Swimming pond in the garden: Dive on your doorstep!
The center of a garden does not always have to be the lawn. For example, a swimming pond that requires no chemicals requires only a floor area of at least 70 square meters. He would even fit in a terraced garden. The plant is around ten times as large in the garden of the Hildebrandt family. The peculiarity there: The pond sole consists of a 20 centimeters thick layer of mashed clay. The process is elaborate, not cheap and only something for nature lovers, who also liked to wade barefoot in the modder.
In most cases, ponds are sealed with a film about 1.5 millimeters thick. A natural pool works on the principle of self-cleaning. An underwater wall separates the swimming area from a regeneration zone where special plants such as cattails, rushes and irises thrive. They extract nutrients from the water and thus prevent the algae bloom. In practice, this regulator works only when the vegetation is fully developed. For the first two years and every spring you have more to do with algae than in the aftermath. But even then you should not expect a swimming pool with crystal clear water. If you want, you can also install powerful filters in a swimming pond, which capture most of the suspended matter.
With suction devices on the water surface, called skimmers, and special vacuum cleaners, leaves, algae and modders can be fished out. Glass-fiber reinforced plastic mats instead of foil enable hard-shelled, steep wall profiles. This brings you to the feeling of splashing in a pool, then quite close.
If the risk of a pond is too high for small children, you can first have the hollow excavated at the designated place and use it as an adventure playground. If the kids can swim, you can finish the pond. Information on approximately 150 exporting companies nationwide at the German Society for Natural Bathing Waters, Tel. 070 00/700 87 87.
The space-saving alternative: the mini-pond
Even people who do not have that much space do not have to give up their private lake: a zinc tub, a wooden tub, colored plastic containers or simply a large flower pot without holes in the floor - they all quickly turn into a small waterhole. Then select pretty pond plants, eg. B. the narrow-leaved marsh iris with white-green foliage and some marsh grasses. Simply place the plants in the container with the pots. It would be ideal if the tap water that you are now filling could be mixed with real pond water to create an optimal environment quickly. Now floating plants like shellflower and fairy moss can be added - and a water lily. She must be of delicate growth, such as Nymphaea pygmaea 'Rubra'. If still fresh flowers drift on the water, the seascape is perfect.
