan to lose 50% of the pool area to plants. Most people tend to put the plants on one side, but you can wrap them around the perimeter as well. This should be part of the planning phase.

Additionally, once you have determined this, you’ll need to separate your pool from the actual plants using some type of divider. You don’t want to end up swimming in the water that needs to be filtered. Most people create a divider and use a pump to move water from one side to the other.

3 – Plants, Lots Of Plants

Finally, remember when we said to save about 50% of the space for plants? Well, you are going to need a lot of plants to help filter that water naturally. There are a lot of options for natural pool filtration when using plants.

In shallow water, you could use Pickerel Weed and Water Primroses. For floating plants, you could use Pondweeds or Duckweed. For the perimeter, you could use Rush, Sedge, or Aquatic Irises. All of these will add beautiful color to your natural pond and/or personal oasis.

Of course, you are not limited to just water plants and/or features. Once you’ve started your natural pond, you could continue to build out, adding terraces, walkways, flower paths, whatever you want. This is your natural oasis – a place where you can relax.