Harrowsmith – June 2019

Harrowsmith Summer 2019 | 57

COURTESY OF GENOSCAPE

A

llofthepondsthatwe

buildarewhatwecall

“ecosystem ponds.” This

means that the pond is designed to

create a well-balanced ecosystem

that will reduce maintenance and

support healthy plant and fish life.

This is important to us, as it ensures

that the pond will not only look and

function well for our client but also

be a safe habitat for birds, insects

and animals. By using biological

filtration rather than harsh

chemicals in our ponds, the water is

kept safe for animals to drink, swim

and live in. Birds, squirrels, bees,

frogs and even turtles often turn up

to enjoy the cool, refreshing water

that the pond offers. An ecosystem

pond can really help preserve and

improve biodiversity in any setting.

The first step to creating your

pond is to determine an appropriate

location. During this step, we like to

consider which indoor and outdoor

living spaces you would like to view

the pond from.

Once the location is selected, we

use bright marking paint to draw

out the shape of your pond. We like

to use an irregular shape, since it

looks much more natural.

With the pond marked out, we

then place two of the main pond

components around the perimeter:

the skimmer and the BioFalls. The

skimmer is where your pond pump

will be housed. It draws in water

and skims surface debris from the

water, just like a pool skimmer. The

BioFalls serves multiple functions:

it acts as a biological filter, the start

of your waterfall and a place for

beneficial bacteria to colonize.

We like to place the skimmer

and BioFalls at opposite ends of the

pond to ensure good circulation of

water. We also want the BioFalls

to face toward the backyard’s main

indoor and outdoor viewing areas.

We want you to be able to see and

enjoy the waterfall from as many

places as possible.

One great dynamic about pond

building is that a lot of the material

you dig out of the ground to create

your pond will be repurposed

immediately. We use the excavated

soil to surround the BioFalls and

create berms on either side of it.

We avoid creating a volcano look by

having the berms gently slope away

on either side of the waterfall. This

helps blend the waterfall into the

surrounding gardens and landscape.

During the excavation is where

we get to sculpt and carve out the

various tiers of the pond. There is

really no limit to your design and

that’s what makes building a pond

so enjoyable. We like to use organic

shapes when creating our tiers. We

also want to ensure that our shelf

walls are vertical for structural

strength and easy rock placement

later. And the pond shelves should

be flat and level so they can support

the rocks and gravel that will be

placed on them.

An irregular-shaped pond looks more natural. During excavation, tiers are sculpted and carved.