 | Charlie Traffas has been involved in marketing, media, publishing and insurance for more than 40 years. In addition to being a fully-licensed life, health, property and casualty agent, he is also President and Owner of Chart Marketing, Inc. (CMI). CMI operates and markets several different products and services that help B2B and B2C businesses throughout the country create customers...profitably. You may contact Charlie by phone at (316) 721-9200, by e-mail at ctraffas@chartmarketing.com, or you may visit at www.chartmarketing.com. |
Ponds
2007-07-01 12:34:00
Children and water gardens
I want a water garden in my front yard, but I have a neighborhood full of small children that are not supervised very well. What can I do?
Water features are a
wonderful addition to any landscape. They bring life to it by adding movement, sound and tranquility, and water features can be the focal point of your garden. Therefore you want it to be as safe as possible for everyone. If unsupervised small children are an
issue and you cannot put it in a secured back yard, then a regular water garden or koi pond may not be the best choice at this time. But don’t be discouraged there are other water features to consider, such as a disappearing waterfall, overflowing urn, or a bubbling rock fountain. They are constructed with a lower reservoir or pond level. The hole that is dug to create this area is lined with cinder blocks to support the walls of the pond. A padding and liner is placed to make this reservoir hold water. If having a waterfall, a liner is required under this area as well. If the liner is not one piece it must be glued together, never overlap it or it will leak. A grating is put over the top of the pond area. This grating is supported by the cinderblocks and has river rock or flag stone on top so you can walk on it. There is no body of water exposed for anyone to fall into making it safer for small children. A pump is used to re-circulate the water, and Aquatic plants can be placed in the water by leaving a small opening in the rocks. Plants will help to soften and naturalize the area, and the nice thing about this feature is that if the situation changes and you are able to have a conventional water garden, the center rocks and grating can be removed to expose the body of the water. Then you would be able to add more plants and fish if you desire.
