One for the pond experts. I guess it makes sense to put the pond in at this early stage. The one I'm looking at is 5ft6 x 4ft & is 460ltrs. Its hard to judge the size & i'm not sure if this will be too large for the space. I don't want to go to small and fit a pond that will be (eventually) swamped in the surrounding foliage. What do you think?
With ponds, ( and greenhouses ) go as big as the space and your budget allows. I've never heard anyone say " I wish I'd gone with a smaller one" but frequently heard folk say " I wish I'd made it bigger" IMHO 5ft6 by 4ft is really small. You could site it further forward than your plan shows, then you could fit in a bigger pond?
Hello Toddmeister, I only live about 10 miles from you so we're almost neighbours. I love the sound of your tropical style garden. Mine style is cottage garden meets prairie, not deliberately it's just how it happened. The idea of bark is much better that white stones. The white stuff gets grubby and gets covered in algae if it's shady. i have a shady part of a front garden and planted Fatsia Japonica. It's about 5 feet high and wide. It's really tough but looks lush and tropical. Id also suggest hostas if you have shady areas especially the big leaved blue ones such as Big Daddy. Again they look lush but ate tough. They do die back in winter but mine are underplanted with spring bulbs. I'm a Dahlia fan especially the dark leaved ones, Bishop of Llandaff grows to about 3 feet and has red daisy flowers. The point of mentioning dahlias and hostas specifically is that I have spares if you want them just send me a private message. All the best with the new garden, mine was a new build 35 years ago, the work never stops!
I agree with Hostafan, make it as big as your space allows. Have you thought about buying a pond liner instead of a preformed pond? It would allow you to completely customise the shape to fit where you needed (wider at one end, narrower at the other end).
You can create a balanced ecosystem without a pump and filter, with plants only. But if you want an arbour at the end of the garden, it would be lovely to hear the sound of water there. You could consider a solar pump if you have some good place for the panel where it gets a lot of sun without being an eyesore.
Given my lack of experience I thought a preformed pond may be the best option? How much more is involved if i created my own? Is it just a case of digging out the shape, with plant shelves etc. and laying the lining? What would go under the liner? just sand?
If it's not much more complicated than installing a preformed I'll certainly consider it
if no ones mentioned it yet try Sunderland winter gardens, they do good tropical planting.
Also you might want to invest in the largest polytunnel you can fit into the space if you want a true tropical garden, rather than a 'looks like' a tropical garden
IMHO liners are much easier, and more forgiving than preformed which can crack if you have air pockets underneath them by not filling round them 100% accurately.
Posts
One for the pond experts. I guess it makes sense to put the pond in at this early stage. The one I'm looking at is 5ft6 x 4ft & is 460ltrs. Its hard to judge the size & i'm not sure if this will be too large for the space. I don't want to go to small and fit a pond that will be (eventually) swamped in the surrounding foliage. What do you think?
https://www.gardensite.co.uk/aquatics/bermuda-pre-formed-bay-pond-460-litres.htm
Also would it be essential to fit a pump/filter to a pond of that size?
Cheers
Steve
IMHO 5ft6 by 4ft is really small. You could site it further forward than your plan shows, then you could fit in a bigger pond?
The idea of bark is much better that white stones. The white stuff gets grubby and gets covered in algae if it's shady.
i have a shady part of a front garden and planted Fatsia Japonica. It's about 5 feet high and wide. It's really tough but looks lush and tropical.
Id also suggest hostas if you have shady areas especially the big leaved blue ones such as Big Daddy. Again they look lush but ate tough. They do die back in winter but mine are underplanted with spring bulbs.
I'm a Dahlia fan especially the dark leaved ones, Bishop of Llandaff grows to about 3 feet and has red daisy flowers.
The point of mentioning dahlias and hostas specifically is that I have spares if you want them just send me a private message.
All the best with the new garden, mine was a new build 35 years ago, the work never stops!
Given my lack of experience I thought a preformed pond may be the best option? How much more is involved if i created my own? Is it just a case of digging out the shape, with plant shelves etc. and laying the lining? What would go under the liner? just sand?
If it's not much more complicated than installing a preformed I'll certainly consider it
Cheers
Thanks
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.