Landscaping Around A Pond

When it comes to enjoying a beautiful backyard, ponds are a favorite choice for many homeowners. Whether you’re working with professional exterior designers or adding pond designs with waterfalls yourself, it’s important to know what types of plants will thrive in this environment. Before you contact our landscape design services, we have a few tips to help you understand the best options for landscaping around a pond. Read on to learn more so you can create the beautiful backyard of your dreams filled with luscious plants and thriving wildlife.

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Why Choose a Ponds for Your Backyard?

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Many people love ponds because they encourage wildlife to come and thrive. The presence of birds and wildlife creates a peaceful environment where you can sit back, relax, and watch nature do its thing. Ponds attract a variety of animals including frogs and birds, and you can add your own fish for a fun and colorful touch. Ponds also attract butterflies and other insects which means you’ve effectively created your very own self-sustaining backyard ecosystem. Another reason many exterior designers recommend ponds is that once they’re installed, they are fairly easy to maintain. This natural habitat creates a tranquil space where you can enjoy the beauty of nature right from your own backyard. Unlike pool landscaping, this water feature requires a few specific things to ensure that the design looks stunning all year round.

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Tips for Landscaping Around a Pond

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To start your landscaping project, try to use some existing features that are already in your backyard. This can include mature trees, shrubs, and other species already living in or near where the pond will be installed. Large, healthy trees can be planted to create a massive and impressive focal point in your backyard. Unlike pool landscaping, trees are great options when designing a pond landscape. Make sure you safely remove any old trees that could be damaged or diseased before you add new plants to this area. Not only will this protect your new plants, but it will also give you a clearer vision of what will need to be added once you hire our landscape design services.

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Look for plants that love to live near the water, like graceful weeping willows. These types of plants will absolutely love living near pond designs with waterfalls. Be sure to check your USDA hardiness zone to determine which types of plants will live in your area year-round. If the plant cannot survive in your zone, it will likely die when winter arrives. You can find the zone of various plants by consulting with us, or by reading the tag on plants found at your local nursery or home improvement store. Observe the plants you’re interested in at all of their life stages. For example, a small tree or shrub may look beautiful when it’s small, but it might be too tall or wide for your backyard when it reaches full maturity. Flowering plants are a beautiful addition to your pond area, especially in the spring. Take some time to research a variety of plants before landscaping around a pond to ensure that you’re choosing the ones you want.

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Other Landscaping Tips

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As you think about landscaping around your pond, be sure to follow these tips to make sure you love your new backyard:

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• Consider how the new garden area will look once everything is planted and choose items that will maintain as natural a look as possible.

• Plant a variety of small plants between rocks near your pond, and then plant the same ones around the border of your pond to give the area some definition and a cohesive look.

• Moss-type plants or creeping vines look beautiful as they start to grow over the rocks, creating a natural aesthetic.

• Avoid planting items that will grow too tall or else the leaves could clog your pond when the tree or shrub sheds. Too much shade can also promote algae growth and can take away from the beauty of the pond itself.

• If your pond has a filter and pump system, you can hide it by planting some small shrubs around it to keep it hidden from view.

• Use native plants whenever possible. These plants are easy to take care of, and they tend to thrive much more than non-native plants since they’re already familiar with the environment you live in.

• Research how to maintain the plants you use in your pond landscape so they stay healthy and beautiful for years to come.