Decorative pond in the country: steps and labor costs, how it is arranged, design and settlement. A big pond is a small sea Accounting for terrain and soil

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An artificial pond in the country can be a great place to relax on a hot summer day. For those people who have country houses on the shore of a lake or river, very lucky. Well, the rest will need to roll up their sleeves and equip the pond in the country with their own hands.

We draw up a project

It is best to take a place for a future artificial reservoir still at the stage of designing a suburban area. In this case, the reservoir must:

• do not fall under prolonged exposure to direct sunlight - heated water provokes the growth of algae and the development of microorganisms. The water in the reservoir quickly becomes cloudy and will have a musty unpleasant odor;
• be in an open area - branches and foliage from trees will quickly pollute the water, and the root system can damage the bottom of an artificial reservoir;
• be located so that later it would be possible to expand the size of the water surface, if you want to remake the pond, for example, into a full-fledged complex - with a fountain, a bridge, etc.

Professional builders it is advised to make the artificial pond shallow - as it will be mainly used as a beautiful element of the surrounding landscape in the garden. In addition, you immediately need to think about how you will take care of the reservoir on the site - there should be a convenient approach to it. Naturally, not through the alpine slides or the garden.

The water in the artificial pond will need to be changed by hand, as it will not be cleaned naturally, unlike natural reservoirs. Therefore, you need to make sure that the well with water in the country is located near your pond.

The choice of material for construction

Before you make a pond with your own hands, you need determine its basis. In this case, there are several solutions. Let's consider what an artificial reservoir can be made of.

Reinforced concrete

The most durable pond in the garden can be made using reinforced concrete. The bottom and coastal zone, reinforced with reinforcement and filled with concrete, will be able to withstand various additional loads - the installation of sculptural compositions, a fountain, etc.

The complexity of construction makes it impractical this technology organization of small ponds in the country. The disadvantages of this solution include a significant cost. Need to rent equipment, use a lot of building materials, and it will be possible to dismantle the installed reservoir only with great labor costs.

PVC film

A budget solution for the construction of an artificial reservoir in the country. The depth and shape of this reservoir can be easily changed, reduced or increased in size. A pond on a plot with a film base can even be made seasonal - for example, fall asleep with the advent of winter and equip it again in the summer.

The disadvantages of this solution include the fragility and fragility of the PVC coating - the film can be easily damaged, and if the integrity of the bowl is violated, the water will easily go into the ground. Therefore, swimming in these home reservoirs is not recommended - they made small in size and used for garden decoration.

Store-bought artificial bowls

This is the golden mean for people who want to have their own pond in their garden and not suffer from building materials for his organization. Shop bowls for decorative reservoirs are made of durable and strong materials - fiberglass or polyvinyl chloride.

The first option is much more expensive. However, the cost of a fiberglass bowl is fully compensated by the excellent performance of this material. This bowl can be easily placed with your own hands, without involving outside help in this process. The disadvantage can be considered the acquisition of ready-made standard forms - that is, the pit must be made to fit the shape of the bowl, and not vice versa.

Moreover, the possibility of building uneven terrain bottom to design natural coastlines. In addition, this method of organizing a pond in the garden will cost much more than a pond made from improvised materials or film.

improvised materials

A rather interesting option is the use of different improvised containers or materials. old troughs, cast iron bathtubs quite suitable for construction.

The advantages of this method is that it is not necessary to build bulky reinforced concrete structures or acquire standard forms. The disadvantages include the low decorativeness of old containers - you will need to show imagination so that from the old bath make a work of art.

For example, for people who have catastrophically little space in the country, experts advise using a convenient and simple tire pond. Old tires are dug in, a film is laid inside, and the banks are decorated.

The resulting pond can surprise even professional designers - the finished pond will be an exclusive element of the landscape interior.

foundation pit

Then, when they decided on the material for construction, it is necessary to dig a foundation pit. This work is best done in the summer, when groundwater leave as much as possible. The depth of the pit is determined based on the type of material from which they decided to make the bowl. If this is an old bathroom or other finished form, we dig a hole 25-30 cm deeper than the dimensions of the form.

If you decide to make a pond out of PVC film, then you will need to dig to a depth of about 70-90 cm - a shallow pond will completely freeze in winter, dry quickly and heat up in summer. For reservoirs made of reinforced concrete, it will be necessary to dig a pit with a depth of more than 1.5 meters - here one cannot do without special equipment.

Consider the stages of work for the construction of a pond in the country with your own hands for various types of selected materials.

PVC film pond

When the pit is ready, it remains to clean its bottom and dig on the sides of the future mini-pond small terraces. The depth of these terraces is approximately 30 cm, and the width is about 25 cm. The bottom of the pit is compacted, pebbles, rubble, stones and other foreign objects are removed. The cleaned bottom is sprinkled with sand and covered with a geotextile. This preparation of the bottom will significantly improve the strength of the base coat as well as extend the life of the film.

The next step is the laying of the film coating. The size of the film can be calculated as follows: take the total length of the reservoir and add twice the depth of the pit. The film sheet is fixed on the terraces with a margin of approximately 30 cm. The laid sheet is laid with stones or bricks - this must be done to maintain its laying shape.

Then you need to fill the pond with water, check the integrity of the film and proceed to the design of the coastal zone. Don't need it right away cut off the remaining film under bricks, as it can shrink over time.

Pond from the bath

To build a pond from an old bathtub or other unnecessary container, you will need:

• crushed stone;
• a piece of chain-link mesh;
• sand and cement;
• coil of steel or aluminum wire;
• beautiful stones for decoration.

After the pit is dug, it is necessary to make its edges. Why around the entire perimeter of the future pond we remove the top a layer of earth about 45-50 cm wide. This perimeter is deepened so that it is level with the shape of the reservoir. The drain hole in the bathroom is closed, then it is installed at the bottom of the pit.

To extend the life of the future mini-pond, it is necessary to protect the enamel on the inner surface of the bowl. Why the sides and bottom of the bathroom can be treated with tile adhesive. After that, the bath is allowed to dry thoroughly. As a rule, this takes at least a few days.

Then, a chain-link mesh is laid around the entire perimeter of the bowl. It is required to reinforce the bottom and sides of the reservoir. Apply to the grid cement-sand mixture or concrete mortar and let dry. Then comes the turn of the final design of the coast.

Pond from the finished form

A pit dug for a mold cleared of debris, branches and other items. The walls and bottom of the pit are rammed. When the country house is very loose soil - it needs to be strengthened. For the finished form, a perfectly flat plane of the sides and bottom of the pit is required. The surface can be leveled using the building level.

Then the bottom must be covered with sifted sand, which also needs to be compacted. The sandy layer is an excellent fuse that will ensure the integrity of the finished bowl.

After that, the bowl is installed in the pit and water is poured. The resulting voids between the ground and the sides of the form are covered with sand, this must be done gradually. First, 20-25 cm of sand is poured, which is wetted with water. After spreading the sand, this process needs repeat until the voids are completely filled between the walls of the pit and the mold.

This must be done without fail, since the pond mold is very fragile and easily deformed. Uniform pressure on the surfaces of the bowl will not allow it to warp.

A day later, the gap between the ground and the sides of the bowl is checked. If there are voids, add sand. We pour water from the mini-pond, finally clean it and pour clean water.

Plant selection

Small plants are planted on the shore of the pond. A picturesque picture on the shore of the pond can be created by hostas, with green ones prefer partial shade, and blue ones prefer shade.

Also, sedge grows well in the shade with narrow leaves, which sometimes grow up to 80 cm. In partial shade, the unpretentious loosestrife with attractive inflorescences purple . Lightning can be planted in a sunny area.

A fern will perfectly decorate the shore of a reservoir located in partial shade. It grows well in moist soil. The same conditions apply to astilba. For planting near the pond, its undersized varieties are suitable.

If the reservoir is quite large, land a darmer (peltiphyllum) on the shore - perennial in the form of bushes up to 1 m high and up to 0.5 m in diameter with notched round leaves.

At the second level, water lilies are traditionally placed in the reservoir. Hybrid nymphs are characterized by a variety of flower colors. No need to overload the pond large quantity instances, they grow and only interfere with each other.

Sunshine is perfect place for calamus. In a small reservoir, a low calamus grass looks organically, and in a large one - marsh. Some varieties of irises also prefer low water.

The hardy calla is a fairly popular home pond plant. At the beginning of summer, a cob-shaped flower appears on it, and after - red berries. It must be remembered that they are poisonous.

Water hawthorn, smelling of vanilla, grows well in water, reaching a diameter of 50 cm. It is a deep-sea plant. It looks original floating on the surface, miniature, covering the reservoir with a green carpet of azolla. However, it will need to be fought with, periodically catching bushes.

One of the brightest tools in landscape design is a decorative pond. Of course, most of the suburban areas are limited to the traditional six acres, and the owners simply cannot build a large pond, but because of this, you should not give up the dream of acquiring an artificial pond. As for the technical part, it will not become an obstacle, but subject to good instructions and desire. So, today we will find out how to make a pond in the country with our own hands step by step.

First, you should find out what purpose the construction of the pond on the site will pursue. From this point of view, water bodies can be divided into four large groups.

Table number 1. Classification of artificial reservoirs by functionality

Group name	Short description
	They are an element of landscape composition and are intended, first of all, to decorate a particular area of ​​the garden. Near such reservoirs, active recreation is not provided.
	They are deeper and often decorated with fountains, bridges, sometimes equipped with lighting. Similar ponds are built near the house or gazebos, benches with awnings are placed nearby. Therefore, it is quite obvious that such reservoirs are the heart of the recreation area for residents of the house.
	This option is suitable not only for avid fishermen, but also for families with children - the latter will enjoy watching bright fish while relaxing in nature.
	They also belong to artificial summer cottages and not only perform an aesthetic function, but also provide an opportunity to freshen up or even swim (it all depends on the size).

Then, based on the goal and our capabilities, we proceed to the choice of style, location, size and shape.

Second phase. Deciding on style

An artificial pond can be made in one of two options, and each of them also has a great many modifications.

Table number 2. Styles of artificial reservoirs

Name	Short description
	This name accurately reflects the essence - these are structures that differ in clearly defined outlines. The shape of the pond, correct in terms of geometry, is suitable for those areas that are decorated in the style of minimalism, high-tech, modern or classic. But, characteristically, the shape can be not only rectangular, but also square, round, oval, broken.
	They are more popular, because they are characterized by naturalness and irregular outlines of the coast, which means that they bring a person closer to nature. The shape of the reservoir here depends only on personal preferences, but the more complex it is, the more difficult it will be to lay the film (more on this later).

The relief of the site also plays a big role in choosing the style. So, if the surface is sufficiently even, then the shape of the pond can be any. If there are irregularities and drops on the site, then they need to be given special attention, but they make it possible to additionally equip a cascade or waterfall. In addition, against the background of all this, say, an artificial slide will look great.

Also, the reservoir can be slightly raised above the ground. In this case, the construction technology will differ only in the arrangement of the foundation, which will prevent possible distortions of the bowl.

When creating such a reservoir, earthwork is minimized, and it will be much easier to take care of it.

Note! If the reservoir will be built with a fountain, then preference should be given to a high design.

Third stage. Choose a place

Let's start with the fact that we place the reservoir in the most suitable place, so that it is possible to admire our creation from anywhere in the site. That is why when choosing we take into account several important factors.

1. Land area. Not only the size of the pond, but also its shape directly depend on it.
2. illumination. It is preferable to place an artificial reservoir in a shady place where exposure to direct sunlight does not exceed five to six hours a day, otherwise some of the water may simply evaporate. Moreover, in sunlight, biological activity can develop, which is unlikely to beautify the pond. Therefore, having chosen a specific place on the site, we observe the solar regime for several days.
3. Relief. The shape of the pond depends on it, and it also simplifies the device additional elements(for example, fountains).
4. Groundwater level, soil composition. These indicators affect not only the depth of the reservoir, but also the complexity of the work and the need for additional consumables.

Note! The greater the depth of the pond, the more illuminated the place it should be placed. If the reservoir is intended for fish, then we take the location even more responsibly, since the oxygen content in strongly heated water decreases.

1. Expandability. Do not forget about the perspective, so on the one hand we leave free space.
2. Visibility. It is desirable to arrange the reservoir so that it can be seen from the house and places of rest.
3. Power supply. If a fountain or lighting is additionally equipped, then we think over electrification in advance. It is better to lay wires even during development, and underground and in a reliable protective corrugation. There should be small access hatches at the junctions.
4. Reflection. The pond will look more attractive if the surface reflects the sky or beautiful buildings, and not some kind of outbuilding.
5. Landscaping. The vegetation near the pond is, of course, beautiful, but the leaves will pollute it and form silt. Furthermore, root systems trees can damage the waterproofing layer.
6. Compatibility with general decoration and other objects.

We begin work in the spring - so we will have enough time for the reservoir to "take root" on the site.

Fourth stage. Deciding on sizes

It is difficult to say that a large pond will cost more than a small one, since there are a lot of nuances here. So let's look at the key points.

1. Dimensions. They depend on the location of the reservoir. Many say that the pond should be an average of 3-10% of the total area of ​​the site, although there can be no clear recommendations in this case. As for the length and width specifically, they depend not only on the area land plot but also on our capabilities. After all, we will dig a hole under the reservoir by hand.

2. Depth. It depends on the purpose of creating a reservoir, as well as its size.

3. The difficulty of the content. The larger the pond, the easier (no matter how paradoxical it may sound) to take care of it.

4. Zoning. The reservoir is divided into the following zones:

• coastal (from 10 cm to 40 cm), which will serve as an entrance and for planting a plant;
• shallow (from 40 cm to 100 cm), where crops that grow deeper will be planted (for example, winter-hardy water lily);
• deep-water (more than 100 cm) - it is required only in those reservoirs where fish breeding is planned; the area of ​​this zone depends primarily on the number of fish, but on average it should be more than 20% of the total area of ​​the reservoir.

5. Biological balance. In any case, living creatures will settle in the pond, which means that it is necessary to provide such conditions so that it can clean itself. No oxygenation or chlorination of water is provided here. It is worth remembering: no more than ½ of the entire area can be allocated for plants.

Note! The lowest point should be lowered below the freezing line of the soil, especially if you plan to breed fish - so they can survive the winter in non-freezing water.

Fifth stage. Choosing materials

The next question to be dealt with is the choice Supplies. There are many options on the market today that can be used to create an artificial reservoir. Let's consider them.

concrete pond

The most expensive option, which, nevertheless, allows you to operate the reservoir sufficiently for a long time. Although concrete pouring is more suitable for arranging a pool.

Finished plastic container

This option is more suitable. A form made of fiberglass or PVC allows you to build a pond in record time and use it for up to 30 years (the specific period depends on the quality of the container).

The procedure itself will consist of only four steps:

• dig a pit;
• set the form;
• fill the remaining voids with sand;
• we plant plants, fill the pond with water.

The disadvantage of this method is the difficulty of transportation (if the volume is large) and the need for basic installation knowledge (otherwise the bowl may be damaged). Moreover, plastic containers degrade over time under the influence of UV radiation.

Note! It is preferable to use a fiberglass bowl, which is reinforced with rubber - this design is more reliable and suitable for repair.

Polymer film

In terms of the shape of the pond, this option provides simply unlimited possibilities. The most affordable material is plastic film, although it will not last long.

PVC film has a longer service life, with proper installation it can last up to ten years.

Perhaps the most reliable option. For ponds with rocky bottoms and great depths, it is recommended to use a butyl rubber (EPDM) membrane, which has a service life of up to 50 years. In addition, this material is able to withstand repeated frosts.

There are several folk ways to make a reservoir that use improvised materials. Let's get acquainted with the most popular of these methods.

Pond from an old bath

A great option, because the bath is a container that was originally intended to hold liquid. The bath can be painted in bright colors and placed in a picturesque corner of the site or, alternatively, deepened into the ground.

Tire Pond

An easy way to create a mini-pond on the site. The manufacturing process is shown in the photo below.

Pond from a basin

An even easier way. The basin is able to retain water well, so it can be installed in the same way as a bath. With proper decoration, such a mini-pond will become great decoration yard.

Note! Not only the aesthetic characteristics of the pond, but also its service life depend on the choice of material. It is desirable that the selected material is environmentally friendly.

Sixth stage. We prepare the equipment

To create a simple artificial reservoir, we need a level, a cart with a shovel, a cord, a hose that is used for watering, and pegs.

If the pond is more technologically advanced, then you will need the following equipment:

• cleaning filter;
• sterilizer (it will remove algae so that the water is clear);
• pump for pumping / pumping water;
• aerator for oxygen saturation (especially important when breeding fish).

Seventh stage. We create an artificial pond

There are plenty of materials that can be used to create a reservoir, but we will focus on PVC film. The fact is that it is cheaper, it takes better desired shape, it can be repaired, and specific knowledge or skills are not required for operation.

Step 1. First, choose the color of the film. There are several possible options here.

1. Black film - it will turn the bottom into a mirror (plants, clouds, etc. will be reflected).
2. Cream, blue- so the reservoir will look more like a pool, and the fish on a light background will be more clearly visible.
3. brown- will imitate the soil of natural reservoirs. Great option for a landscape pond.

Also, when choosing a film, we pay attention to the composition (PVC is more durable than PE) and thickness (for a pond, material thicker than 0.5 mm is required). Moreover, the greater the depth of the reservoir, the greater should be the thickness of the film. No less important is resistance to UV radiation and mechanical damage.

Note! If the depth of the pond exceeds 1.5 m, then we use butyl rubber. Such a film is resistant to stretching, deformation and UV, moreover, it can withstand temperatures of 40-80°C.

• pond width + (depth x 2) + margin (55-60 cm) = material width;
• pond length + (depth x 2) + stock (55-60 cm) = material length.

For gluing, we will use a special glue (for example, "Tagnit") or adhesive tape (Quick Seam 3).

Step 3 The next step is to create a schema.

First, draw it on paper, and then transfer it to the ground. We indicate the dimensions of the steps or "shelves" for plants - this will avoid possible problems. For marking, use sand or a flexible garden hose (preferably a bright color).

After that, we cover the marked area with a piece of light film and examine it from different angles. We make adjustments if necessary.

Step 4. Roem a pit. To do this, perform the following steps.

1. First we remove the sod.
2. Then we dig the pit itself. At the same time, we move from the edges to the center, delving into the required places - it’s more convenient. For laying stone and decorating, we equip a ledge with a depth of 60-70 cm.
3. We remove the soil, and with it the roots, stones, debris and everything that can damage the film. By the way, you can make an alpine hill out of the excavated earth.

When carrying out earthworks, we pay attention to ensuring that the banks of the future pond are located on the same line. If a waterfall is created, then we maintain the required height difference.

Note! If a large level is required, we can make it ourselves. To do this, lay the usual level on a long, flat board.

Step 5 We lay the underlay. We carefully tamp the bottom of the finished pit, after which we proceed to the waterproofing layer, which will prevent the penetration of water into the soil.

The substrate can be made in several ways:

• we cover the bottom with stones and fill it with sand (this kind of waterproofing will lose its properties in a few years);
• we lay a layer of geotextile, which we fill up with sand (it will cost a large amount);
• lay PVC film (most reliable way, so we will focus on it).

Step 6 Next, we lay the film, preferably on a sandy "cushion" (the latter will prevent damage by stones and other dangerous objects). It is advisable to lay on a hot day - heating up, the film becomes more pliable.

This may cause problems with the formation of folds. We try to make one large fold, and not a large number of small ones, and then glue it or press it down with stones. The film must be loose, loose.

For its fastening, a swarm along the perimeter of an additional trench. We lay the film there, after which we fall asleep crushed stone. Next, we fill the trench with large stones with a flat bottom (so that the film does not tear). We lay the walls with round stones (flat ones will slide). At the end, we fill the pond with water - we serve it without pressure, directing it to the center of the pit. After two days, cut off the excess film.

Step 7. We strengthen the coast. Their slope depends on the type of soil: if it is sandy, then the walls should be sloping, if we are talking about clay or black soil, then vertical. The optimum slope angle should be approximately 45°.

The fortification itself depends on the type of coast.

If they are gentle, then you can use:

• geomat;
• geogrid;
• polymer geogrid.

You can also use a regular chain-link mesh, filling its cells with soil with seeds of perennial grass (for example, clover). There is another option - to strengthen the coast with shrubs or plants.

If the coast is steep, then we can use:

• piles;
• gabions;
• retaining walls.

It can also be effectively strengthened with the help of biological methods (planting). Ideally, biological methods gains should be combined with engineering.

Eighth stage. Making an artificial pond

There are several ways decorative finishes reservoir. To make it a full-fledged design element, use one or more of the following methods.

As a conclusion. Features of care

Finally, a few words about further care behind an artificial reservoir.

Video - Creating a pond from a film

How pleasant it is to spend a few hours by a shady pond or lake in the hot summer time! Of course, it's great if there is one in the neighborhood. However, most often we spend our free summer days in the country, and not everyone has the means to buy a large country house and the services of a landscape designer. In this case, there is nothing left but to make a pond with your own hands, especially since it is not so difficult.

It all depends on your imagination, the size of the site and what is at hand. With a little effort and Money, then the country pond will not only delight you, but also cause burning envy among your neighbors.

The size and shape of yours primarily depend on the area allocated for these purposes. But the larger the area of ​​the pond, the easier it is to take care of it - a small one needs to be cleaned more often. If you plan to have fish and plant a lot of aquatic plants, then a small reservoir will not suit you either, because it is very difficult to maintain the correct eco-balance in it.

by the most the best place for a home pond there will be an open part of the site, at the same time protected from strong winds. You should not place the pond in a well-lit place: the location should be such that the sun's rays do not fall into the water for more than 6 hours in a row, otherwise it will bloom, and only frogs can live there. Dubious prospect, right? At the same time, if the lighting is insufficient, the plants will develop slowly, and a beautiful corner for relaxation will not work.

If you decide to equip a small fountain, you will definitely need a pond diagram in order to properly connect the pump and other equipment. With a little effort, you can sketch out the plan yourself. Of course, in this case, it will be necessary to consider the proximity of the location of the power supply network.

Do not place your home pond under the crowns of trees. Firstly, this will lead to additional water pollution with fallen leaves, and the pond will have to be cleaned much more often, and secondly, tree roots can damage the reservoir bed, and it will dry out quickly.

And, of course, the whole idea will become useless if you cannot enjoy the beautiful view from the window or from the terrace, so when planning to make a pond on the site with your own hands, do not forget about the aesthetic side of the issue.

Home pond on a rigid basis

If you are a supporter of solid, durable construction, then you can approach the process on a grand scale: dig a foundation pit of sufficient size and cast a reinforced concrete bowl of the pond using metal fittings and cement. Such a design, of course, will cost a lot, but it will last for many years (at least 30). If you are not an adherent of a global approach, you can get by with an easier and cheaper option.

So, how to make one of the most elementary ways, allowing you to make a dream come true, is a ready-made "bowl", which can be purchased at the store. Perhaps the main disadvantage of this option will be that it will not be possible to come up with your own original shape of the reservoir, you will have to be content with the offered assortment.

by the most inexpensive solution is a plastic pond of small size, from 4 to 8 m 2 . Of course, there are larger molds, but they already belong to the category of pools and are much more expensive. When choosing a container, you should definitely pay attention to its depth - it should be at least 0.8-1 meter. In summer, the water in such a pond will warm up completely, and all its inhabitants will be comfortable, but in winter such a pond will not freeze to the bottom, which is also very important.

If you decide to organize a pond on the site with your own hands and want to use a ready-made base for this, then first of all you need to study the materials from which the molds are made - there are also a few nuances here.

The simplest and cheapest option may be a regular plastic container, but it has its drawbacks. First of all, you need to be very careful during transportation and installation - such a tank can crack even with a slight bend. Also, plastic tends to break down from sunlight, which means that the service life of such a product is not too long - 5-10 years.

If you want your pond to last longer, choose forms made of special reinforced plastic - they have a much longer service life (up to 20 years). Such tanks are more plastic and less exposed to ultraviolet radiation.

The highest quality and, of course, the most expensive are products made of rubber-based fiberglass. This form is resistant to temperature changes, does not collapse from exposure to sunlight and does not release into water harmful substances, which is very important for the inhabitants of the reservoir. Such a tank will serve for more than 30 years, in addition, it can be repaired, which extends the time of use by an almost unlimited period.

Building ponds from a fiberglass bath is a simple process, and its result is quite aesthetic, as these forms come in different colors, and some even have a coating imitating stones, sand or small pebbles. This allows you to beautifully mask the edges of the reservoir and give it the most natural look.

We build ourselves

So, in order to build a pond on the site with your own hands, first of all you need to decide on the location and shape of the reservoir. Decided? Let's start construction work:

1. To begin with, we mark the contour of the pit. It is very easy to do this - set the shape in the right place and outline its silhouette with a regular bayonet spade, firmly pressing the handle in the edge of the bath.
2. Add about 20 cm to the resulting contour to fill the plastic pond with sand.
3. If you have acquired a form with ledges, then each level must be marked and dug separately, from larger to smaller, while remembering to add 10-15 cm on each floor for a sandy substrate.
4. When the pit is ready, its edges should be well leveled and compacted, all glass, stones and tree roots should be selected. Failure to do so may damage the mold. Then you need to pour and carefully compact the sand with a layer of at least 10 cm - this will save your pond from subsidence.
5. Install plastic mold and make sure that it is level, for this you can use the rule. Then carefully fill the pond with water to about a third, being careful not to budge it.
6. Fill the gaps between the edge of the pit and the mold carefully with sand. At the same time, you need to make sure that there are no voids left. Why periodically water the soil with water, but try not to make the pressure too strong.

For a week after installation, regularly water the ground around the pond and add sand as needed. After the subsidence of the soil stops, you can completely fill the reservoir, decorate the edges of the pond bowl with stones, flagstone and plant ornamental plants.

Country pond made of flexible materials

Now let's talk about how to make a pond on the site, if it is not possible to purchase a ready-made container or you want to equip a large pond of a bizarre shape.

The most budget option in this case will be the use of ordinary polyethylene with a thickness of at least 500 microns. However, despite the fact that it is quite inexpensive, there are quite a few disadvantages of such a coating. The fact is that polyethylene is a rather thin material, it is very easy to damage it, and under the influence of sunlight it becomes completely brittle and quickly collapses. A pond on a polyethylene substrate will last you a maximum of 2-3 years.

PVC film for the pond - the material is also not too expensive, but much more durable, such a coating can withstand 8-10 years. Polyvinyl chloride coating can be ordinary and two-layer, in which a woven mesh is laid for strength. Of course, PVC has the same disadvantages as polyethylene - it is destroyed by ultraviolet radiation, it is easily cut and torn, but, unlike the latter, it can be repaired. For this, special kits are sold. In addition, PVC stretches better, and after filling the pond with water, most of the folds stretch and straighten out over time.

The most expensive, but at the same time, the highest quality is a coating made of butyl rubber: the service life of such a material is about 50 years, and it does not care about the sun's rays. In addition, butyl rubber is not afraid of low temperatures, so you do not have to drain the water from the pond in winter. This is a very flexible and plastic material that can withstand significant loads, so if you decide to equip a spacious pond unusual shape, you simply cannot do without it.

We mark the pit

To equip a pond on the site with your own hands, you will need:

• pegs;
• rope;
• film coating;
• geotextile or felt;
• sand;
• crushed stone or large pebbles;
• shovel;
• special kit for film coating repair;
• bricks;
• garden hose for watering;

With the help of twine and pegs, you need to mark the desired shape of the pit and proceed with earthworks. If you plan to break a pond of a fairly large size, you can bring an excavator. In the process of work, it is necessary to ensure that ledges and slopes alternate, this will make the banks of the pond more stable. It is also necessary to provide terraces (at least 30 cm wide) for planting plants. Descents from one level to another must be made quite gentle, with an inclination angle of up to 45˚.

It is worth remembering that the depth of the pond should not be less than 80 cm, otherwise in winter the water in it will freeze to the bottom, and its inhabitants will die. Thus, you need to dig a pit, about 15-20 centimeters larger than the estimated size of the reservoir. This is necessary in order to be able to fill the terraces and the bottom of the pond with sand, in order to avoid subsidence and damage to the film. The sand cushion must be carefully leveled and compacted, after removing all pebbles, sharp sticks and plant roots from the bottom.

Drainage and waterproofing

When the drainage cushion made of sand is ready, we proceed to the next stage of work. In order for the pond film to remain intact for as long as possible, geotextiles should be laid on a layer of sand, preferably in 2 layers. Next, we straighten the film itself and fix it on the banks with bricks or large stones. Do not try to straighten and expand all the folds - let the water do it for you.

We place the flexible one in such a way that its end is in the center of the future reservoir, and we begin to supply water, making sure that the pressure is not too strong. As the pond fills with water, partially release the edges of the film and straighten it along the slopes of the pit. After the reservoir is filled to the brim, leave it for 1-2 days. During this time, under the weight of water, the film will straighten out and fill all the voids.

After it completely sags, you need to cut off the excess parts, leaving at least 40-50 cm for arranging the banks. The edges are fixed with pegs or special metal shackles, and then masked with flagstone, large stones and pebbles. It's time to install the pump, decorate the hoses from the fountains and start planting plants.

Pond above the ground in the country

When there are kids in the family, one of the main problems when building a pond is how to make the pond safe. It is best if such a reservoir is slightly raised above the soil surface. Firstly, it greatly facilitates its care, and secondly, the risk that small children or pets accidentally fall there is significantly reduced.

In this case, you can not do without a reinforced concrete foundation. Dig a pond pit in its deepest part, form terraces for plants, as well as in the previous case. On the banks of the reservoir, using wooden formwork, pour concrete foundation desired height, for strength it can be reinforced with a metal mesh. After the foundation is completely dry and settled (this will take at least two days), the formwork can be removed, and the inner walls can be plastered to smoothness. This will help prevent tearing of the film. We line the bottom of the pit with it and fill the bowl with water. At the same time, we fix the edges of the material so that they are behind the concrete fence. After the pond is full, let the water settle, cut off the excess film, fix it and decorate the edges of the bowl.

Inventory: what you need

Of course, the construction of ponds is not an easy task, but what can you do for yourself, because if everything is organized correctly, the result will please the eye for more than one year.

However, it is not enough to build a home pond - you also need to take care of it. Here are some technical tools that will be very useful to you:

Rules for the care of a country pond

The pond in the garden is, of course, very beautiful, but if you do not want to become the happy owner of a personal swamp in which frogs croak in the evenings, then you need to properly care for it. First of all, you need to ensure that the water in it does not bloom. Of course, it is best to purchase a special purification system, but this, unfortunately, is not a cheap pleasure. However, there is another, more available remedy: take a bag of canvas and stuff it Place such a "surprise" under the water, and there will be practically no algae at the bottom of the pond.

It is also necessary to carefully monitor the cleanliness of the reservoir - regularly remove debris from the surface and add water as it evaporates. If your pond is small, it is recommended to drain it completely for the winter period, and for large tanks, a complete cleaning is necessary at least 2-3 times a year, while the water must be completely pumped out.

From what's at hand

And what about those who do not allow the size of the site to accommodate even a small pond? Do not be upset: a small pond can also be equipped in the front garden, adapting a trimmed one for this purpose. metal barrel Or just a big bowl. Such a mini-pond can even be placed on the balcony of a city apartment, decorating the container with glued pebbles or mosaics. Of course, you won’t hear the murmur of a fountain near such a “reservoir”, but you are provided with coolness and lush greenery of aquatic plants.

“Water is the beauty of nature”, S. T. Aksakov.
Take a look at fig. It's good when a cottage or a manor is in such a place! And if not? We will build it ourselves, a home-made pond in the country is not an easy task, but feasible without special equipment, sophisticated tools and fine skills.

The bottom row of pictures is self-digging and self-decorated ponds, which can be squeezed into a fully developed 6 acres. And honestly tell yourself: do you now want to freshen up at something futuristic-technogenic, as in fig. right below? Even if you can afford to order this in the middle of the Karakum, and bring water there from the Irtysh? Not? Then to business. Building a pond will require some knowledge of hydro construction and aquaculture, but this article is written to give them to beginner hydro builders.

A pond proper, or a natural pond, is a hydraulic structure where the water mass in a small non-navigable reservoir is retained by an embankment dam without a lock. The shutter is made in seasonal fish-breeding, drained for the winter, and irrigation ponds, and the spillway is in case of excess supply of the reservoir. The natural pond receives food either from natural sources water (key, spring), or during its construction, the adjacent aquifer is opened, artificially creating a discharge zone for it, but most often the dam is deaf.

Note: "Totally natural" ponds, when a dam is formed, say, as a result of a collapse or landslide, are commonly called dammed lakes.

An artificial pond in a non-professional, but widely accepted view is a dug pool without groundwater supply, not intended for bathing, water supply and / or commercial economic use. So it is customary to distinguish it from, although during the construction of an artificial "pond" nothing is dammed, and there is no trace of a dam.

Most often artificial pond- a reservoir in a small country house, up to 30-40 cubic meters. m, volume for decorative purposes. However, as we will see later, on a plot of 18-20 acres, you can build a pond with a bathing area. Its shores can be anything: gentle, bunded, trimmed with stone, but a vegetable frame is obligatory, the bed is almost always planted with plants. Often the pond is stocked with ornamental fish species.

What to expect?

A dammed pond (tautology, but acceptable for brevity), per unit volume of water mass and water surface area, is the least laborious and costly. Over time, it fits into the landscape so much that not every hydro-builder will immediately distinguish it from a natural reservoir, see again fig. above. The biocenosis of a natural pond can develop by itself and exist for centuries. Its construction is possible in a natural deepening of the soil with a low continental permeability, i.e. lying under the fertile layer, rocks.

To make a pond with your own hands, so to speak, in a natural way, you need to fill the dam and, possibly, open the aquifer. Two not lazy and strong workers cope during the summer with a dam that can hold up to 1000 or more cubic meters of water. They begin to fill the pond in the fall so that less evaporation, winter precipitation and spring meltwater accelerate the clogging of the soil, see below.

However, firstly, there are no plots suitable for the construction of a pond and free from other types of economic use. Secondly, a natural pond with insufficient ground supply, i.e. with topping up with precipitation, it should be at least 300-400 cubic meters in volume, otherwise the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe water mirror and the bed will be excessive relative to the volume of water, and over the summer the pond may dry up even in the Leningrad region. Third, fresh water is a valuable and increasingly scarce resource. According to experts, in the near future, it is the reserves of water, and not energy carriers, that will become the determining factor in the nature of interstate relations. As for ideas, "values", etc., this, excuse me, has been a verbal husk since primitive times. Talleyrand put it well on this score: "Language is given to a diplomat in order to hide his thoughts." Therefore, water use throughout the world is regulated more and more strictly, and it is unrealistic for an individual to approve the project of a natural pond (without which a very severe responsibility is provided).

Stages of a long journey

A decorative pond is created in several large stages:

• Hydrotechnical - construction of a reservoir and its filling;
• Aquaculture: settlement and landscaping of the pond;
• Construction and design - arrangement of the entire own hydropark: pergola, benches, tables, rock garden, barbecue by the pond, etc.;
• Optional: stream, cascade, waterfall, fountain.

The sequence of work is precisely this, because. to harmoniously fit a pond in the garden into the landscape on your own, without an expensive construction, design project, and the performance of work by specialists is only possible with a living one with an established biocenosis. This article deals primarily with the first 2 stages: the immensity is possible, but not in one publication. Let us single out only certain circumstances that are closely related to the “wet” stages, which must be taken into account in advance.

First, 2 ways of finishing the shore are possible: dry, before filling, and after it. The first one is simpler and cheaper, because does not require expensive materials and complex technologies. However, you need to have a developed artistic taste and clearly imagine in advance how the filled pond will look in the finished hydro-recreation zone. Otherwise, the finishing of the coast may run counter to the existing landscape design, and fix the water that goes into the water. masonry or tiling is not possible.

As an option, you can leave the shores unformed for the time being, by bunding them or bringing up the side of the bowl or mounting the upper slope by 5-10 cm; in case of foil insulation, see below. The shaft or edge of the board is covered with insulation, and its "wing" of 0.5-1 m is given to the sides, which is sprinkled with earth. See several figs. for examples of such execution. Further. Then the finishing of the coast can be done as a last resort, but the bare slope will be visible through the water.

The best option for finishing the coast is the original, dry, design with wild stone, it fits into any landscape design in the vast majority of cases. But be careful: do not trim the underwater part with flagstone! On land, it is quite appropriate, if only because it is convenient and safe to walk on it, but a pond such as the one on the left in the figure will not build a frosty winter. The fact is that any natural flagstone is not very strong, porous and cracked. Over the summer, it will fill up with water to capacity and frost destruction in the cold is inevitable. And in warm regions, due to the rather high chemical activity of shale rocks, in a few years the lining will crumble, and the biocenosis will not develop in such a pond.

It is best to finish the coast with granite boulders (on the right in the figure) or a chipped bream stone, in the form of relatively thin plates with a relatively even surface, which is also cheaper than rounded stone. In addition to granite, any dense brecciated volcanic or intrusive rocks will go: gneiss, gabbro, labradorite. Tufas, limestones, sandstones and metamorphic rocks (marble, quartzite, for example) should be avoided: they erode, crumble or dissolve in water.

Filter or leak?

The pond on the site is most often dug. What to do with the hole? Let's take a look further; for now, you need to know that there are 2 options: with and without infiltration into the soil, “deaf”. In the latter case, the reservoir bed is covered with waterproofing or water is poured into the finished bowl. How to build one and the other, we will consider in more detail later.

A deaf (more precisely, with exclusively evaporative water loss) pond is good because a minimum volume is possible, literally from 5-10 liters, and can be placed indoors. But the biocenosis that has existed for an indefinitely long time without outside interference will not develop in it due to the accumulation in the water of soluble waste products of the population of the reservoir, primarily humic acids. Therefore, a dead pond (in essence, an aquarium dug into the ground) must be regularly cleaned and periodically completely reconstructed, with emptying and the creation of a new biocenosis. Without additional devices, cleaning is necessary once a week-season (the smaller the volume, the more often), and reconstruction once every 1-5 years.

If the volume of the pond is more than 2-3 cubic meters, then the interval between cleanings can be increased to 1-5 years, and between reconstructions up to 10-25 years, using a pond filter, see fig. on right. Aquarium submersible filters clean ponds up to about 500 liters and up to 0.8 m deep. A pond filter is not at all like an aquarium filter:

1. Surface collector 1 collects debris from the surface.
2. Deep water intake 2 sucks in organic suspension.
3. One and the other - with replaceable coarse cleaning cartridges, which must be periodically removed, washed or changed.
4. coast station deep cleaning 3 - complex from a set of membrane filters on reverse osmosis and a circulation pump - purifies water from soluble contaminants.

Note: It is unacceptable to use skimmer filters for swimming pools in an ornamental pond! They will not purify the water properly, they will destroy the plants and themselves will soon fail.

What is colmatage?

Deep cleaning station equipment is not cheap and very energy consuming. The latter makes its use problematic in a country pond, except to power it from solar battery. But even then it needs a powerful large area, reliable and durable, i.e. expensive. In this case, you should consider the option of a colmatage pond: it has a small filtration into the ground, which carries away soluble waste. A properly arranged colmatage pond can exist only on sediments without topping up from outside.

Colmatage, or colmatation, is the process of soil self-compacting in aquatic environment. When clogging, its small particles fill the pores between large ones, as a result of which the permeability of the soil and water loss due to infiltration fall. Colmatation differs from silting in that the pores of the soil are clogged with its own particles, and not with an extraneous suspension. At the same time, the soil does not liquefy and weaken, but is compacted and strengthened. The ability of the underlying soil to clogging - the most important factor, which determines the possibility of constructing a pond with a dam. The colmatage pond has all the properties of the natural: it is viable indefinitely, it fits into the landscape by itself.

For forced bridging on any soils (we will not talk about bridging by microexplosions, etc.), the bed of the reservoir is prepared layered from a colmatator (a source of filling particles) and 1-5 layers of bridging agent that perceives them. The scheme and design of the clogging bed of the reservoir are designed according to the survey data on site. For example, on the left in Fig. - a diagram of a half-section of one of the variants of a colmatage pond on light silty sandy loam, this is one of the most difficult cases. From here, if you estimate in size, it is clear that a “normal” colmatage pond cannot be less than 150-200 cubic meters, otherwise it will dry up before the colmatation ends, for the same reasons as a natural one.

Note: note the layer profiles. They are calculated in such a way as to avoid the appearance of a concentrated underground runoff, which can cause very dangerous soil suffusion.

When will the bridging end? When can the pond be built? When water loss will go mainly to evaporation. This is judged by the rate of drop in the water level, for which, according to the initial filling of the pond, measurements are made every day at the same time. After the measurement, water is immediately topped up but at the estimated cutoff to restore pressure at depth. It’s just that it’s difficult to understand something from the measurement data, because. the drop in water level depends on weather conditions and precipitation, the blue broken line on the right in fig. Then according to the method least squares an averaging curve is built (the green one is thicker), everything is immediately visible on it. Now it is not necessary to know mathematical statistics for this, there are computer programs for such cases, incl. online.

At the dacha or at the estate, an ordinary colmatage pond will not fit, especially when you consider that the required volume earthworks more than twice the volume of the water mass. However, for a small ornamental pond, there is a solution that allows you to reduce its volume by 30-70 times, get by with cleaning once a season and reconstruction every 5-15 years. How so? The pond pit (see below) is made from an old bathtub or, with a volume of water up to 2-3 cubes, from plastic container, see fig.:

They put a bath with plugged holes on a sand cushion 15-25 cm in geotextile. The slope of the pit is made steeper, at 90 degrees, and strengthened without rotting or corroding sheet material; the gap between it and the bath is tightly clogged with fatter clay (preferably with a plasticity number of 15 or more, if measured accurately). In the same way (sand 10-15 cm - clay 7-10 cm - slope fasteners) other terraces are built. Pockets for the plant substrate in them, see below, are already formed on a clay pillow. The bath is half-filled with a substrate for deep-sea plants.

The fact is that the intensity of infiltration in a clogging pond strongly depends on the water pressure, i.e. from depth. In this case, in the deepest part of it, it is stopped. Silt will flow into the pit, but it will not damage the rhizomes of nymphs and lotus during the season. Cleaning a small colmatage pond of this type is also not difficult: silt from the terraces is carefully raked with a soft scraper on a pole into a pit, and removed from it with an airlift pump. An airlift for cleaning a pond can also be made by hand from a low-power compressor and pieces plastic pipes. But apply submersible pumps any types are impossible, and they themselves will deteriorate, and the plants will be damaged!

Note: adding water to a small colmatage pond is required, but in a small amount, at the latitude of Rostov-on-Don over the summer, about 0.15 cubic meters per cubic meter of water mass. To the north of the Moscow region, such a pond in the usual summer lives on precipitation.

Without infiltration

The smallest colmatage pond is possible with a volume of approximately 3 cubic meters. m. With a depth of about 1.2 m, its dimensions in plan will be, taking into account the profile of the bed, somewhere from 3x4 m. Finding a place for it next to the house is not always possible, and the laboriousness of colmatage ponds is high, and the formation of a biocenosis in them does not fit into season 1. Therefore, most ornamental aquaculture enthusiasts still prefer ponds without infiltration with plastic insulation. Ponds in concrete bowls are a thing of the past: they are no better than plastic ones, but much more expensive, more complex and harder to work with.

In a bowl or in a film?

A plastic pond, as mentioned above, is poured into a finished bowl or bed lined with waterproofing. Ponds in bowls are more expensive: the price of a good bowl, for 20 or more years, ranges from 3,500-20,000 rubles. per cube of capacity, depending on its volume and the region of the Russian Federation. In addition, bowls for ponds over 10 cubic meters are rare for sale, because. untransportable by conventional transport. Nevertheless, ponds in bowls have a number of valuable advantages:

• They allow any, up to negative slopes, slope angles of the terraces, which makes the pond compact (see the figure on the right), and the water loss from it for evaporation is minimal.
• Slope slide is eliminated, which gives all the possibilities of a containerized, easy-care aquatic plant culture.
• Building a pond in a bowl takes a minimum of time and effort.
• It is also easy to take care of the pond, especially when planting plants in containers: it is enough, about nothing special, as they say, without bothering, choose silt with an airlift.
• It is possible to build a mini-pond, because. bowls are sold in volumes from 120-150 liters.
• Unwanted infiltration during operation is excluded, so the pond can often be placed on the site as you like and even built indoors.

How to build a pond in the thicket, let's look at the next. section, but for now we will linger on film ones, they are inexpensive and not so bad at all. The device of the pond in the film is shown in fig. below. It usually has 4 zones:

1. Coastal A - decorative, with moisture-loving land plants;
2. Shallow-water B, with emergent ornamental plants, i.e. aquatic plants, normally developing only protruding above the water;
3. Deep B - ornamental plants with floating leaves are planted in it, winter-hardy and antagonistic to deep-sea ones. As a rule, they do not require deep water. But the main purpose of this zone is planting plants of assimilators and oxygenators, i.e. transferring soluble wastes of the inhabitants of the pond into insoluble sludge and releasing oxygen into the water;
4. Wintering pit G; it is also needed in a pond without fish, this is the realm of the queens of ponds - nymphaeum and lotus. Their culture is possible in the middle latitudes, see below, about plants, but on condition that the rhizome does not freeze. Therefore, the depth of the wintering pit is the standard freezing depth in this area + 0.5-0.7 m.

Note: note that the plant substrate pockets are formed by the reverse slopes of the terrace shelves. You can’t lay them out of stones, the terraces will creep! For the same reason, the container culture of plants is difficult - the shelves have to be made 2-2.5 times wider than the "pots", which is why the pond "spreads" to the sides.

So why is a film pond good, except for cheapness? The most important thing is naturalness: nothing man-made in it sticks out in plain sight. Then:

• Container culture is convenient for the owners, but not ideal for plants: the roots have nowhere to grow. Nymphaeum in a small, up to 2 cu. m, a pond, take root well and bloom only on free ground.
• The shape of the pond is not tied to the configuration of the bowl: it can be built even with a winding snake.
• It is not difficult to design the banks dry, while it is impossible to securely fix the stones on the slope of the plastic bowl.
• Also, further arrangement is carried out without any problems: a stream, a waterfall, etc. With a bowl, if you do not immediately take it with the corresponding pipes-communications (very expensive), then you won’t get around to fuss.

The film pond is not without disadvantages:

1. Slopes - not steeper than 45 degrees, otherwise they will creep. This requires more land area, correspondingly more excavation and more frequent topping up due to increased evaporation.
2. The insulating film can be damaged by the roots of plants, which will give unwanted infiltration. It is possible to “heal wounds”, but it is difficult and troublesome.
3. Care is difficult: poking at random with an airlift can destroy valuable plants. Therefore, they clean the film pond from walkways or from inflatable boat looking out the bottom through a box with a glass (acrylic) bottom.
4. In order to extract a plant that is diseased or unnecessary, without waiting for the reconstruction and drainage of the pond, one has to dive behind it or make a special tool for extracting it from the surface, which does not guarantee neighboring plants from damage.

A miniature, but very pretty pond, only without a deep-water zone and without nymphs, is obtained by combining a bowl with a film. The bowl in this case is free, from a worthless tire. How to build one, we'll see when we get to the mini-ponds.

What about fish?

Ornamental ponds are stocked with species specially bred for viewing from above: colored koi and golden ide orfa, see fig. Goldfish in amateur ponds do not survive: although they come from the unpretentious goldfish, but over the millennia in culture they have completely softened up.

For stocking without additional equipment, a colmatage pond of about 50 cubic meters and with a wintering pit at least 1.8 m deep is suitable. In it you can even grow crucian carp, carp and mirror carp on your table. A fish pond without infiltration into the ground should be equipped with a deep cleaning station. In this case, its volume is from 1 cu. m for 12-15 tails, that is, heads, the depth of the wintering pit is the same, and the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe water surface is from 0.2 sq. m per head. The area of ​​the hole in the fish pond is approximately 20% of the area of ​​its mirror.

A fish pond is not densely planted with plants: they do not emit oxygen at night and in bad weather, but consume oxygen, fish can suffocate. So it’s better not to plant oxygenators at all (they all grow intensively), but to arrange water purge from a powerful aquarium compressor with a sprayer. This is also good because in winter a polynya will remain at the exit point of the bubbles, but then the air tube must be insulated so that frozen condensate does not block it.

Note: in the aquarium, the problem with oxygenators is solved by backlighting and periodic thinning. But to create the same intensity of lighting in a pond, kilowatts of electrical power will be needed, and caring for it is orders of magnitude more difficult.

It is also undesirable to plant emergents: their stems and leaf petioles are the natural habitat of the terrible enemies of fish fry - dragonfly larvae. But in a fishless pond, dragonflies are appropriate: they soar beautifully above the water and eat midges, and their larvae in the absence of fish - tadpoles. However, we will talk about self-invaders in ponds later.

Building in plastic

First you need to choose the material according to the expected life of the pond and available funds. Please note that the bowl of the pond cannot be replaced: a foundation pit will have to be rebuilt for a new bowl, which is very difficult and time-consuming. For the construction of ponds in plastic, the following materials are used, in order of increasing durability, durability and price:

• Polyethylene (PE) - the film lasts 1-3 years, solid, i.e. bowl, 3-7 years. In the light, under the action of humic acids, the array becomes brittle, the bowl cracks and leaks. Recommended only in the form of films for seasonal small ponds. Good semi-permeability: metabolic products dissolved in water gradually go into the ground, which simplifies pond maintenance.
• Reinforced polyvinyl chloride (PVC) - 5-7 years in any form. In prolonged frost, it becomes brittle and ice or heaving soil breaks the bowl. It is recommended for regions with a consistently positive winter and a standard freezing depth of up to 0.9 m.
• Polyisopropylene (PP) - 10-15 years, frost-resistant.
• Butyl rubber (BK) - 15-20 years. It is produced only in sheets (mats), because this material is soft. Absolutely impenetrable, but easily damaged by plant roots, and rots in water saturated with organic matter. Recommended as an elastic underlay for PVC or PP film (two-layer insulation). Indispensable in ponds with steep slopes, where it is impossible to pour a sand damper.
• Cyanoacrylate (acrylic, CA) - 25-40 years. Rigid material, produced only in bulk (bowls).
• Fiberglass composites (SP) - over 30, up to 50 and more years. Also only bowls due to stiffness.
• Carbon fiber composites (carbon, UP) - over 70 years. Hard, only bowls. It is very expensive, but durable and light: a bowl of 70-100 cubes is moved and turned over by two people without mechanisms. Afraid of shock and concentrated loads, tk. The bowl walls are very thin.

Bowl

Building a pond in a bowl does not require special skills. First, setting the bowl in place on the ground, a contour is beaten off from the edge of its side with a plumb line. It is not necessary to turn the bowl over and mark the contour along the board, as is sometimes recommended. Symmetrical bowls are on sale as an exception, and then what to do with the foundation pit in mirror image? Unless you find this adviser and deal with him in your own way. Being certainly in the legislative field, but what else.

The pit is dug with a margin of about 0.5 m to the sides for backfilling. For terraces and pits, they take on it a margin of depth of 15-20 cm. You can not stick to the profile of the bowl with particular precision, the sand will compensate. At the end of the digging, a sand cushion is poured onto the bottom of the pit and the shelves of the terraces. Do backfill excavated earth, which can also be found in the recommendations, is not necessary: ​​frosty heaving of the soil in winter can break the bowl. It is better to put the earth on a hill, in a greenhouse, in a garden, etc.

Next, the bedding is rammed and the bowl is placed in the pit, pos. 1 in fig. Check the elevation of the board above the ground, if necessary, correct it by backfilling by removing the bowl. Having achieved the desired elevation in the middle, set the edges along the horizon in the same way, pos. 2.

Filling, pos. 3 are produced by the levels of the bowl in parallel with the side bedding. First of all, water is poured into the pit, sand is poured on the side to its level and the bedding is poured from a hose with a sprayer. The next day, sand is added (yesterday's will sit down), watered again. On ordinary soils, this is enough, then they fill the bowl to the next level, pour it in the same order, and so on to the top. It is impossible to simplify the technology: residual stresses will remain in the bowl, from which it will probably crack in winter. The settlement of the pond and the finishing of the banks, pos. four.

Film

It is cheaper to build a film pond, but more difficult. Step by step it is done like this:

1. They mark the contour on the ground and process it, with a strip of about 25 cm, with an organic binder for the soil, pos. 1 in fig. There is no need to spend money on expensive silicone binder: a bituminous emulsion, which is used by road builders, is suitable. For clays with a plasticity number of 12-17 (very heavy and oily) and unconsolidated coarse soils ( construction garbage etc.) will have to fork out for urea-formaldehyde resin (UFR), but it is still several times cheaper than silicone. Soil strengthening is carried out in stable, warm, dry weather, because. it is effective only when soil moisture is not higher than (20-30)% of the moisture yield threshold;
2. They wait 2-5 days, at a temperature of 25-15 degrees, respectively, until the binder soaks the soil and sets;
3. Roughly, with a margin for removing the profile, they dig a pit. At the same time, it is unacceptable to break, or at least cling with a shovel (ladle), a reinforced wedge of soil!
4. The profile is taken out, acting as a plow with a pick-up shovel, i.e. without loosening the soil, pos. 2. The contour of each underlying step is strengthened in front of its digging with exposure, as in claim 1. Do not touch the reinforced wedges!
5. If it is planned to embank the shore, then it is made with excavated soil from the most dense and plastic layer. Before bunding, the humus outside the contour is removed to the width of the shaft + 0.5 m;
6. They cover the bed with BK mats, and on top with a PP or PVC film, pos. 3. This is more expensive than the usually recommended 1-layer insulation, but will give the pond a life of at least 30 years and, combined with reinforcement, will allow slopes up to 75 degrees. Mats are laid with an overlap of edges of 15-25 cm;
7. If the film is not rolled, but in panels, then the panels are laid along the mats with an offset of half the width so that the seam does not fall on the seam. The wings of both layers on the ground - from 1 m. The overlap of the panels is also 15-25 cm;
8. Carefully straighten and smooth the folds of the film, following in a circle from the pit to the shore, pos. 4, and allow the insulation to adhere from 3 days. Without diligence when pouring, the film will crawl over the rubber, and all the insulation will go down the drain;
9. Fill in levels. In this case, the insulation will “go”, pos. 5, it must be straightened immediately and, before filling the next level, let it lie down;
10. decorate and landscape the pond.

What about swimming?

Yes, I really want it in the heat. Unbearable if the pond is nearby. But, alas, it is impossible to climb into a decorative pond: a single flush of grease from the body can irreparably disturb the biological balance in it. It is still possible to build a bathing and decorative pond, see fig. on the right, connecting the pool with bathtubs for plants with channels no deeper than 0.3 m. But then, firstly, you will have to abandon the varietal nymphs. Secondly, it is necessary to arrange a powerful pillow capable of holding a lot of water in the bathing compartment, which, by the way, can also be solid plastic. And most importantly, the distance from water supply sources and buildings, your own and those of your neighbors, will have to be driven into sanitary norms, so you need a plot of 20 acres or more.

Plants

Here, according to the plan, it was supposed to start about mini-ponds, but the very biobalance in them is so thin and fragile that it is impossible to give intelligible information about “small ponds” without information about pond plants. Therefore, it was necessary to wedge aquaculture into construction.

The choice of plants for ponds on sale is extensive, but for starters it is better to limit yourself to natives from local reservoirs: they are free and hardy, and well-groomed in appearance compete with rare exotics. The substrate, also for starters, is loam with an admixture of crushed stone. Complex mixtures for incredible rarities will be left for later. It is laid in terrace pockets or containers, and the plants are planted, or containers are placed with them, before filling the next step, when the turbidity from the previous filling settles. It is best, of course, to plant in a completely flooded and settled pond. Containers are then placed relatively simply, with hooked poles or otherwise from above. However, to land in the ground, you will have to dive into the pond with at least a mask and a snorkel. And first of all, plants from natural reservoirs need to be disinfected.

Treatment

Wild plants are washed before planting, remove visible foreign particles, dead leaves, rotten roots, and bathe (at least the underwater part) in a 0.2% solution of pharmacy methylene blue, i.e. a vial of 20 ml per 10 liters of water. Processing takes 5 days, and every day the solution must be changed to fresh. Plants are bathed in glassware or a trough covered with a single piece of waterproofing: enamel and plastic turn blue from blue, and contact of the solution with metals is unacceptable. Work with latex gloves and old clothes: the skin from bluing also turns blue for a long time, like that of a restless ghost, and its spots on the fabric are not washed off.

coastal

For a shaded shore, plants are needed that can withstand waterlogging of the soil with a lack of light and low temperatures. From the usual garden, a hosta is suitable here, pos. 1 in Fig., available in many forms with different colors of flowers and variegated, and their wild ones - large forest ferns: bracken, pos. 2, leaflet, etc. On the open coast, you can plant any moisture-loving plants: irises, anemones, blueberries, etc. In the sun itself, cattail, or kuga, with high decorative qualities, pos. 3. Although it is swampy, it is not emergent: its above-ground part develops perfectly at any humidity of the air, as long as the earth is damp. The surface part of real emergents needs air humidity from 80%; then they can also grow out of water in thoroughly wet earth.

Emergents

Emergent plants are planted in shallow water. Of the "savages" in the pond, the arrowhead looks good, it gives underwater, floating and surface leaves. In the Middle Strip you can find 2 of its species, differing in the shape of air leaves, pos. 4 and 5.

The arrowhead develops well and overwinters at a depth of no more than 0.5 m. For a larger one, up to 0.8 m, an alisma or chastukha is suitable. Habitually, it looks like an arrowhead, but its emersed leaves are ovate-oval, pos. 6, and the decorative effect is less.

Oxygenators

With wild oxygenators in the pond, I must say, the problem. Most of all oxygen is given by the Canadian elodea, or lagarosiphon, pos. 7; the heat-loving aquarium curly elodea will not survive in the pond. But Elodea is extremely aggressive, for which she was nicknamed the water plague: her whips in a short time they fill the entire volume of water, suppressing life in the pond, and they themselves silt up, turn brown and look simply disgusting.

Not so aggressive is the hornwort, or water herringbone, pos. 8. He usually does not go beyond his terrace. But, unfortunately, it gets dirty and loses its appearance faster than elodea.

Of the readily available oxygenators for the pond, the most suitable is the common wallisneria (again, not a spiral aquarium sissy), pos. 9. Its leaves grow up to 1 m long and beautifully spread over the water. In the course of the picture it turns out bewitching, look at least at the beginning of A. Tarkovsky's film "Solaris" based on the novel by S. Lem. Vallisneria multiplies quickly, like all oxygenators, but keeps in dense curtains, the bushes in which are connected by horizontal shoots - stolons. Therefore, its thinning does not cause great difficulties; however, this is already on the topic of caring for the pond.

Note: if the pond is with a stream, then plant vallisneria in it. There she is best, and the pond will always be clean and saturated with oxygen. Wild wallisneria is not afraid of freezing, it overwinters with dormant buds.

Nymphaeum

An exquisite decoration of any pond is plants from the nymph family, or simply nymphs. The most accessible of them is the yellow capsule, which is often incorrectly called a water lily, pos. 10. Its rhizomes with characteristic marks from the former leaves, pos. 11, can often be found along the banks of rivers after high water. They are quite viable; in general, the capsule is unpretentious.

The pod is an amphibious plant: it can grow both at a depth of up to 3 m and outside the water in moist soil at an air humidity of 70%. With other nymphs, the egg-pod is an antagonist, and its floating leaves can tighten the entire mirror of water. In general, an option in extreme cases, especially since the flowers are not very spectacular compared to other nymphs.

Real water lilies, they are also water lilies, form the genus Nymphaeum, which gave the name to the whole family and order. Pure white water lilies grow as savages in the Russian Federation, pos. 12 and, on Far East in some places, a giant water lily, with large, up to 17 cm, and more brightly colored flowers, pos. 13. Don't confuse her with the giant tropical nymph victoria!

South of Krasnodar and southwest of Stavropol, on the plains, an open culture of a lotus-shaped water lily, or Nile lotus, pos. 14. By crossing mainly these 3 species (there are others), a lot of garden forms water lilies with huge, like magnolias, flowers of the most bizarre color, see for example. pos. 14a.

Planting material of natural and hybrid water lilies is widely available. One of essential conditions the success of their culture is proper fit especially in containers. How to properly prepare for planting and plant nymphs in containers, see for example. video:

Video: division and landing of nymphs

Up to and including the Moscow region, an open culture of a real nut-bearing lotus is also possible, pos. 15. He comes from South-East Asia, however, in the Russian Federation it naturally grows in the Volga Delta. The Russian lotus is quite adapted to the warm-temperate climate, but, like water lilies, it is demanding on water quality; impurities of iron salts in it are especially harmful. Water lilies and lotus overwinter with rhizomes, but they cannot tolerate freezing, so they need deep water. Maximum depth - 5 m; optimal - 1.5-2 m, minimum - 0.8 m, but in any case without freezing to the bottom.

floating

Small floating plants: duckweed, riccia, wolfia, azolla, salvinia, do not start in the pond, they will tighten the entire surface, depriving the pond of light and oxygen. Of the large ones, the water hyacinth eichornia is very beautiful, pos. 16. But, if Elodea is a water plague, then Eichornia is an enraged mixture of Genghis Khan and Hitler. In warm countries, where elodea is considered a malicious weed, water hyacinth has been awarded the title of national disaster: it paralyzes shipping, disables hydroelectric facilities and hydroelectric power stations. In addition, he releases substances into the water that destroy all living things in the pond, except for himself. Therefore, if you really want to, you need to keep eichornia either in a swamp or in a creek connected to a pond by a narrow shallow channel. How to attach it to the pond, see below.

An excellent, absolutely useful and decorative floating plant for a pond is a water chestnut chilim, pos. 17. He is aboriginal, but his culture is difficult: demanding on the conditions of detention. Chilim is an annual; to renew it next year, you need to leave the nuts in the pond for the winter. If the harvest is plentiful, then the surplus can be eaten: ugly in appearance, everything around is horned, chilim nuts are healthy, very tasty and nutritious.

Oddly enough, but for beginners, the best floating aquatic plant is tropical pistia, or water lettuce, pos. 18. The name is given only by external resemblance, they do not eat pistia. Pistia shades the pond moderately, just the right amount in the summer heat. It does not interfere with gas exchange, and its long hairy roots are an excellent refuge for fry. Pestia in the pond will not survive the winter, but a few young bushes will perfectly survive until spring in a small aquarium at home. They are released when the water warms up to +16, and the air up to +20. By mid-June, old bushes in open water can grow up to 20-30 cm in diameter. Thinning out pistia is elementary: its bushes, like vallisneria, are connected into curtains by stolons. They pull for one, like a crucian on a bait, and pinch off the excess.

Note: the described plants, their choice for landscaping the pond is far from being exhausted. A more complete picture of pond plants can be obtained by taking a video tour of the well-known nursery of aquatic plants A. M. Marchenko:

Video: excursion to the nursery of aquatic plants A. M. Marchenko

mini ponds

Miniature ponds are of 2 types: shallow and deep water. In the former, the ratio of the area of ​​the water mirror to the volume of water is approximately the same as in the larger ones. The second, in essence, are separate wintering pits, narrow and deep. Both in beauty are quite capable of competing with large ponds, but they require immeasurably less money, labor and space.

Basins and barrels

In shallow mini-ponds, either emergents or aggressors like water hyacinth are kept; with a sufficiently large surface area also floating plants. A water garden-nursery of this kind can be built from basins, pos. 1 in fig. From them, bays are obtained at large ponds or cups of home-made cascades.

An excellent deep-sea small pond suitable for nymphs is obtained from a plastic barrel. Steel must be carefully primed inside, doused with boiling bitumen and sprinkled with sand. In this case, before St. Petersburg, it is possible to grow a white water lily in a barrel, pos. 2, and in plastic insulated and with negligible drainage (pos. 4) - varietal nymphs up to the latitude of Lipetsk-Ryazan, pos. 3.

Bath

A small garden pond from a bathtub is versatile. Just by digging it, we get a shallow pond, in which there is enough space for floating, pos. 1 in fig. And a bath, equipped as a pit for a colmatage pond (see above), will also give a deep-water pond for nymphs; perennial, however, only for places not north of Voronezh, pos. 3 and 4.

Waste rubber

Effective and almost free of charge is a shallow pond from a tire. Structurally, it is a combination of film and bowl; the construction process and the final result - in fig. If the tire is a truck or tractor, then a lot of plants will fit in it.

And at home?

Wait, the reader may ask, because you can put such a pond at home! True, but for reliability, it is better to lay out a home mini-pond from bricks, as in fig. on the right, then he will stand in the corner without any problems. The dried masonry is covered with silicone from the inside, covered with insulation (cheap PVC in 1 layer will go for the house), a substrate is laid, water is poured - and it's ready even for the most heat-loving exotics. Unfortunately, except for the nymphs: the depth is too small, and to make it deeper - the load on the floor will exceed the allowable one.

Friends and Enemies

Someone from outside will settle in the pond. Who exactly and what to do with them is already a large section of the topic of pond care. Here we touch on the very basics.

First, do not harass the toads and frogs. How useful toads are on the plot, every gardener knows. Frogs also hunt for flies and mosquitoes, and their mating trills are an indispensable attribute of the romance of summer-spring nights, like evenings - the singing of a nightingale. However, in garden pond frogs don't really croak: they yell at the top of their lungs in vast communities where there is a great choice of males. And if the groom is one for three, then the girlfriends themselves will jump in without a croak. Animals are pragmatists, do not suffer from feminism-narcissism.

Note: narcissism is a male form of narcissism and narcissism. This remark is in keeping with the principle of full equality.

Further, do not touch the larvae of non-biting pusher mosquitoes - bloodworms - and small aquatic relatives of the tubifex earthworm. They are excellent assimilators and food for fish. If there are bryozoans and/or a freshwater badyaga sponge in the pond, they are even better filter-assimilators. These animals are very demanding on the conditions of existence: they settled, which means the pond is prospering.

Birds are scared away with a scarecrow, but nowadays it is not necessary to make a scarecrow out of rags: modern scarecrows for birds are very effective and do not catch people's eyes. For example, LED flashing beacons are not visible at all from the ground, but they will immediately inspire: “You can’t come here!” the stupidest duck who confused Stirlitz with Muller in a joke.

Without the participation of animal carriers, water bugs often start up in the pond: ranatra (pos. 1 in the figure), water scorpion, pos. 2, and smooth, or water pheasant, pos. 3 and 4. The water scorpion and the ranatra are safe for humans, but do not take a small lover of swimming upside down with a smooth belly in your hands: his bites are unbearably painful; the pain can be so severe and prolonged that you need to see a doctor.

All large bugs in the pond are harmful: they spoil plants, eat caviar and fry. Unfortunately, the only effective way get rid of them, except for catching by the piece - continuous filtration of water. At the same time, the larvae die in the filters and the population dies out. Small water striders and spider divers do not need to be touched: they are harmless, let the kids be amused.

Also, on their own, in the form of resting eggs in the dust, crustaceans sometimes start up in ponds, pos. 5 and 6. They are harmless mud-eaters, they reproduce poorly and do not harm the pond. Shields lived on Earth long before the dinosaurs; Watching these living fossils is very interesting.

As for unwanted plant settlers, any algae is intolerant in the pond. A well-groomed living pond is planted only with higher aquatic plants. Fortunately, there are plenty of algae control products on the market. With the help of modern drugs, even such a dirty trick as Vietnamese blue-green algae is completely eliminated.

There was no sadness...

Whoever sets fire to build a pond himself, his mouth is full of trouble. Some of them are pleasant: a recreation area, a stream-waterfall, fish. Some, like cleaning and maintaining the pond, not so much. But the beauty, grace and peace of mind from the pond are worth it. Therefore, instead of a farewell parting word - on the right is greetings from uninvited, but useful and, if you look closely, quite nice new settlers. And in the appendix to the text - a few photo of what can be achieved by building a pond with your own hands: