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Water Gardening

Water is great in any garden.

Here are some ideas of how you might add water to your own landscape.

Create Sounds with Water
Control the way water splashes and you can control the type of sound and volume of noise that water will make.

Think about different ways of creating a splash: look at and listen to different water features (fountains, cascades etc) and note how the noise varies; then choose (or design) a water feature that not only has an appealing visual appearance but one where the noise also appeals to you. After all, you may well hear the noise from a water garden almost constantly, but only look at it occasionally.

  • A larger volume of water splashing will make more noise.
  • Water falling from a greater height makes more noise.
  • Water hitting a rounded surface (like the top of a ball) will make a more subdued splash.
  • Hitting a hollow surface (eg. the top of a bell) can make a louder sound.
  • Hitting a flat surface (eg. a suspended flat metal plate) will make a different sound again.
  • Water that bounces off a series of surfaces makes a series of different noises.
  • A solid stream of water falling into a deep pond sounds very different to when water falls into a very shallow pond, or when the stream is broken up into a mass of small drops.



BIRD BATHS
Birds are attracted to water and a bird bath located close to the window of a house will attract many small and medium-sized feathered visitors.

How to manage it 
You wouldn’t drink dirty water …neither will most birds, so keep the bird bath clean and don’t let it dry up.
Make sure the bird bath is catproof – if cats are likely to be a problem, place the bowl on a pedestal out in the open, away from overhanging branches. 

Where to put it
The bird bath should be close enough so you can see the birds but far enough away that you don’t disturb them:
Near a kitchen or lounge room window from which you can see them 
Suspended over a verandah
Beside a path in the garden
Near bushes so birds have somewhere to retreat when frightened 


WATERLILY BOWLS
You don’t need a large pond to grow waterlilies or other aquatic plants. A water bowl doesn’t take up much space, and is suitable for growing the smaller-growing waterlilies in a courtyard or on a balcony. 

The container must be waterproof and at least 60cm deep and 90 cm wide (the larger, the better but if you put it on a balcony make sure it can support the weight of the container once it’s filled with water and plants). 
Suitable containers include large plastic or ceramic tubs, an old bath or galvanised metal wash tub, or a sealed half barrel.
There are tropical and cool climate waterlily varieties available from water garden suppliers. They need at least 40 cm of water above them, so for a water bowl, choose a dwarf variety. 
Plant the waterlily in a plastic pot filled with soil and rotted cow manure.
Add slow release fertiliser to the soil.
Cover the soil surface with at least 2cm coarse sand or gravel to hold the soil in place.
Carefully lower the pot into the water bowl. 
If the bowl is deep, sit the pot on a rock or brick so that there is around 40cm of water above the lily.


Other aquatic plants to grow in water bowls:

  • Umbrella Grass (Cyperus alternifolius)
  • Japanese Iris (Iris kaempferi)
  • Nymphoides spp.
  • Azolla pinnata
  • Azolla filiculoides
  • Typha orientalis
  • Nardoo (Marsilea)

Be responsible with water plants – many of Australia’s waterways have been choked with water plants that have come from home water features.  Keep you plants contained, and if you want to throw any part of a water plant away, make sure you have killed it first (let it dry out in the hot sun for a couple of weeks, or even burn it).  This way, you get to enjoy the plants at home and our rivers and creeks stay beautiful as well.


More Ideas for Water in the Garden


Build a water feature into a wall.  It takes up hardly any space.  Just set a small plastic tub into the ground at the base of the wall, to catch the water; then use a submersible pump to take water through the bottom of the wall, up the back, and (drilling a hole through) out the front.

A cascading stream is a great way to treat a steep slope and bring movement and noise into a garden

Any ordinary pond can be vastly improved by even the simplest of fountains.

Many modern artists are turning out wonderful water sculptures like this. You will see them at major garden shows. Alternatively, contact an art school that teaches sculpture, or ask a water garden supplier.

You can make a simple yet effective water feature with any pot, tub or urn. Water is pumped through a sealed hose into the pot. It continually trickles over the sides, dropping to the gravel, and sifting to a pit with a recycling pump below.

Add a sculpture to a pond

Bird baths come in many shapes and forms – make sure you can see the birds having a bath and that they are safe from cats

Float some flowers (you can buy artificial floating flowers from florists) in a water feature to add a splash of colour

You can purchase prefabricated bird baths from garden centres and hardware suppliers – these are an “instant” water feature

 

 

[29/03/2024 00:42:35]