Environmentally-Friendly Backyards
Your Yard is the First Line of Defence Against Pollution
Rain water often falls in yards, roads, and parking lots prior to enter the water table. This water can carrying pollutants like fertilizers, pesticides, and petroleum into our rivers and lakes. Rain that falls into your yard should be allowed to soak into your yard. Reducing water run-off will help to protect waterways. If the roof of your home has rain gutters, make sure the downspouts are not aimed toward a paved surface. Turn downspouts into areas with plantings that will make better use of rainfall than letting it run down the driveway and into a storm drain.
Water gardens add a magical element to most all landscapes. The change of texture, variety of lighting conditions, sounds, smells, all add to our increased interest in the landscape. Selecting a water garden site is a decision involving many site factors, such as correct slope, soil types and water table, but also practical matters, such as septic tank and house foundation setbacks, utility easements and soil types. When planning, try to strike a balance between what your permit allows and what the landscape calls for. Learn more
A water garden combines all the benefits of a complete eco-system into one package:
- Aquatic plants which help consume greenhouse gases and convert them into useful oxygen.
- The aquatic plants help to filter water run-off water, before it re-enters the water table.
- A water garden is an attraction for local wildlife.
Water gardens should always are located in the lowest points of a landscape. There may be some advantage to constructing a pond at midway of the drainage but consider downstream flooding and drainage effects. Water gardens should all have a high edge-to-depth ratio; that is, they are wide and shallow. This ratio increases the amount of littoral shelf area in the pond--the area of maximum sunlight penetration and subsequent rooted plant production and pond life activity. Water gardens less than 4 feet often carry a complete plant cover. It takes 6- to 10-foot depths to maintain open water.
Tip: Always use a magnetic-driven pump to circulate the water in your pond. These pond pumps are significantly more energy efficient than direct-drive pumps!
A water garden can serve as a final collection point for runoff after a series of swales and channels. Water-based pollutants can be filtered by vegetation, filter traps and the settling action in the pond itself. This can have a significant effect, improving water quality draining into estuarine bodies. These systems also have the advantage of extending the "soak time" of storm water, or increasing the amount of water allowed to percolate, recharging the groundwater table directly.
Water gardens can be turned into habitats for both fish and frogs. Raising fish in your pond will reduce the ability for mosquitos to breed in your pond. To raise a frog in your pond, plant shrubs that attract insects, to provide the frog with food. Include small native fish in the water garden to prevent mosquitos from breeding.
Finally, no water garden is complete without aquatic plants! To create a proper water garden eco-system, both floating leafed and submerged plants need to be included in your selection.