Citizendia
Your Ad Here

For other uses, see Watergardens.
This water garden features water lilies and elephant ear. Photo by Ashley Sheets, provided courtesy of Park Seed Company.
This water garden features water lilies and elephant ear. Photo by Ashley Sheets, provided courtesy of Park Seed Company. Park Seed Company is a privately held mail-order Seed company based in Greenwood South Carolina.

Water gardens, also known as aquatic gardens, backyard ponds and garden ponds, have become popular in recent years. A garden pond is a water feature constructed in a garden normally either for aesthetic purposes or to provide wildlife Habitat.

Usually referring to a man-made feature, these gardens typically combine a pool with aquatic plants and often ornamental fish. Fixed items such as rocks, fountains, statuary, waterfalls and watercourses can be combined with the pool to add visual interest and integration with the local landscape and environment.

Contents

Types of water gardens

Wild river

Wild river
Wild river

One choses a spot on the banks of a fast moving river, and proceeds to place rocks in the path of the water to make a small waterfall. "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there A waterfall is usually a geological formation resulting from water often in the form of a Stream, flowing over an Erosion -resistant rock The rocks interfere with the flow path of the water and causes splashing and bubbles to form. The water splashing makes a pleasant sound and new habitat for fish, crustaceans and wildlife that feed on the fish and the crustaceans.

Depending on the river bank place, the water level can fluctuates on a daily basis. This means it can need work every day to adjust the rock level heights for maximum splash aeration. Aeration is the Process by which Air is circulated through mixed with or dissolved in a Liquid or substance Finding a good placement of rocks is similar to arranging a Zen garden or Japanese rock garden. A, sometimes called a Zen garden, is an enclosed shallow Sandpit containing Sand, Gravel, rocks and occasionally grass A well-done, intuitive placement of rocks can stimulate a feeling of peace or Zen while also achieving a practical effect, since the splashing water adds valuable oxygen to the river and may prevent hypoxia. For other uses of the term "hypoxia" see Hypoxia. Hypoxia or oxygen depletion is a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments The more the bubbles that are formed, the more dissolved oxygen is being placed in the river.

Flora

Typical water garden plants are divided into 3 main categories: submerged, marginal, and floating.

1. Submerged plants are those that live almost completely under the water, sometimes with leaves or flowers that grow to the surface such as with the water lily. These plants are placed in a pond or container usually 1-2 ft. below the water surface. Some of these plants are called oxygenators because they create oxygen for the fish that live in a pond. Examples of submerged plants are:

2. Nymphaeaceae is a family of Flowering plants Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates Ceratophyllum is a Cosmopolitan genus of Flowering plants commonly found in ponds marshes and quiet streams in tropical and in temperate regions Marginal plants are those that live with their roots under the water but the rest of the plant above the surface. These are usually placed so that the top of the pot is at or barely below the water level. Examples of these are:

3. Typha is a Genus of about eleven Species of Monocotyledonous flowering plants in the Monogeneric family Typhaceae Taro (from Tahitian or other Polynesian languages) more rarely kalo (from Hawaiian) and gabi in The Philippines, is a Sagittaria or "arrowhead" is a genus of about 20 species of Aquatic plants whose members go by a variety of common names including arrowhead Nelumbo is a Genus of aquatic plants with large showy Water lily -like flowers commonly known as Lotus or sacred lotus Pontederia is a genus of tristylous Aquatic plants commonly called the pickerel weeds Floating plants are those that are not anchored to the soil at all, but are free-floating on the surface. In water gardening, these are often used as a provider of shade to keep down the growth of algae in a pond. These are often extremely fast growing/multiplying. Examples of these are:

Some areas of the United States do not allow certain of these plants to be sold or kept as they have become invasive species in warmer areas of the country, such as Florida. Azolla ( mosquito fern, duckweed fern, fairy moss, water fern) is a Genus of seven species of aquatic Salvinia, the sole Genus in the family Salviniaceae, is a floating fern Pistia is a genus of Aquatic plant in the family Araceae, comprising a single species Pistia stratiotes, often called water Pistia is a genus of Aquatic plant in the family Araceae, comprising a single species Pistia stratiotes, often called water The seven species of water hyacinths comprise the genus Eichhornia. Introduced species|Weed Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the

Algae are found in all ponds. There are hundreds of species of algae that can grow in garden ponds but they are only usually noticied when they become abundant. Algae often grow in very high densities in ponds because of the high nutrient levels that are typical of garden ponds. Generally algae attaches itself to the sides of the pond and remains innocuous. Some species of algae, namely the dreaded 'blanket weed' can grow up to a foot a day under ideal conditions and can rapidly clog a garden pond. On the other hand, free floating algae are microcopic and are what causes pond water to appear green.

Fauna

Fish:

Fish in a pond
Fish in a pond

Often the reason for having a pond in a garden is to keep fish, often koi, though many people keep goldfish. Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two (kɔɪ or more specifically (niɕikigoi literally " brocaded carp" are ornamental domesticated varieties of the Common carp Cyprinus carpio. The goldfish, Carassius auratus, was one of the earliest Fish to be domesticated, and is still one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish and Both are hardy, colorful fish which require no special heating, provided the pond is located in an area which does not have extremes of temperature that would affect the fish. If fish are kept, pumps and filtration devices usually need to be added in order to keep enough oxygen in the water to support them. In winter, a small heater may need to be used in cold climates to keep the water from freezing solid. Examples of common pond fish include:

Snails:

Small aquatic snails are usually in ponds which have plants. (kɔɪ or more specifically (niɕikigoi literally " brocaded carp" are ornamental domesticated varieties of the Common carp Cyprinus carpio. The ide or orfe, Leuciscus idus, is a Freshwater Fish of the family Cyprinidae found across northern Europe and For the submarine class see Tench class submarine. The tench or doctor fish ( Tinca tinca) is a Freshwater The fathead minnow ( Pimephales promelas) is a species of Temperate freshwater Fish belonging to the Pimephales genus of the The mosquitofish ( Gambusia affinis) is a Species of Freshwater Fish, also commonly known simply by its generic name gambusia True eels ( Anguilliformes) are an order of Fish, which consists of four suborders 19 families 110 Genera and approximately 600 Catfish ( order Siluriformes) are a very diverse group of bony Fish. Bass (ˈbæs is a name shared by many different species of popular Gamefish. Acipenser is Genus of Sturgeons. With about 18 species many of which are Threatened, it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes Carp is a common name for various Freshwater Fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large "Crucian carps" is also used for the Genus Carassius as a whole The word snail is a Common name that can be used for almost all members of the Molluscan class Gastropoda which have coiled shells in the Some people purchase Apple snails to keep in their water garden. The family Ampullariidae - commonly referred to as apple Snails - are large Tropical and Subtropical Amphibious Another common variety is the Melantho snail.

Frogs:

Ponds located in suburban and rural areas often attract frogs such as common frogs and turtles, and the occasional snake. This article is about the block cipher algorithm For the ultrafast laser pulse measurement technique see Frequency-resolved optical gating. The Common Frog, Rana temporaria also known as the European Common Frog or European Common Brown Frog is found throughout much of Europe Turtles are Reptiles of the Order Testudines (all living turtles belong to the Crown group Chelonia) most of A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales.

Predators:

Garden ponds can attract attention from predators such as (in North America) raccoons, heron/birds, snakes, and domestic cats. The raccoon ( Procyon lotor) (sometimes spelt as racoon) also known as the common raccoon, North American raccoon, northern raccoon The herons are wading Birds in the Ardeidae family Some are called Egrets or Bitterns instead of herons Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. WikipediaManual of Style (spelling, articles should conform to one overall spelling style of English typically the one most linked to the article topic (if it is geographic These predators can be a danger to fish. Owners of koi are often particularly upset by this as some varieties of koi can be very expensive.

See also

External links

Biochemical Oxygen Demand or Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD is a chemical procedure for determining how fast biological organisms use up oxygen in a body of water In Environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand ( COD) test is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of Organic compounds in Water Landscape architecture involves the investigation and designed response to the landscape A rain garden is a planted depression that is designed to absorb rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs driveways walkways and compacted lawn areas Wastewater quality indicators such as the Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD and the Chemical oxygen demand (COD are essentially Laboratory Tests
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic