Container Water Gardens
It’s a small world – container water gardens are the perfect fit!
What’s holding you back from digging a hole and adding a perfectly peaceful aquatic paradise to your backyard? Is it the price? The size? The uncertainty of it all? Will you even like adding water gardening to your list of outdoor hobbies? How do you make a transition into the wet and wild world of water gardening?
If you are timid about getting starting, you may choose to begin with container gardening.
For people with small backyards or a simple porch, sometimes a container garden is the only way to get their water garden to fit. For some, it can lead to the dream of a big yard and a bigger water garden. There seem to be endless ways to accomplish your first water garden. Some examples are:
Wet Rocks or Bubbling Rocks, – these rocks are drilled so that the water comes out of the top and cascades down the rock into a basin below the rock. Many installers will do these in singles and trios. When the proper selection of the rock, you can get a nice soft sound of the water. Check with your local installer for further information and ultimately a proposal. Great for a nice additional to a small landscaped area.
On the market are several types of containers. This would be a category that you would have the ability to add plants and maybe small fish to this container. Traditionally, we only saw the whiskey barrel and liner tub available but now the market offers you other options which include different sizes, shapes and colors of container, container gardening pump, and tubing. Here’s a link to the ones available from Aquascapes.
Now consider plants as they can turn any boring container into a gorgeous work of art, if you educate yourself about how to plant and which plants to use. As with any water garden there are three basic type of plants:
1. Water lilies – recommend only the pygmy water lily which still may be too big.
2. Marginal – perennial plants – which be careful to only purchase the smaller marginal plants. Suggestions are:
Variegated sweet flag, corkscrew rush, Four-leaf clover, water forget me not – Just remember to keep them small
3. Floating plants – Tropical – Water Hyacinth (my favorite) and Water Lettuce (does not like real hot climates) Great for small features.
Gold Fish are an option but remember they will grow to about 6 inches and will reproduce. They will not live through the winter in a fountain or small basin.
What equipment do I need?
You will need a container garden aerator. This is a small pump that will give a gentle turbulence to the water. You want to steer clear of still water as this is a breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Add a small amount of gravel/stones on the bottom of the container. Especially if you have added a few fish.
What kind of maintenance is required?
Maintenance is as easy or as hard as you want to make it. Many of the small containers are small enough that you may use a garden hose to top it off. And if there’s no fish, you may use it to overflow the system for severe cleaning. If debris does accumulate, you can use any of the enzyme-based products (algaecides). Sludge tablets would be a good source and our bacteria container garden tablets. Watch for evaporation and if you have fish, you may need to put a few drops of detoxifer in the water. This removes the chlorine from the water if you have fish.
Enjoy! Be careful, however, because once the water gardening bug has bitten you, there’s no going back! Next step, would be a micro pond kit, then on to a larger water garden. Well, actually, it’s best just to go to the largest water garden you can put into your location and fits your budget. We do have kits for the do-it-yourselfers but best results are locating a installer in your area. Call us at 877 780-1174 and we can help you find that contractor.
Or if just a fountain is your choice for now look at the options on our site.
